Finding Your Own Path

A life lesson that is very hard for us to digest is that it is A-OK for us to take time finding ourselves when everyone else around us seems to be moving light years ahead of us. I see this happening in my own personal journey as well as with my loves ones. It always seems like someone around us is getting engaged or getting that bad ass job or travelling all over the word ...the list goes on and on. And social media does not help!!! I actually read a celebrity's instagram that she had to unfollow another celebrity because everthing she saw about this person made her feel like crap about herself. I thought this was interesting because we forget that even the people who seem to have it all, still experience jealousy and self resentment. Try staying away from your social media accounts for a few days and notice the liberation within. :)

When we allow these feelings to arise, it becomes very hard for us to be happy for others because there is an immediate reaction of jealousy, which then turns into negative feelings towards ourselves that extends out into our universe. All of the sudden, everything that you have worked for and accomplished seems to be completely insignificant WHICH IS TOTAL BULLSHIT! You are BEAUTIFUL, SMART, HEALTHY, AMAZING, COMPETENT, INSPIRING! Just because other poeple are accomplishing things as well does not take away from your awesome place in this world. In fact, I feel the more people around me that are flourishing must mean that we are all feeding off of each other's postive energy and we are all GROWING TOGETHER. Ram Dass said, "we are all just walking each other home".

Here is the truth: there will ALWAYS be someone who is doing what you "wish" you could be doing or you think is "better looking" than you or whatever "it" is. And the other part of the truth is that the more you look at these people longingly with rose colored glasses is that you make yourself look and feel more ridiculous. This type of self abuse should not be a part of your personal dream. This what I consider dark, poisonous thoughts.

Here are some simple examples of how you can cultivate self love on your own path:

TELL YOURSELF "I LOVE YOU". When you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and with a big smile tell yourself to have a wonderful day and how much you love your Self. :)

Find ways to pamper yourself. You do not have to spend a lot (or any!) money to do something special for your Self. Take a walk and look up at the sky - revel in the awe of how beautiful mother earth is and how lucky we are to have time to ourselves. Maybe do self massage? This can be pleasureable experience or simply foot rub :)

Meditate. (Click on video below for an audio meditation on self acceptance)

Practice compassion. When you enter a room, send compassion to all you see. Let go of your fear of judgment, of not belonging, of saying the wrong thing, of being misunderstood or being taken advantage of. To live with compassion is to live with passion. Trust that when you are your genuine, authentic Self that people connect with you.

The more awareness that we have when we recognize the signs of judgement, we are able to stop it from coming back. When I was younger, I used to think back at situations where I basically made an ass of myself and I would relive them in my head, over and over. Beating myself up on what I should have said, should have done - literally, I would keep myself up at night! Isn't that the most ridiculous thing? I have now developed a discipline of letting go that allows me to feel peace with the past. Obviously, it was all meant to happen to create what I travel on every day with every breath: MY path.

Finding YOUR own path should not be a struggle. Your path should never match up with someone else's path otherwise it is not authentic. It will just magically unfold when you believe in your Self and then you will realize that IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. Namaste :) xoxo, Kim