Welcome to Living a Life of Gratitude.
I'm Sarah Wiseman.
Saying yes.
We become adults when we step into who we really are.
We don't become perfect or mature,
Nor do we solve all the problems of the planet,
Not to mention all of the problems of our personal life,
Habits,
Characteristics,
And relationships on this earth.
Even when we step into adulthood,
We carry our faults and flaws and foibles like coats we've brought along in case of cold weather.
But we do shed one suit of clothing we've been wearing for a long time.
Not the innocence of childhood,
Not the energy of youth,
But the suit of clothing that others have made for us and that we have willingly donned for so many years.
The shirt and pants of other people's expectations,
Other people's desire for us,
Other people's demands.
The first demands are sown by our parents who may want us to be happy,
But more often want us to be able to support ourselves,
To be stable,
To be safe,
And to have a job that is well regarded in society as a whole.
They are not interested in the most part in the path less traveled.
The next demands are those of our relationships who want us to fit into a way of behaving that serves the relationship.
If you are married,
For example,
Your spouse will want you to continue to be married,
To do the things that you have always been doing in the marriage.
If you are a woman,
This might be the cooking,
The cleaning,
The child bearing,
The child caring,
The support of the family with a supplementary income.
If you are a man,
This might be agreeing to go out and make an income that you bring home to support the family.
This is a simplistic way of looking at these arrangements because many modern relationships have more breathing room built in,
But many relationships in our society still do not.
Often,
These are tasks that you have agreed to early before you know who you are or who you are going to be.
Finally,
Society itself puts controls on us.
We are encouraged to act a certain way,
Discouraged from acting other ways.
These constraints may be subtle.
In every person's life,
There comes a time when these outfits no longer fit.
What our parents want for us,
What our relationship wants for us,
What society wants.
We must walk into the desert,
Take off all these suits of expectations,
And step into who we really are.
You may have faced this already in your own life and made this rite of passage.
You may be getting ready to do this rite of passage soon.
You may only see the smallest glimmer of this choice approaching you,
A twinkling star in the distant corner of your vision beckoning you.
People often ask me,
What's my life path or what's my life's purpose?
The answer is always,
You choose.
If you have always wanted to be a writer but you find yourself as a banker,
Then you are not stepping into yourself.
If you have always wanted to be a healer but you are too afraid to take the training required,
You are not stepping into yourself.
There are always so many reasons to say no,
To deny yourself,
To resist,
To be afraid,
To stop,
To disallow.
True freedom happens when you say yes to who you truly are and take that path.
This is when you step into adulthood,
When you take off all the expectations and desires others have for you and choose your own way,
Your own pilgrimage of your life.
In my own case,
I always wanted to be a writer but I was not able to start writing until I was 40.
I was mothering,
Working and simply was too afraid that I would fail.
I finally said yes to my true calling.
I walked into the desert alone and began my pilgrimage.
If you are thinking about stepping into your true self today,
I say don't wait.
Don't wait another moment,
Another month,
Another year.
If you are afraid,
Bring your fear along with you.
You can jettison it later when you are further on your path and will know you do not need it.
What do you need to say yes to?
Don't say you don't know,
You do.
Take some time today to ask yourself this question over and over again until you can get to the place where you will answer freely from your heart's truth.
Meditate on this question,
Pray on it,
Ask it to be revealed.
If you are already walking on your true path,
Be in gratitude.
If you are not yet on your path,
Be in gratitude for your uniqueness on this planet or the gifts that you have to offer the world.
