I remember as a young child, I would dive into tackling something new without minding the directions of how to play a game or put together a new toy.
When I struggled in figuring it out on my own, my dad would meet me with saying, “read the directions of how to play the game or put the toy together.”
His rules wasn’t how I inherently operate.
I chose to explore how to do something and figure it out while my dad looked to make things “easier” or minimizing frustration in finding a solution.
Maybe because he believed “he knew better”, he was in charge because of his role as a parent or he was passing down his life lessons and stories because he believed it was “the way.”
In his own way, my dad was guiding me in the way he would figure out a problem rather than seeing things from my perspective and my motivation.
I followed the road map he tried to provide me when it was right for me to do.
I asked him for guidance on how to fill out student loan documentation, he taught me how to open a bank account, but when it was time in pursuing my own professional goals, I followed my purpose.
I spent years of being an AmeriCorps volunteer and obtaining degrees in social work. My focus was on heart centered work which he didn’t understand at the time because in his eyes it wasn’t practical.
What I discovered for myself, my motivation for taking action was never about what a profession looked like. I value the connection of living compassionately and ethically with how I serve others. Creating a role for myself that gets to express this purpose rather than fitting myself into position description or expectations of others gives me freedom.
Each of you have your own internal compass informing you where to go and your purpose in life regardless of the lessons and stories from others who think they know better because of education, life experience, age or whatever else shaped the stories they live by day in and day out.
Their story isn’t yours and when you move from a place of how you get to live your life, what it gets to look like, how you raise children and even how you nurture your companion animals, you get to create a life you desire. You aren’t bound by the rules others follow.
Trusting your inner knowing rather than blindly following how others are trying to shape your experience allows space for you to grow and learn in a way that is aligned with your values.
By filtering the choices you get to make through your inner wisdom, you do come up with creative ways of living your life. When your choice doesn’t link up with what others say or do, doesn’t mean you’re wrong or it’s a problem.
Living a life in alignment with your values and how you design it to look like and feel like is solely up to you.
What do you want in your life? What does it get to look like for you? What do you prioritize? How can you live heart centered and grounded by your internal compass of the direction you get to take?
I have a few spots open for 1:1 support in January 2023!
Four Paws & You Dog Training 