How do we reach FULLNESS?
What do I mean by reaching FULLNESS? It is reaching a state where we are full of ourselves, no joke…but in a very good way. It is about finding a life filled with meaning and purpose which aligns with our truest essence of ourselves, tapping into our most authentic nature. What would it look like if we allow ourselves to be FULLY US unabashedly. Many of us go through life well-intentioned, pursuing all the “right things”, but don’t get to pause and observe or notice often enough to know what is happening inside of us. In pursuit of well-intended goals, we get used to going and going, forging ahead with our heads down (to maximize speed no less), without stopping to breathe and look around or look inside to assess with introspection. Meanwhile our minds race with thoughts and judgment like “am I doing this right?”, “there I go again", “you should know this!” .. . but do we pay attention to them? They can be clues to something that wants to be seen and discovered in us. But what if we start to unpack these questions, we unleash a leviathan. There’s no time or capacity for that right now, right? So we continue with our semblance of upholding status quo, avoiding what awaits us inside. It’s like shoving things into a closet to keep up the appearance of a clean space, but after a while that closet is about to burst, yet we dare not peek in there too long or too carefully because who knows what we might find.
Like a best friend’s couch which can be familiar and comfortable yet not really belong to us, our current beliefs and ways of living, may not fully belong to us either. We sense that something needs to change, but we are not sure in what way or how. When we have this feeling, it may be signaling that it’s time to unpack and take inventory of what occupies our minds. A chance to stop and assess where our minds tend to dwell, what we’ve picked up along the way and stowed in our mind space throughout our lives to choose what we want to keep or toss away. How often do we question what has become permanent fixtures in our minds that should have only been a stopover? What purpose do my patterns of thoughts and beliefs serve right now? Is it time to let some of those go to make room for new and better? We won’t know unless we look through the chambers of our minds, unpack, reorganize, and even purge some of it. When we slow down and take the time to do this, we can recognize the mindset widgets that may have occupied space for too long, posing a barrier in our lives. We get to see what is keeping us from reaching the next level or ourselves, our next level of a full and meaningful life.
Oftentimes, these barriers are protective walls we’ve deliberately put up to convey an outward appearance of strength or sufficiency to prove that we are capable. However, these forms of protection which may have once served us, overextended their stay and is now keeping us from flowing in our truest nature. At this point a deep sense of loneliness and feeling lost may ensue as our true selves are unseen, having been hidden for too long. A feeling of duplicity and inauthenticity accumulates over time. These walls of shoulds, should-nots, and have tos, inhibit us from living in a way that feels most genuine and natural to us, stifling our innate attributes.
The process of removing these stale walls and becoming our true selves can indeed feel daunting, but when we invest the time and energy to embark on this transformative journey, we find a renewed appreciation of who we are and the confidence to embrace ourselves in full. The challenge is that this fullness in life is not easily achieved by ourselves. I believe we are not meant to be get there alone. Why journey alone when we can lean into the space of being aware, curious, intentional, and open, to yield unexpected and unimaginable solutions in partnership - together?!
