Where you’re born? No choice. Parents who raise you? No choice. Your DNA and genes? No choice. The culture and belief system you are exposed to? No choice. Each of us is born with a fully malleable brain hungry for input. The input you receive why your brain is forming becomes the basis of everything you think, believe and perceive as truth. None of us have any choice over any of these things . . . until, we do.
Little by little we discover we have our own thoughts, preferences, desires and perceptions and as we consider each INDEPENDENT thought we finally are thrust into the world of adulthood and told to choose wisely, make good decisions. “Adulting” as it turns out, is not always so easy.
How you dress? It’s your choice. How you present yourself? It’s your choice. What you think, feel, believe and project out into the world? Again, it’s your choice. Friends and lovers? Definitely, it’s your choice and perhaps one of the most important you make.
Unfortunately, if no one has encouraged and nurtured our independent thinking and shown us the VALUE of learning to trust our own intuition, we can find ourselves completely ill equipped to function in this new adult world of choice. So we may default and let others influence our decisions and mold our thinking . . . our spouse, our pastor, our friends, our parents, etc.
Subsequently, the more we relinquish our own thoughts and choose to follow . . . the more we squelch personal maturity, intellectual growth and the ability to evolve emotionally and psychologically.
Freedom of thought . . .to become your own person, to truly know yourself and what makes you “you” is so visceral and deeply embedded in the psyche, if we deny and defy it for too long we may end up an empty shell, feeling imprisoned by our own apathy, victimized by everything and everyone.
TRUTH:
You’ve been given this amazing gift of LIFE! Live it! You’ve been given the most amazing tool . . . your BRAIN! Use it! And if you are so extremely fortunate enough to live in a free society where you can think your OWN thoughts and SPEAK your own mind and be your own person . . . go for it!
CHOOSE freedom. Choose truth. Choose honesty. Choose to simply be YOU.
The Zen Den
Hello and welcome to The Zen Den. My name is Alison and while I am passionate about many things, my most inspiring driving force is human connection. Blogger, content writer, orthopedic exercise specialist, motivational speaker, international yoga pro, published songwriter, avid poker player, mom and wife are just a few of my titles. But when I do my job at NASA, I am known simply as “The Fairy Zenmother” a role I deeply love because people invite me into their space to help them find their center, relax and stretch their muscles and destress their mind. Here in the blogosphere version of The Zen Den, I invite you into my world where I will explore ideas for creating a better tomorrow and a kinder today. And hopefully, with insight, authenticity and humor; my words, observations and experiences will help you feel calm, centered, intellectually challenged and spiritually enlightened. Alternatively, if you have something you would like to see covered in The Zen Den, just let me know. Your feedback is welcome and valuable to the success of this blog. Finally, my heart is filled with gratitude to have this opportunity to share with all of you.
