We're all socially conditioned from the time we're born.
We're trained to act, react and behave in a manner that is deemed 'appropriate', 'right' and 'acceptable'. We're conditioned by our family, our friends, our school, our community, our religion, our country, our ethnicity and the list goes on.
As we grow up we're told who we are, how we are to behave, what to think, where we should live, which car we should drive, what we should 'become', who we should date and/or marry and the stories we should tell about all of these things.
We're shaped, we're moulded and we're re-moulded ... again and again until we represent a format that everyone around us is happy with.
The result is a life full of 'automatic' moments. Moments where most of us will engage without being conscious - almost as if we are sleep-walking. Without even knowing it, we've been programmed - and our programming has taught us that it is far less painful and more acceptable to others when we don't wake up.
We shut down our internal thought processes and limit access to our internal knowledge and wisdom. As women we're taught to question our intellect and live in the smallest version of ourselves possible - to be anything more is to be a threat to those around us.
Don't rock the boat - don't tip the boat over!
We're taught to rely on community - and we're taught that when we step outside the boundaries given to us we endanger the community as a whole.
We constantly seek feedback from those around us - questioning everything we want until we get a consensus view that tells us which direction is the right way to go.
What if we are actually supposed to connect with our inner wisdom to give us our directions? What if we've been taught to suppress our reliance on ourselves because it means we can be more easily controlled by others? What if there's another way to live?
"Do you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?"
(Danielle LaPorte)
If we're lucky, we have the opportunity to come across a quote like this one that wakes up our conscious thought and helps us to see things a little bit differently. Some of us will wake up because of a traumatic event - often a near-death experience - and realise that our social conditioning has been working against us from day one.
We follow other people because they seem to have something we don't have. In reality, we're following a façade that is handed to us. Unless you actually know the person, there is no way for you to know what their life is actually like.
Every single person living on earth is, at their very core, simply a person. They are flesh and blood and full of the ups and downs of life - just like everyone else.
Often, the only difference is that some people learn to follow their inner wisdom. They connect internally for answers instead of reaching externally for the quick fix to every problem.
The truth is this: until you learn to be guided by yourself, you will spend your days following others. When you follow someone else you will never know whether what you are following is real - or a façade created to guard against the world.
"There's nothing you need to do, be, have, get, change, practice or learn in order to be happy, loving and whole."
(Michael Neill)
The world is a big place but today we're connected easily through technology. There has never been a better time to access the wisdom and knowledge that can teach you to reconnect with yourself.
The first step is yours - will you take it?
There are loads of tips and tricks on how to think and live differently in 'Keep It Super Simple' - you can buy a copy from www.sheiqlife.com/shop or call me on +61 438 624 868 to discuss how I can help you to implement small steps to simplify your life.
Bronwen Sciortino is a global thought leader who empowers simple connection, and is the author of Keep It Super Simple - Tips from a Recovering Perfectionist. Join the conversation by subscribing to the tribe at www.sheiqlife.com; Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.
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