Your most important pursuit

Don’t be afraid. Step into the real you. 

The you that was contained, bullied, or ridiculed into hiding, or shushed when you were young. The one told to act more appropriately, to hide your feelings, to be more loveable by acting how someone else wanted you to be. 

Be free from being what you think others want you to be.  

You are allowed to be loyal to this you. It is where your intrinsic freedom lies. Here you can enter your lightness and become fully aware of this authentic you. From here you can see and feel where you are not aligned, see where you are working hard at being perceived a certain way, where you are toiling to be loved as something you are not. 

And do not be ashamed as we are all doing exactly the same. 

It is a sobering place to stand in being aware of all the places you are deciding not to be who you are. Embrace the pain of this awareness, as it is your guide. It lovingly tries to bring you into a life of the most authentic you. Allow this pain to speak, to magnify your misalignments, to show you where truth is needed. It is guiding you. To a life where you are not one thing but choosing another.  

Don’t be afraid. Step into the real you. Taking care of this is your most important pursuit…. 

— 
Andrew. 

The Journey By Mary Oliver 

“One day you finally knew 
what you had to do, and began, 
though the voices around you 
kept shouting 
their bad advice— 
though the whole house 
began to tremble 
and you felt the old tug 
at your ankles. 
"Mend my life!" 
each voice cried. 
But you didn't stop. 
You knew what you had to do, 
though the wind pried 
with its stiff fingers 
at the very foundations, 
though their melancholy 
was terrible. 
It was already late 
enough, and a wild night, 
and the road full of fallen 
branches and stones. 
But little by little, 
as you left their voices behind, 
the stars began to burn 
through the sheets of clouds, 
and there was a new voice 
which you slowly 
recognized as your own, 
that kept you company 
as you strode deeper and deeper 
into the world, 
determined to do 
the only thing you could do— 
determined to save 
the only life you could save.”