Finding Harmonious Between Self and the World
Everyone comes with a mission - to become oneself. Not to fulfill the expectations in others' eyes or become the person they think we should be.
People who often experience anxiety are often those who have distanced themselves from their true selves.
They tend to give excessive attention to others, such as parents who overly focus on their children or individuals who place too much emphasis on their partners or colleagues. They try to control the ever-changing circumstances with their conscious minds, and that's when anxiety arises.
By straying from their center and excessively extending outward, they surrender themselves, and thus anxiety arises. Therefore, anxiety is a message indicating that you need to return to yourself and reclaim some of the attention that you have excessively given to others.
Joseph Campbell, the author of "The Hero's Journey," said that becoming oneself is a heroic journey.
He uses this metaphor: Imagine you painstakingly carry a ladder, finally place it against a wall, and climb up the wall with great effort, only to discover that you've placed the ladder against the wrong wall - it's someone else's wall.
Campbell says, even in such a situation, it's not a problem. You can take a breath up there, savor the moment of dignity, then gracefully turn around and slowly climb down from the wall.
Listen to your voice, reposition the ladder on your wall, and embark on your journey.
What are you most worried about if you don't surrender yourself entirely to others?
Take a moment to feel it here. What is the answer? Perhaps it's the fear of not being liked by others or being perceived as lacking ability or value.
Where do you feel these voices in your body? It could be in the area of your heart or the lower abdomen. Then, speak to your inner vulnerable part and say, "I see you, and I'm providing you a safe place within my body."
Once we return to ourselves, enter the world from our center, and engage in relationships, we will not over extend ourselves or surrender ourselves completely.
We need to find a sweet balance between the self and the world, connecting with ourselves as we enter the world.
As the great Swiss psychologist Carl Jung said, "I would rather be whole than perfect."
Perfection represents rigidity, while wholeness brings us unlimited creativity. Just as yin and yang together create everything.
When I know myself and allow my complete self to guide, help, and support me as I navigate the external world, this wholeness is not disturbed or torn apart by the external world.
Regardless of external changes, I can gently embrace every different aspect of myself, connect with myself, love myself, and accept myself. From this state of wholeness, from the center of my body, I open up to the world and enter into it.
Find a sweet balance between the external and internal worlds.
With such a broad, complete, relaxed, flowing, and confident state, fearlessly walking the journey of life with the courage of love is the most beautiful stance in life.