Forgive

Have you ever put it all out there? Have you ever laid down your ego and said what was truly in your heart? Have you ever let down your guard and shown yourself fully to another?

Why do we hide within ourselves? This world we live in is meant to be lived, in my opinion, from the inside out. A ton of us seem to live from the outside in. We take the ideas, perceptions, pain, rejection we receive in the outside world and we bring it inside of ourselves. We allow the world to determine who we are, what we are going to become and how we feel about ourselves. We allow outside influences to create our worlds for us. We allow them to tell us what we are good enough to be. By allowing those outside influences more of a say in our lives than us we feel lost, helpless and alone. I believe the reason we feel that way is because by following others perceptions and paths for us we actually lose ourselves. We no longer can recognize ourselves.

Think about it this way...When a child of a young age is kidnapped they can be convinced, after time and effort, that they are and always have been a completely different person than who they were born. Their name can be changed, their whole life altered and they will adjust and adapt to that new life story because they believe it to be true.

I believe that happens with all of us. We are told certain things and if we are told them long enough, and we don't have anyone there to reaffirm our real identity, we assume the identity we are given by the outside world. I believe that we become so wrapped up in what we believe we are suppose to be, because we put more faith and belief in what others say. We give ourselves to outside influences, we allow these outside influences to mold us into what they believe we should be because if they mold us then they'll like us because they made us..... I hope that makes sense.

That is how we live outside in. We allow others to show us who we are. The thing is, others have no idea who we are. They cannot see our hearts or our souls. They cannot truly know the potential we hold. The only person who can bring the true us out is ourselves. The way we can bring the true us to the world in to live the opposite of what most of us were taught. We need to live from the inside out. We need to listen to our hearts, follow our hearts and be courageous in knowing that we are being the person we are meant to be. We need to accept ourselves as we are. We need to allow the amazing power we hold within us to shine into the world.

I believe each of us is here for a reason. We each bring something to the table, we only need to find out what that gift is. We need stop listening to what others tell us and start listening to our hearts. Inside our hearts is our answer, our true self, our gift we are meant to provide the world.

So I encourage you all to listen to your heart. Stop pretending to be someone you are not, especially if being that person is hurting you inside. Forgive yourself and others for being mistaken about who you are. I don't believe people intentionally hold others down, I believe that others try and help even if their help ends up being misguided and leads you off of your path. So be kind, even to the ones who have hurt you most. Understand that they could not truly see who you are.

Each of us has the opportunity to make this life incredible. Each of us has something important to bring to the table of life, we need only find out what that is.

I wish all of you the best of luck in finding yourself, finding your purpose and living the path of your heart. It's never to late.

Forgive yourself and others. Move on and be who you are meant to be. Shine! Live from the inside out and you will be amazed at how amazing you truly are. You will feel your connection with God and others and you will find your happiness. I wish you peace.

Living Inspired,

Micah