“The world cares very little what you or I know, but it does care a great deal about what you or I do.”
– Booker T. Washington
Popped up wide awake from a dream the other morning. 4a.m Wide awake. In the dream I remember I was in a conversation with….well, you know how dreams go….someone or some thing. Not recalling who or what…..and its presence has no need for identification by me, in this telling. What I DO recall is hearing myself say “I don’t have to prove I’m right, I just have to live right.” Then…wide awake.
I’ve pondered that statement quite a bit. Mostly dealing with my resistance to the word ‘Right’ which is usually juxtaposed with the word ‘Wrong.’ As I have moved further away from knee-jerk reactions and judgments (yes….still a work in progress – ha!) I tend to avoid using those Right/Wrong definitions. Things can be “different,” or “interesting” (even to quote Arte Johnson “veddy interesting”) and I continue to point myself in a direction of what-I-want-for-me vs someone else’s views/tastes/habits. Their views/tastes/habits are their’s. Different is…..different. How much energy and negative power and resistance I pour into it is about “prove I’m right” vs “live right”….for me.
Then of course there was the rabbit hole of ‘well…..what IS right for me?’
Easiest focus for me to take is (1) what feels ‘right’ in my gut, (2) what values do I declare I choose to live by, and therefore (3) what have I defined (or am defining) as my Boundaries. Coupled across and winding through all these is the barometer: how do I feel. What do I wish to feel, and if needed, what do I need to “do differently” to feel that way.
Do I even know what feelings I AM championing? (Ah…back to one’s values.) The circle goes round and round. Enjoy the ride!
See why it’s a rabbit hole? Hahaha!
Soooo many questions in order to answer the question: what IS right for me?! Yet, for the most part instead of becoming frustrated, I’ve chosen to remember-to-remember Rilke’s suggestion: “Love the question.” (Or to put it more completely in his words: “…Try to love the questions themselves.”)
Unless I am choosing to experience a crappy day….then I’m probably diving into the ‘what’s wrong.’ Lovingly, that runs it’s course in about a 24-hr period any more. Sometimes within an couple hours. Yea me!
Overall, for me and my Now (not to mention my future) divining how to live my Me ‘right’ is indeed a continued work in progress. A great deal has already been discovered and embraced in the past several decades, yet there is always (as I continue discovering) more to bring to Light about this amazing person I am. Psst…..And so are you!
So go love the question. Be open and eager to finding Your answers as to how to live your right life.
Onward.
Namaste’