It’s easy to look for answers to your questions outside yourself, you’re conditioned to do so. In school the focus is largely on what you’re taught by others and what you can remember. You become used to a collective who has an opinion on your behaviour and Iife: teachers, career counsellors, pastoral care. By the time you get to work you’re adept at following the instruction of external authorities; line managers, heads of department, HR. It makes sense then, that when you embark on any kind of self-help or healing journey, one of the first things you’re going to do is look for someone higher, a person who knows more. It’s sensible, because if you had all the answers, then maybe you wouldn’t be dating the wrong man, or working in the wrong job. You wouldn’t be overweight and you sure as heck would have more money in the bank. Searching for answers outside yourself with an aim to grow and do better is natural, and there are many occasions where it’s applaudable, quite literally a lifesaver.
But here are some questions:
Once you’ve seen multiple professionals, have had guidance, healing, all the incoming insights in the world, how do you know when it’s time to stop asking other people for their opinion?
How do you recognise, when the time has come to gather all the knowledge and experiences you have, and fix the problem yourself?
As fast as you’re willing to put your hard-earned money into the hands of another a coach, healer, guru, what would it take to turn that around? To spend that hour trying to have a conversation with yourself, taking direction and comfort from your own self?
There is a higher self that you all, each one of you, possesses and sometimes (a lot of the time) it has the information you need. Those who have attained a certain level of spiritual and personal growth will know what I’m speaking about, however, the person still struggling with day-to-day existence may not. And that’s okay, that’s different.
Obviously there will be some situations where you, the expert in your field, don’t get it. You don’t understand why you’re having particular thoughts or outcomes in your life, and you will need professionals, or trained guidance. But what about the times when you simply aren’t thinking things through long enough to help yourself? All the times when you’re so busy with other things, that the only way you can stick with growth is by committing to showing up for someone else for two hours, not letting them down.
In the fast pace of life, it’s going to be easy to forget that sometimes the reason you’re flailing is not because you can’t find the right help, but because you’re ignoring or not valuing that part of yourself that can do the job itself. Practitioners, experts, what I want you to do is pause. The next time you go to buy that book or enquire about that session, just for a moment, pause. You may end up doing it anyway, but at least you first will have given your own wisdom some time, a chance.
