An idealistic awakening:Part 3

Part 1 was about the moment of realisation when we see how we’ve been hiding from what we know is true about ourselves.

Part 2 was about the inner struggle that comes with being who we are in the world if it doesn’t quite fit with the collective consciousness.

This instalment is all about acceptance.

It is an invitation to be curious about the freedom that comes from finally letting go of the need to fit in, to embrace how you see the world and how you want to approach life.

For as long as I can remember, I have seen the world differently to how the people around me seemed to see it. I have always looked for the good in people and in situations that others might say are wrong or bad and tried to understand what lies beneath the behaviours that appear on the surface. For me, that comes from a sense of connection with our shared humanity, that we are all innately good but flawed and are each doing our best to navigate the curious experience of being human.

Since I was a small child, I have been a seeker or a searcher, trying to understand how the world works, exploring, learning, experimenting and being curious. Coming from a medical family, the world was often presented in a binary, linear, scientific way and there was not much space given to the possibility of a different way to understand the world.  Whilst I clearly see the place for a scientific view of the world (I have a Maters of Science degree myself!), I was always drawn to people who lived their life in an “alternative” way and part of me (secretly) wanted to be a hippy! I can see now that I had a deep spiritual sense of what it means to be human but didn’t allow myself to really explore that, until very recently.

Looking back, I can see that as I child I became very good at supressing the inner sense of being a bit different to others in pursuit of fitting in and being accepted. As I look at it now, I can see that I was seeking acceptance in the wrong place. 

Perhaps you can relate to that?

Spending your life seeking the approval of others and wanting to be accepted is completely natural. It is understandable. It is what humans have done through evolution. We seek to be part of a tribe and are influenced by how others in our tribe think and act. Many of us go through our whole lives believing that this is how it is but some of us have a moment of realisation (or perhaps it’s more like a slow dawning over many decades!) that it doesn’t have to be like that. That acceptance from the outside is fragile and can be retracted at any time, that the only true lasting acceptance is our own.

I am discovering that self-accepting and allowing are the real path to fulfilment and happiness in life.

Young children are so much more accepting of themselves and others and they allow themselves to be exactly who they are, regardless of how that fits with others' perceptions of what is acceptable. When you see a 3 year old in the supermarket dressed as superman, a Minion, a fairy or a dinosaur what do you think? 

For me, I look at them and smile at their unquestioning sense that it’s ok to to be who they want to be in that moment and to care less about whether they will fit in whilst walking down the aisles of Tesco!  They are not looking for acceptance from others, they are not seeking approval, they are being who they want to be in that moment. And I love that!

That is what this blog series is all about. It is about acknowledging all of the parts of ourselves and allowing the ones that we’ve been hiding or just not paying attention to, to be seen and heard. And we can do that in subtle ways, we do not need to make a big public declaration or start wearing superhero costumes!

It might be enough to simply acknowledge it in yourself.

Accept that part of you has been living in a way which helps you fit in but there is another part of you that also wants to be seen and heard. Realising that and allowing yourself to acknowledge that are key steps to living more in alignment with that part of you.

And as an idealist, I can see how the world could be if we were all more attuned to our inner wisdom and were showing up in the world being guided by our common humanity rather than influenced by the ego desire for power and control. And I want to be part of a movement in that direction.

Are you with me?

Join me for the final part in this blog series where we look at the way forward and revisit the first 2 parts if you haven't read them yet:

Part 1 - the realisation

Part 2 - the struggle

Part 4 - the way forward