How do you know you can trust yourself?
Asking for help is a skill and something that doesn't always come easy. It's a humbling experience and an exercise in trust… who do you reach out to? And can you trust their advice? Their wisdom? Their engagement with what you're wrestling with?
There is looking to others for guidance and wisdom, but have you ever thought to ask yourself for the answers you need?
Your body holds wisdom. Your spirit is an experienced guide. Your heart knows the way (Rumi said so). You have an incredibly powerful and unique brain that is designed to problem-solve and make connections and get things moving…
What I'm trying to say is, yes, of course, go to therapy, ask your partner for help, go to your parents or someone with more runs on the board to find wisdom and guidance...
And also?
Don't discount yourself as a place and source of wisdom.
Answers aren't what they seem. Sure, 2 + 2 = 4… but what about the possibilities of 4? All the things that could 4 could mean and equal and become? It's not clear-cut, single-minded, one-sided. The possibilities are ongoing.
Answers aren't going to permanently solve things for you. There is very little that is absolute. The best we can hope for is a nudge in the 'right' direction. What usually happens after any kind of answer is given is that answer opens the door to more questions, more decisions, and more change, which brings the need for more guidance, questions, wisdom…
Instead of putting all our stock on getting the answers right, let's instead turn our energies towards asking good questions, towards the possibility of multiple things being true, of there being any number of ways we could go and decisions we could make, and that we would find our way in any one of them.
Rabbi Joshua Heschel said:
"We are closer to God when we are asking questions than when we think we have the answers..."
When seeking wisdom, the power doesn't live in the answer you get but in the openness you ask your questions with and keep on asking them. Because, in the end, answers will come and go, and there will still be things to decide and moves to make. Answers aren't your answer, but the flow within which you can embrace the changing tides of living a life is where you'll find your ground.
Don't discount yourself as a place and source of wisdom, something and someone to which you should ask your questions and be open towards.
Your body knows things that it longs for you to hear.
Your inner child has vital information that will help you chart your way.
Your brain is equipped and designed to follow directions and solve problems… even when you doubt that it is.
Your spirit is a compassionate and courageous guide, ever empowering you onward.
Your heart knows the way; deep in its chambers it holds the keys to who you are.
Your experiences… they add up. You've been through things. You've seen and heard and felt a lot. And if you allow yourself to ask your experiences what they know about you and life and love and all of it, it will have stories to share that will light your way.
How do you know you can trust yourself? That's something you can learn. That's something you can practice. Many of us have forgotten how to speak the language of our own souls… but because it is ours, we can pick it up again if we just pay attention and give it a go. The more you practice, the clearer it becomes.
In this week's series, each day will be a prompt to delve into different parts of you and your life to find the wisdom you do indeed have and do indeed need. And answers? They'll help, but you'll find what you're really looking for is that sense of peace that comes only when you surrender to the ebb and flow of questions and answers and wisdom and more questions as they weave together to chart the map of your world.
CONSIDER THIS: "Only as we keep an open communication with our deep inner life will we have the wisdom to make effective choices." Stephen Covey.
From this week’s series, "Looking For Wisdom", with a subscription, in the App.
Written by Liz Milani
Instagram: @thepracticeco
