Getting to know Yourself

Hey Guys welcome back to Lunar Blogs! I hope everyone is safe and taking care of themselves and their loved ones during these hard times. I am sure it is now Day #38424616289174817 of Quarantine for most of you and I know it is difficult so just hang in there, you've got this. We've got this!

"TALK TO YOURSELF LIKE SOMEONE YOU LOVE" - BRENE BROWN

One of the most important journeys we all go through in life is getting to know ourselves, we all seek that moment when we will feel perfectly comfortable with who we are, what we have become and our accomplishments. Our values and personalities make up so much of us and we truly work to be the best we can be. For some that journey starts later in life for others it starts early. Regardless of the age we should always put ourselves first and seeking the journey to know ourselves should be prioritized.

When ever I do mention "getting to know myself" to anyone they always follow up with "what does that even mean?". During these times where we are forced to spend a little more time with ourselves and we are not so consumed with our "everyday" lives of busy work and other duties, our regular normal will change and so will we. This is the perfect time to get to know yourself on a more profound level and understand what makes you who you are, understand what your goals and next steps should be to become a better you. It can be a little overwhelming when you hear that maybe we should be a little more productive or when we see people in social media doing all these productive things with their time at home and you just want to be cuddled up in your bed in your favorite pjs watching movies, because why not? or maybe you are just not finding the strength to whip something new in the kitchen because lets be honest you are no cook and you hate the kitchen! There is no need to feel shame, what you should really be focusing on is yourself, your self growth and how you will make the best out of this time to get to know who you are in what ever way that means to you.

"YOUR MIND IS A POWERFUL THING. WHEN YOU START TO FILTER IT WITH POSITIVE THOUGHTS, YOUR LIFE WILL START TO CHANGE." - BUDDHA

I am so grateful to have the supportive people I have in my life, and there are absolutely no words to describe how much I appreciate them and thank them. I could say it in every blog if I could, but you know who you are. These trying times were a big lesson for me and I was pushed and shoved into a situation that I can guarantee you the day before I quarantined myself I was terrified of feeling. I had to meditate over and over again and remind myself that I could do this (plus I had the time). It was scary and it was difficult and honestly I am still trying and working on it. A few weeks in though and I have picked up new skills, I have learned things about myself that I had no idea I knew and I fed my brain and heart with amazing and countless knowledge. With that I have been able to strengthen relationships in my life and most importantly the long term relationship I am in with myself.

Life is not about pleasing everyone else and making sure no one is mad at you for not answering the phone or text message. It is not about feeling guilty because you have not done enough charity work or you have not reached out to that one person you know is probably more alone than you (now please do not think I am saying that these are not amazing things to do and giving back is always a motto in my life) but I believe in order for us to give back we have to know what we have first. Not just materialistic items but what we have inside of us, what lessons and knowledge can we give back to the world. In order to be able to do that we need to get to know ourselves, to understand what place we hold in each and everyones life around us and how we can contribute love and understanding in their lives.

It is okay to feel overwhelmed, but what we do with those emotions is what really sets the tone to a more inspiring and impactful journey. Now I mentioned earlier a long term relationship with myself. The empathetic and motherly cancer in me tends to put my loved ones first before anything. I have always struggled with pleasing the people around me and understanding that a lot of the times the decisions I made were not necessarily what I wanted or got the outcome that I would have hoped for. Regardless of that if I made someone I cared for happy then I did not feel so bad and I just moved on and said to myself that it probably was not that big of a deal in the first place...

(Now I can tell you about five things that I have learned that are wrong with that type of mentality)

You end up never being fully content and losing a sense of individuality, you question things a lot and you depend on others to move forward because you seek their approval. I have sat down with myself and felt OVERWHELMED with those feelings. Part of what I am working on is to not second guess myself and let myself feel guilty for being a little selfish. If we all put our foot down and chose ourselves every single time, I promise not only would those people that you were always trying to please would be happy too (if they have the best intentions and love you) but so would you and that is what I am getting to, YOU would be happy because YOU chose yourself and that is okay.

The most important and long term relationship we will ever be in is with ourselves and because of that choose yourself every. single. time.

______________________________

Dance. Sing. Write. Draw.

Make Art.

These are the things I do to express myself, what do you do?

What makes you smile while you are alone?

What makes you think that maybe the world is not such a fucked up place?

What is your place?

Where do you feel the safest?

I know sometimes reading the most positive words do not always cut it. I know when I am in my moods, and I read all happy quotes or blogs I want to punch the writer in the face (just because). Sometimes positivity can trigger us, but the world needs it because life takes care of the shitty moments and thoughts all on her own. No one likes to write about feeling sad, or feeling angry and share it with the world or about a messed up situation (that is why the news exists). The reason for that is because a bigger battle we all deal with is in our mind and heart, so I am an advocate for understanding that we have to live with the bad thoughts in us and we all want to read positive things to remind us that things will be better, we need a balance.

A little tip: Filter what content you watch and read (the unfollow and delete button exist for a reason). What ever it is that brings you joy, follow people that inspire you and make you smile. Feed your eyes and ears emotions that will teach you and help you grow. Do not let yourself be fed garbage and let that be a starting point to a rollercoaster of self doubt.

Understanding that everyones journey and lives are all different and just because the next person is doing something you wish you could do but cannot at the moment, does not mean that you never will. Take those moments and lessons and make them your own, do not try to be someone that you are not and you will see that the world loves you for being different, for being you. In life you will learn that the time you took to know yourself and the moments that shaped you, were all part of the process no matter how difficult they were. The difference is you made them your own and chose to make them part of your journey.

Regardless of a pandemic or not, please keep on choosing yourself. If you have not started or do not know how, think about how amazing it would be down the road to know that every decision you made in life was driven by YOU and you wanting to get to know and better yourself.

Please continue staying positive, healthy and please wash your hands.

See you Next time!

Namaste

(Daisy Gonzalez)