Photo by J. Denardo

“All we are we are” – Matt Nathanson

This is post #7 in my quest for 30 in 30.

In the never ending quest for a better way of life we tend to try a lot of things. We grab on to whatever is hot at the moment in the hopes that it will finally be the tool we’ve been looking for to get our lives to a place where we want them to be. To have the ability to do all the things we’ve always dreamed of doing. Having money, living well, being important, making a difference in the lives of others, some or all of these are things that tend to matter to those of us who set ourselves on a path to a better us.  One of the things I noticed in my reading was that there was a lot being said about finding the person you want to be and not much to do with looking at the person that you already are.

“I went broke believing that the simple should be hard”

Maybe there is an assumption that goes along with personal development. An assumption that the readers of books and blogs all know that something’s wrong but don’t quite know what it is. Maybe if we keep throwing out suggestions one of them will stick. Admittedly, as one of those readers, I got caught up in the hunt myself. I knew that I wasn’t happy with my life but I wasn’t exactly sure what had to change. I started buying books and reading blogs about anything and everything that might give me insight into what was “wrong” with me.  This eventually led me to be overrun with potential fixes to a problem that I hadn’t yet defined. It all ended up having a opposite effect to the one I was looking for. Instead of having solutions, everyday presented a new potential problem. As a result, I revolted. I stopped reading the books, I started unsubscribing from the blogs and I stopped trying to find solutions.

“Every day’s a start of something beautiful”

Eventually what I came to realize was that the solution wasn’t going to be found in a book or a blog. There weren’t any gurus or gods that could show me the path.  I found that all the answers I was seeking were already inside of me. I just had to eliminate the noise, listen to what was left and be open to being my true self. Suddenly things started to make a lot more sense. I had been fighting who I was and denying what mattered most to me. I had been trying so hard to “find myself” that I lost sight of what I already knew. Once I allowed myself to just be me there weren’t really any problems. When I stopped worrying about what I didn’t have, I started getting everything that I needed. My relationships with my family and friends grew stronger. The answers to where I wanted to be in my life became clearer and I was able to see what mattered most and how to get it.

What this blog is about is getting back to the basics of you. Everything you need is inside of you already. All you have to do is quiet your mind and be open to the answers. Once you rediscover your true self, be resolute in never loosing it again.  Establish your standards of living and never accept anything less.

Thanks for being here. Talk to you tomorrow
-JB

A note about the picture: That’s me… flying a plane. I recently had the chance to take a trip around Mt. Hood in Oregon. I’m not a pilot, in fact this was my first time in a prop plane. Still the actual pilot, also a flight instructor, not only let me fly the plane for most of the trip, he let me land it too. It was one of the most peaceful experiences I’ve ever had. I learned a lot about who I really was on that flight.

A note about todays posting: I was inspired to write this because of a post I recently read from @johnathanmead on his site Illuminated Mind. His post, about the “Number One  Self Development Mistake…” many of us make hit on so many points that I had discovered about myself in my search for “improvement” that it was like he was reading my mind. Maybe that’s what he means by “Illuminated”. Read the post, take heed of it’s warnings and follow the man on Twitter while you’re at it. He’s someone worth listening to.

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Today’s music: All We Are
by: Matt Nathanson
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