Young and Wild and Free

Would you like to be a young spirit running wild and feeling free? Who wouldn’t, right? “But life is not all about indulging yourself and succumbing to pleasure”, you hear yourself saying in response. True but it all depends on your perspective.

Physical age doesn’t matter as long as one stays young at heart. Now at 28 I feel much younger than I did a few years ago. Not only do I feel it within, but friends say that I look younger as well. The answer is simple: DO WHAT YOU LOVE. LIVE YOUR DREAMS. Do not put off your life for better times when you have more free time or more money. Life is happening right there, that very moment you are reading these lines. Today is not a preparation or rehearsal of tomorrow. Today manifests your presence in this world. Either consciously or unconsciously you make that choice of what your day is going to be like today and only you know if it brings you contentment or not.

It all starts with the desire. Unless there is a conscious willingness, whatever one does will not give them real satisfaction. However, the genuine desire of heart is at times hard to release because it is piled under a load of daily worries, routine tasks and most frightfully – other people’s expectations of what you must become. Admitting to yourself where your true passion lies is a first step to a better mental and thus physical well-being.

Revealing your inner true self is a tough job for many: since the moment we are born we start acquiring social norms and habits – be it our parents, teachers or friends who inflict them upon us. It is inevitable as we are all social beings. Nevertheless, identifying your own ideas among the roomful of beliefs fitted on you by the master tailor – Society – is of crucial importance. Each born individual is unique both physically and spiritually. The Society doesn’t deny the former with the fashion industry producing multifold ways of highlighting the beauty of each individual. Then why does the Society NOT facilitate spiritual individuality in the same manner? Instead, its aim is quite the opposite – bring up persons who are rather predictable in their desires and thus easy to guide and govern. But WHAT MAKES YOU WHAT YOU ARE? Is it others’ judgement or parents trying to live their unfulfilled desires through their children? Certainly not. It is your unique energy that got embodied in your present Self. It is that precious particle of Self which gets wrapped up with layers and layers of social and cultural norms. Let your true self out – reveal your inner self by shedding off those artificial layers. Let this hidden jewel shine brightly onto self spreading love and wisdom that are within you.

It doesn’t happen overnight; and in the process we are usually unaware that we have started the Self discovery. Only it retrospect do we see a whole series of events leading to the upcoming revelations.

Here arises the next question – how to find your inner true Self. I believe there are many ways to achieve it and every person has to willingly step on that path to work out which way suits them better. I dare suggest though a few things that might help you make that most difficult first step.

Do you feel content with your life at present? You might have a rewarding job and be well-off financially, live in a nice city and be surrounded by loved ones. Many would say, “What else to ask for?” Your intellect would also be echoing the exact same words but… There is that little bug inside you depriving you of a true inner peace and contentment. By social standards you are having a good life, but why care about those norms if your humble inner Self is quietly longing for something else. You might not have a conscious idea of what exactly you are searching for but the fuzzy itchy sensation would not leave you. Then it is time to act.

Escape the Society that you have been brought up in. It is the worst teacher ever which once labeled you and would not want to remove that tag because it might shatter the foundations of how the Society works. Your home Society is like a blurry dusty mirror – it might not reflect your present Self but rather the once captured image which at that time must have been correct but may have already altered in a course of life. The very nature of all things lies in a constant change: our body cells change every second as well as the nature itself is ever changing. However, the Society’s nature is to resist changes so that to avoid chaos.

Escape that home Society by doing some extensive traveling or moving to a new country. If you can’t yet leave your hometown, do some volunteer work there. These options will expose you to a new environment where you meet a lot of new people who know nothing about you and thus expect very little of you allowing you to be what YOU choose to be. At the same time their reflections upon you will be much more objective because there is no expectation in the first place. This new environment is like a freshly cleaned mirror that captures your present Self and you might reveal quite a few personal traits that have always been there but you were unaware of them. These qualities can be both positive and negative. You will foster the good ones and shine on. It will be your choice if you are ready to work and uproot the negative ones.  Either way, at least you will know where you are standing: information is priceless.

Alternatively, to gain access to that valuable information about Self, you might try doing yoga and meditation. Both of these practices allow for turning your attention inward and tuning into your body and mind. Be prepared though to dedicate some time to these techniques because several classes of yoga or meditation would not open that door to inner Self.

It is all in the mind. You are the mind. You master your perspective. Stay young, break wild and run free.