My old story was I grew up in the Air Force, and we moved a dozen times by the time I was 12. I was the new kid who felt this foreboding sense of attracting the school bully on my first day of school, which was rarely in September. At my core, I thought I didn't belong. I didn't fit in.
Can you relate?
Life isn't meant to be this way, or maybe it is. Perhaps it's the contrast that guides us to change our perspective and feel love and belonging at a visceral level. Maybe it's because of those very experiences that we remember with horror. This isn't to deny that whatever was part of your experience didn't happen; it did. It just means we get to change our perspective around the story as we do the inner exploration and new truths emerge.
The parts of my story that remain:
- I get to say that I was born in France because, well, as a Canadian, that's cool.
- We travelled a lot—which are experiences I still love to co-create.
- I stood up to that last school bully because I'd had enough. I pushed back and we became best friends.
My new story is:
- My life was filled with rich experiences.
- Change is a welcome part of who I am.
- My essence is love and belonging.
- I had two Dads and both loved me.
- People know they matter and that they belong when they are with me.
- My core values are freedom, fun, and connection. I know this because of my life experiences.
What I learned along the way:
- Loving myself isn't selfish. It's self-fulfilling.
- Loving myself is an extraordinary act of kindness.
- Not loving myself is unkind to me, and my experiences of love.
- Loving myself was my pathway to belonging.
- Belonging changed me at a cellular level.
- Life became easy when I knew I belonged.
- I learned that I belong—in this body, at this time—as a Spiritual being who came here for the experience.
I know you belong for these same reasons.
That is all. We make it so much more complicated than it needs to be. Life is intended to be an extraordinary experience of joy, freedom and love.
What have you learned that changed your perspective from not belonging to belonging? My wish for you is that you experience this extraordinary place within you and know you belong.
