The sound of Saturday morning cartoons trickled across the airways in our home as I sat watching my 1 year old eat bananas and strawberries. She really loves bananas and strawberries. She was in her element and I was in mine; I love watching her eat. I smiled, though I felt a little flash of distress that some of it was in her hair and some on her eyelids and cheeks. There was more than a bit on the floor. It was quite a mess, but the delight on her face was priceless. She was totally enjoying herself.
It struck me that she was not just feeding her physical being, but her soul.
I realized that my little darling was asserting her independence. By feeding herself, she may make some mistakes, but it builds her self confidence. She was not just putting food in her tummy, she was also feeding her soul and her sense of self. The little munchkin was exploring her right to seek out what she needs, though there might be a mess or two. Sometimes, we need to step beyond our safe zone and assert ourselves. We may make a mess or two, there might be a screwup here or there but our self-confidence is built when we try and that is one of the ways we build our authentic self.
As I continued to watch my daughter, her self-satisfaction was evident. She kept letting out random squeals of delight. Her self-satisfaction was obvious. The little angel was feeding herself and was totally happy to have the power to satisfy her needs. We frequently depend on others to bring us happiness and to satisfy us. Too easily we give away our power to pursue the things that gratifies us and make us happy.
We are often so focused on just feeding our physical being we do not pay attention to our soul withering away. The good thing is, it is never to late to change that.
Life can get messy, but a mess is never a reason to stay locked into comfort zones that rob you of your sense of self and your power to grow and advance. It doesn’t need to be perfect. You just need to know one thing that will feed your sense of self and make the first move toward doing it. Soon the second and third step will follow. Before you know it, you are living your most authentic life and the life of your dreams.