I recently went to Arizona with a group of woman that I had never met before and something happened that completely changed my life…
I met Ashley (myself) for the very first time. I listened to my own thoughts, I felt my own feelings, I embraced my own weirdness, and I allowed my own intuitions to guide me.
I met her, and I fell in love with her.
It was my first time in Arizona. The state is beautiful, incredible, vibrant. I will share more about my trip in blogs to come.
Arizona pushed me out of my comfort zone. I pushed myself physically harder than I ever have before. I believed in myself. I didn’t rely on someone else‘s encouragement. I trusted myself, alone.
For as long as I can remember, there has been a voice in my head that has told me that I have to be someone who I am really not. It’s told me how to act like others, talk like others, share the same beliefs as others. It’s told me that if I wanted to be loved, I had to be a certain way. I had to like certain things even if they made me feel yucky inside. It’s told me to make sure that everyone else is comfortable around me. It’s told me that my feelings don’t matter, that my beliefs aren’t right. It told me that I was unworthy and that I would never be good enough to experience love and happiness. It told me to never share my story, my truth.
I realized I have lived my entire life trying to make everyone else happy.
In Arizona, I acted weird, I smiled, I laughed, I talked (a lot), I shared some of my deepest secrets, I cried in front of others strangers. I felt all of my feelings and I sat with them, understood them, learned from them.
I broke free.
Free from my shame. Free from my guilt. Free from the negative voice inside my head. Free from others beliefs. Free from FEAR.
I woke up.
I opened up.
I spoke up.
For the first time in my life, I feel aligned, authentic. I am intelligent. I am compassionate. I am a warrior. I am spiritual. I am growing. I am becoming. I am on my own journey.
Ways that I have found to set yourself free.
1. You are free to stop. Stop doing what everybody else is doing. Stop falling into social pressures. You can check in with your soul, your feelings, your morals. You can do what YOU want.
2. You are free to notice. You can pay attention to those gut feelings. You can listen to your intuitions. You don’t have to believe or do what others say is right/wrong and normal/weird. You can notice what feels right and good to you. Notice how you feel. Notice what is really driving you. Is it your instincts or is it those around you?
3. You are free to listen. Listen to your heart, body, mind, soul. Listen to that positive, feel good voice inside of your head. Not the voice that is constantly feeding you negative bullshit and telling you that you aren’t enough, that you don’t fit in, or you won’t have enough or be enough if you don’t accomplish all of the things. Listen to the voice that soothes you, comforts you, makes you feel calm, safe and secure.
4. You are free to show up. You have questions and you can feel free to ask them. You have ideas. You have gifts. You have talents. Use them, don’t be afraid to show them. So what if you don’t have the credentials that others may have. You have knowledge and you have power. You hold wisdom that no one else has. You have your experiences. You have your story.
5. You are free to remember why. You are free to do anything you want to do (within limits of the law of course). But you are free to find joy in showing up to the places you want and enjoying the things that make YOU happy.
6. You are free to rest. Rest is hard. Society tells us that rest is lazy. Rest is essential. It is okay to take time to rest. Rest from your job, your kids, you day to day life. Take the trip, take the nap, go on that walk alone, lay in the grass, soak up the sun. Rest, girl. You are aloud to rest.
7. You are free to live your life with YOUR sense of purpose. You don’t have to live by what others say your purpose is. You get to live by what sets you free, whatever that may be.
Be free, be you.
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