Genius of Listening To Yourself

To believe your own thought,
to believe that what
is true for you in
your private heart is true for all men,
- that is genius.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Staying True To You -
Pure Genius, Pure Happiness

This quote by Emerson is worth reading and re-reading. I am a truth seeker and I use to look for truth from other sources. Sources like books and other people. I still read and listen to others; however, there is a shift in perspective for me now. I listen to my own responses to what I read or hear. By getting in touch with how I feel about a subject or the information being put to me, I stay true to who I am. The "who I am" is fluid. I try to learn something new about myself daily and have made a commitment to never stop learning and growing. So when I say "I stay true to who I am," I do not mean that I dig my heals in the ground and don't budge. It really means that I do a gut check with new information. If it doesn't feel right, I try to see what it is I am at odds with and whether or not I need to grow or if I can dismiss the information all together.

The genius is that in staying true to yourself at a core level, you perpetuate a level of happiness unattainable with external sources. Trying to stay happy by shopping, immersing in your child's activities, making someone else happy are all unfulfilling paths. When you stay true to your core being, your soul self, you bring with you everywhere you go true happiness. And when you are truly happy from within, you will bring more happiness to your family, friends and even strangers.

Try this exercise. Next time you get a new task to perform, do a gut check. Scan your body for resistance. If you feel resistance anywhere, focus on why the resistance is coming. Ask yourself questions like:

• Am I resisting just to be stubborn?
• Am I resisting because it truly makes me unhappy?
• Am I resisting because I know better?
• Am I resisting to be right or to win the argument?
• Am I resisting for other reasons?
• What are the reasons I am resisting?

If you seek to know where the resistance comes from in a way that is true and honest to yourself, it can be a profound and life changing exercise. Of course, as with anything, you can also do the exercise from a place of superiority or desire to be right or other negative aspects to which I have to tell you, you are shortchanging yourself.

Genius is not always about being technically the smartest, no, but genius is about thinking beyond the norm. You can be the happy, truly happy, by simply listening to your own heart.