you get to decide

A big part of the human experience is almost constant exposure to what others think of us, believe we need, and believe we should do.

Imagine life as a cute quaint little town, and we are the villagers passing through the streets interacting with each other. There is the strong possibility of passing someone who wants to give us whatever they are holding. We don’t know what they are holding until they show us, and we may not even want it, but with each interaction we have the opportunity to receive from each other.

We can’t always control who we interact with and definitely cannot control what they are giving. Many times it may feel like someone in passing opens our hands and places in it whatever it is they are giving. What we do control is if what they have placed in our hands is treasures or trash because what we do with these items is entirely up to us. We get to decide if we keep this thing for the rest of our lives, keep it for a little while, or toss it aside right away.

These items we are handed by our fellow villagers can take the form of unsolicited ideas, compliments, insults, or advice. The treasures are the ideas, compliments, and advice we want to internalize and the trash are everything else we deem unwelcome in our internal landscape. We have the power to decide if what we have been handed is treasure or trash. It is our duty to know ourselves well enough to know the difference for we do not want to dispose of treasure believing it to be trash.

We are the keeper of our internal landscape and do not need to accept trash disguised as treasure. Likewise, do not want to toss aside treasures (like compliments) because we believe they are untrue. Hold onto them for awhile because just maybe they will begin to bloom vibrantly, enlivening your internal landscape.

Realizing I get to decide what external messages I do and do not internalize was one of the most radical mindset shifts I think I have ever made.