#5 Pledge Allegiance to Yourself

Hi everyone!

A huge thank you to all those who subscribed after my facebook announcement. I am deeply touched by your support and encouraged to keep working on this. 

Here is the article I want to share for this fortnight:

A Pledge of Allegiance to Yourself - Josh Spector (Fortheinterested)

Every day, we are often reminded of the many allegiances we have such as to our family, work, and friends. Unknowingly, our choices may also be tied to other "allegiances",  such as definitions of success created by society, or a certain ideal lifestyle embraced by the media. 

We might then forget that we have another being to take care of and grow:  ourselves. There is little to remind us to put aside all these external expectations and seriously consider what benefits ourselves the most. We should reserve some energy and focus to be directed solely to our own development and interests.

This is not being self-centered. By being honest with ourselves on what we want or need, it gives us the capacity to then do more for others, to be present for our family, or focused on our jobs. If we do not allow ourselves to develop the skills or activities which truly define us, or take care of our bodies, we will eventually run out of that capacity to live up to our other allegiances. When our own needs are not identified and addressed, it creates a constant sense of misalignment between our actions and our self. This slowly builds over time into dissatisfaction and frustration with life, and reduces that same drive to contribute to others.

This article is a useful example of bringing the focus back to ourselves.  What works for you likely takes a very different shape from the one in this article. You need not have the same aspirations to face fears, or try something new, but your pledge should focus on you - what you want or how you would benefit. 

As a parting note:

credit: EveryVowel

Hope you have a great week ahead!

James