TAKE IT PERSONALLY

“Don’t take it personally!” a friend said to me when I’d been the brunt of someone’s surly comment. Sage advice. Sometimes.

I suggest a different tack--that sometimes we “DO take it personally!” I’m not necessarily talking about the above situation but even in this case there may be times when even that has some value. Why take something--anything--personally? Because doing so can uncover a virtual vein of gold that lies deep in each of us. Let me explain...

Say we’re reading the New York Times, the latest issue of Inside Fitness or one of Oprah’s Book Club selections. While reading, we’re unconsciously asking ourselves, “What does this mean?” Good question. It says we still have a pulse. We’re inquisitive. We want to learn something new. But now let’s take it to the next level and ask, “What does this mean FOR ME?” In other words, let’s “take it personally” imagining that it was written just for us. If we do we’ll discover a lode of untapped insight that often speaks directly to the issues we’re dealing with in our lives at the moment. And it’s coming from inside us!

Speaking of gold, this is one way of discovering something it seems we’re all--and always--seeking in our lives: deep and lasting meaning. Sound simplistic? Maybe. At first glance, wisdom often does. But it’s astounding how much meaning lies untapped not just “in front” of us but “in” us. Yet, our inner wisdom offers authentic guidance and clarity (sometimes instant) to our daily lives. It reveals a dimension of us that is strong, loving and wise, but one which few know and fewer trust.

Yes, we have to make time to do life at this personal level which means we have to stop whatever we’re doing long enough to let the answers seep up to our surface. But it’s like the difference between taking a quick shower or a long hot bath. One cleans the body. The other also clears the mind.

Of course, this way of thinking about how we think doesn’t apply to everything we read. On the other hand, it can apply in almost any context like when your dog looks lovingly up into your eyes, when you’ve had a particularly bad day at work, when you’re viewing an breathtakingly beautiful sunset, or when you’ve just lost someone or something near and dear to you. When we take our lives personally we experience love, beauty, and even loss at such intimate and authentic levels that they promote our own personal healing and resilience as well as our compassion and action for others.

TODAY.
DO YOURSELF & THE WORLD A FAVOR.
TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU THINK.