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We are the creators of this world. To navigate this world and to create safely and confidently, is impossible to do, if you can’t trust your inner voice.
It’s still quite jarring to me to realize how powerless I felt most of my life because I did not trust my inner voice.
Like a little flea, hiding in the hairs of my dog, not wanting to do any harm, but thinking that what he needs to survive will cost the sanity and well-being of his host, I was sitting on this planet, feeling paralysed by the thought that my actions and needs could harm others.
What changed?
I always had a strong connection to plants. They fascinated me from early childhood on and I always knew there was magic in them. I love animals too, and humans and everything that exists, but somehow there was always something special about plants for me.
So, when veganism became a thing, I was sceptical. What about the plants, don’t they have feelings too?
The majority of people did not seem to care and so I thought I was overreacting, and silenced my inner voice – which left me feeling insecure.
And from a place of insecurity, it is very difficult to feel powerful.
Gaining Perspective
I feel very lucky that I went to live in Ukraine for a year after High School, in a small village, with only a couple of hours of electricity per day, no central heating and an outhouse, and among people who grew and cultivated their own food.
They had their chickens and ducks, a goat or a cow for milk and they slaughtered a pig once a year, to live from that meat for the rest of the year.
Food had never tasted as good as it tasted there.
When I went back to Germany I became a vegetarian, not because somebody told me that’s the right thing to do, but because I had seen how big a chicken breast is, when it comes from a chicken that has been running around all its life and that that is not as big as the ones we get in the shops.
At one point in time, in many places of the world, there was a jump from consuming what we need to consume what we want.
And I think this jump is always connected to a loss in intuition. Because we’re not born selfish, but we are born with a drive to survive.
Through public policy desires were created for the masses, that were more appealing than common sense and so we lost touch to our own inner guidance and instead followed our lust.
But it’s not a state that is sustainable and we’re waking up to that.
It’s quite understandable that from within this orientation towards consumption, people tried and are trying to counteract with boycotting part of this culture, by boycotting meat or animal products all together.
Yet, I believe this planet is diverse for a reason.
We don’t need to stop eating meat altogether, though anyone should have the right to do so without judgement, but what is much more important, I think, is to consume consciously, whatever it is that we eat.
We cannot survive without doing harm to other living beings around us, but we are also much more than our physical form.
The biggest harm we do, is really when we sacrifice ourselves and don’t invest into getting in touch with our inner knowing.
I believe that there is nothing more valuable in the world than being able to trust your inner voice and to develop a deep connection with the world.
What I’ve learned on my journey to self-discovery and self-actualization is, that deep down we know what is right. We know how much we need and if given the choice we don’t do more harm than necessary.
And we can always appreciate and give thanks. The best way, I think, to do that is by making our lives count and giving back by living well.
But we’ve overwritten our feelings for so long, that we can hardly hear our inner voice and then we find ourselves in a confusing and often cruel seeming world, in which it seems easier to make rigid choices than to bring life in balance.
You can’t trust your inner voice, if you can’t hear it
I don’t believe in right or wrong, I believe that we are all trying our best, and I believe that living sustainably can mean many different things and can be practised in many different ways.
But we each need to choose, not relying on what anyone else is saying, but on our inner voice.
When I felt powerless, it was because I did not listen to my inner voice.
I might have heard it, but I surely didn’t trust it. And over time it became more and more silent and I more and more confused and felt more and more powerless.
I tried to do things right, but everyone had a different idea of what was right and I ended up being torn between all those options.
We don’t all have to do the same, but we can all do our best. And what’s best for me might not be the best for you.
No judgement.
If we get in touch with our intuition, we know what’s the right thing to do, for ourselves, at least most of the time.
And for the times we don’t, we will know that the answer will come with time.
But the more you trust your inner voice, the more you will know what the right thing is for you to do and from there, you will feel less confused and more and more powerful.
If you’d like to learn how to get in touch with your intuition, book an appointment with me or join A Magical Year.
To make some good choices when buying the things you want or need, check out the Sustainable Business Directory.
