#9 Admiring early work

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone

Blaise Pascal, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/19682-all-of-humanity-s-problems-stem-from-man-s-inability-to-sit

We often equate sitting quietly in a room alone with loneliness: a word with a negative emotional charge.

But sitting quietly in a room can also bring solitude: the simple state of being by yourself, without any negative connotation.

Solitude can give relief of the pressure to be constantly “socializing” (through social media apps or in real life).

Relief of the pressure to socialize can make space.

Space you can use to hear the thoughts in your head and the feelings in your body.

Thoughts and feelings that can tell you what’s truly important to you.

And then you realize that what’s truly important to you is nothing new.

It’s something you already knew, before you learned not to listen.

It’s hard not to trust someone who fully trusts themselves.

But it’s hard not to accept someone who fully accepts themselves.

It’s hard not to be at ease around someone fully at ease with themselves.

In other words: if you want others to trust, accept, and be at ease with you, first learn to trust, accept, and be at ease with yourself.

You don’t need anyone else for that – just some tiny daily actions that prove that trust, acceptance, and comfort to yourself.

Oh, and you could start with that today.

You don’t have to.

But you could. And if you could, why wouldn’t you?

You want to get the guitar piece exactly right but still trip up once in a while. How do you react?

You want to run a marathon but can’t even finish half a marathon yet. How do you react?

You want to explain how you feel but end up feeling misunderstood. How do you react?

Do you let frustration hold you back?

Or do you use the gap as leverage to change your actions and bridge the gap between your current and desired identity?