Allow your convictions to name who you are, how others know you, and how you live your life.
Do we spend enough time reflecting on “conviction? I don’t. Yet this seems to be at the core of what we need to do with our lives. Knowing our convictions sets the course of our lives.
I think we get too wishy-washy with this and by ignoring it we ignore the very core of who we are. It strikes me that convictions come from the heart, from what we essentially are or should be. And we need to live from these.
We need to take the time and know what our convictions are. What do we truly believe? What matters most to us? We must discover them and not allow anyone to try to influence these or, worse yet, attempt to give them to us. This is letting others tell us what to believe. This could be our co-workers, the church, or even society’s expectations.
But what we choose to believe must come from the heart of who we are.
We too often hide our true selves from the world and I think this goes to either not knowing our convictions or being afraid to show them, to live them.
Here’s what we need to do (I’m this is what I’m learning): we need to know our convictions, what we deeply believe, and then allow them to name us. We have to stop being ashamed of who we really know ourselves to be and, instead, let who we are be how we live.
Here’s my current struggle: I firmly believe there is a God, or a Creator, or a Source. I believe that I come from that. I believe I need to become that. Yet…I hesitate to show this belief in my daily life. Why? Fear that others might ridicule me or not believe me because this isn’t who I’ve let myself be known as and certainly not lived by.
People may have an inkling or suspicion that this is what I believe and that’s only because I’ve been fearful of coming right out and saying it. But here’s the thing, we cannot be ashamed of what we hold to be true. We are living a lie when we do this. And I suspect many do this.
Again, here’s what we need to do: once we know our conviction we can’t hesitate to live them so that others know “the authentic me.” They should see what we believe and then say, “Yes, that’s Rick and that’s what he believes.”
If we’re afraid to show our truths, to live our convictions, how can others expect to know the inner self we prefer they knew?
How can they know our truth when we keep it hidden away?
Stop hiding and find a way to let your truth out. Find a way to live your convictions and others can either accept it or reject it. But they will know it!