The document discusses following your authentic path in life despite criticism from others. It notes that while friends and family may oppose the path you feel called to, listening to your inner voice is important for thriving rather than just enduring. Though accountability is still needed, honoring the path that calls you allows your authentic self to emerge. Staying true to yourself through integrity is key, and one should ponder whether they are living their own life or someone else's.

1. 08/07/2012 Dennis Merritt Jones: Whose Path Are You Walking?
July 8, 2 01 2
Whose Path Are You Walking?
Posted: 06/05/2012 7:30 am
"It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only
path." -- Paulo Coelho
Have you ever had others criticize you for the path in life you have been called to walk, be it
spiritual, career, lifestyle, and so on? Often those who tend to have the greatest opposition to the
pathway we walk are family and friends. Of course this can be extended to include religious
institutions, political parties, and cultural traditionalists as well -- many of which make no bones
about it, priding themselves on believing that their way is the only way. It can be incredibly difficult
to separate from the "herd" and go our own way when it goes against the grain of the herd
mentality (or majority) and yet, if we don't, we know there is a part of us that will slowly begin to
die. Call it spirit, soul, life force, or what you may, there is that within us that knows who it is we've
come here to be and what it is we've come here to do and if we don't listen to its call, it begins to
wane. This is when life becomes more about enduring until we die rather than thriving while we
are here.
Perhaps what our critics don't understand is that beneath the layer of what they may refer to as
"choice," there lies another layer where lives the authentic self, and its voice perpetually whispers
ever so softly in our inner ear, "Be who you are and you'll find freedom, fullness of expression, joy,
peace, purpose and meaning in this precious life you have been given." This voice beckons us to
be true to ourselves; when we hear and listen to that voice, it's not so much that we are then
guided to choose a certain path in life but, in truth, realize that our path has chosen us. However,
do not consider this a "get out of jail free" card for the bad choices we all have made along the
way that may have caused pain and suffering in our lives or the lives of others; the reality that our
path chooses us when we are ready in no way alleviates the fact that we are always personally
accountable for the choices we make in our day-to-day lives. The voice to which I refer is
incapable of guiding us in a direction that is self-destructive or harmful to others or that in any way
dishonors the sacredness of life, because it is life itself that beckons us.
Shakespeare was correct when he wrote, "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the
night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." When we are true to ourselves it calls
forward a level of integrity that absolutely refuses to allow us to compromise on being who we
really are, regardless of who we are with or what we are doing: There is not one human being on
this planet who does not hunger for the freedom to authentically and consistently be more fully who
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2. 08/07/2012 Dennis Merritt Jones: Whose Path Are You Walking?
they are, without fear of criticism, condemnation, ridicule, or being made wrong. Those who have
already arrived at this level of freedom of authentic expression understand what I mean by this
because they have walked the gauntlet, and have come out on the other side as whole beings.
When we honor the pathway that calls to us, we discover our authentic self along the way which
then becomes the portal to our own wholeness -- it is only then that our authentic voice arises and
gives unique expression to who we are.
Oftentimes those who disagree with the path we have been called to walk try so hard to dissuade
us because they believe in their hearts their path is the right path (aka, the "only" path). The
practice is to know (in our hearts) that, for them, it is the right path because they are on it and, at
the same time, have the courage and conviction to continue to walk in the direction we are being
called. Is this always easy to do? Of course not, primarily because we fear losing their love and
approval -- and yet, if we don't follow our own unique path, at the end of the day, when we draw
our very last breath, we will have to ask ourselves whose life was it we have lived? What I know is
that it is never too late to begin living our own lives, being who we are -- we just have to listen to
that voice within that never lies and take the first step... and then the next step... and then the next
one.
So, the question I invite you to ponder is this: Whose path are you walking today, is it yours or
someone else's? Whether it is your spiritual path, your career path, your lifestyle path, or all the
aforementioned, know that once you find it, as unique as it is, you walk that path not alone: Not
only are there countless millions of other people who walk their unique paths with you, but the ever
present infinite intelligence that put you here is your constant traveling companion as well. Be at
peace in knowing that It knows how to get you to your unique point of destination, which is that
sacred and precious moment you arrive at fully being who you are. To thine own self be true,
indeed.
For some useful tools in learning more about how to be who you are, click here.
For more by Dennis Merritt Jones, click here.
For more on emotional wellness, click here.
Follow Dennis Merritt Jones on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DMerrittJones
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