Ok so some of this came from my LinkedIn post but I wanted to expand a little here.
Our worth is not determined by what we do. Our worth is inherent and priceless and cannot be diminished.
The Light We Give – by Simran Jeet Singh
If you haven’t read The Light We Give by Simran Jeet Singh you absolutely must. Everything in the description was something I wanted to explore and being able to hear his stories about the racism he and his family faced growing up allowed me to expand my understanding, build empathy, and open my mind to the possibilities for my life through hearing the lessons he learned.
While there may be comfort in accommodating what others need and ignoring our own, there is no joy in it. It will not give us liberation. True joy comes when we can free ourselves from the fears that keep us from realizing our potential and then we can walk around with our hearts feeling full and with our heads held high.
The Light We Give – by Simran Jeet Singh
When I contemplate these words I have to think about the fact that for so much of my life I let fear stop me so many times. It showed up in not speaking up for myself or others. In missed opportunities because I feared I wasn’t good enough. In going along to get along because the fear of not following what was expected of me was too great to overcome at the time.
Alright, so the text above was shared in my LinkedIn post so here’s where I wanted to add a little more. In the book, Singh shares an exercise to find coherence and direction. You start by writing down about 20 qualities you wish to embody and then narrow that down to about five that feel central to who you are and who you aspire to be. For me, that actually went pretty quickly because I’ve been thinking about this a lot the last month or so. After that you come up with one action you will practice each day and determine what you’ll do to hold yourself accountable for each commitment. Seriously, pick up the book so you get all the context, it’s worth it.
I ended up with a list of 22 items and as I went through this exercise the hardest part was just picking five things I wanted to focus on first.
What I ended up with are creative, wise, connected, curious, and loving.
Some of the ideas I had to act on these qualities include writing or participating in creative practices, putting things I learn into practice, expressing gratitude and appreciation, asking questions and seeking answers, and starting with loving kindness. If you’ve never done a loving kindness meditation you can find them on many of the meditation apps or even on YouTube. I realize in a world of conflict, polarization, and people acting out of fear the best thing I can do to not burn out in this life is to approach things with loving kindness.
I hope you’ll check this book out. I really enjoyed it and if you’re not a person of Sikh faith it’s really eye opening to hear from his perspective what his life was like growing up. If you end up completing this exercise I’d love to hear what you decide you’re going to focus on.
Contemplating Life’s Choices 
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