There are many aspects of our culture today that we’ve normalized, however, just because something is “normal,” doesn’t mean it’s health-supporting or right for you.

How to find out what is best for you? Stay tuned as we discuss the liberating and empowering principle of cause and effect, as well as a simple exercise for you to work with to begin identifying how you wish to feel.

Just in the last 50 years alone, life has sped up tremendously, and it only seems to be getting faster. While advances in technology have certainly brought many improvements in our quality of life, we can’t ignore the fact that our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health, and the health of the planet have seen a rapid decline in response.

Simply because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should, and doesn’t mean we could without experiencing ill effects.

Many of us have grown very accustomed to instant gratification and fail to think long-term. Something may feel good in the moment, sure, however, what are the consequences of that action in an hour, a day, a week, five years… especially for those things that we repeat often.

Taking responsibility for ourselves, our lives, how we wish to feel on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – is both empowering and liberating. It can feel scary to choose to live in a way that is counter to what is deemed “normal,” but the truth is, it’s scarier to abandon ourselves and our truest needs in favor of doing what we think will keep us safe and accepted by those around us.

Shifting From “Normal” to Right For Us

Many of these ways of living that create dis-ease are so worn into the fabric of our lives and our families that many of us doesn’t realize there are other possible ways of doing things – even though we ourselves aren’t experiencing life as optimally as we desire. This is especially true for highly sensitive souls who, because of their deep connection with their inner worlds, bodies, sensations, intuitions, etc., are keenly aware of when something doesn’t feel good. They can also experience hesitation, shame, and anxiety for doing things that will make them “different.”

So, how do we go about recognizing what’s best for us, especially when it may not be what the society around us have deemed as “normal” and “acceptable” behavior?

We can practice honesty and responsibility with ourselves by doing some really fun and exciting experiments using the principle of cause and effect. The principle of cause and effect is something that has been life-changing for me. It allows us to take the morality and judgement out of our choices. There’s no “good” or “bad.” There’s just if this, then this. Period.

Rather than looking outside of ourselves for direction, we simply observe within and see the consequences of our choices and actions and decide if it’s something we wish to experience more of and repeat.

For example, it’s quite normal these days to stay up late into the evening hours and skimp on sleep and to then wake ourselves artificially with caffeine in the mornings.

But how does this actually feel for you?

• Are you able to think clearly and perform your daily tasks and duties with energy and ease, or is there reluctance and fatigue?
• Are your moods stable or all over the place?
• Is your mind clear or foggy?
• Are you interacting with others in a way that is kind, patient, and respectful or are you sharp, impatient, or absent?

If you don’t like the answers to these questions, you have the ability to change them! Awesome, right?

Cause & Effect In Action

Think of a little machine where you put in a cause and receive an effect. If you don’t like the effect, then perhaps you can put in a new cause. Perhaps going to bed earlier and getting the optimal amount of sleep for you will leave you feeling how you wish to feel.

You deserve to feel well and to feel just as you wish to feel! Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever asked yourself how you wish to feel physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually on a daily basis, or are you also normalizing some of these unnatural ways that our culture lives and the effects that come with them?

Other examples of things that are normal that are actually against Nature’s wisdom are overeating at a meal, eating too frequently, eating artificially and laboratory made stuff, being connected to devices most of the day, not recognizing and yielding to our own internal rhythms and seasons or aligning with the external ones, and many others.

An Invitation To Honor Yourself

My intention is not to judge, shame, or blame us. My intention is to invite us to shift our awareness, pause and check in with ourselves to ask, “How does this all actually feel for ME? What might I need instead? How do I actually wish to feel in my one precious life?”

I invite you to take the next several days to two weeks to gather data by journaling nightly to take stock of how you felt during the day physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  Additionally, jot down what you did that day – what you ate and when, your sleep quantity and quality, any movement or exercise, socializing – either virtually or in-person, work, play, etc.

You’ll begin to see connections as you empower yourself to notice the ways cause and effect play out of your choices. As you’re ready, let yourself begin to put new “causes” into your life to get new effects!  

Let go of external validation or cues and begin embracing your internal guidance system as you honor your truest needs. From there, you can experience your own one, precious life as you most desire.

Want some support with all of this? I am here for you! Reach out.