More Status Than Soul?

How do you feel about humanity?

I try, and I mean I really try every day, to remain authentic.

Authenticity is very important to me, because I’ve lived in a world of faux, and because I am working in an industry that can at times surround me with face value, I do think that it’s crucial to be real.

Social media has made us insecure and self centred, constantly needing approval, counting likes and posting the right photo at the right angle. How many photos do we all have of ourselves at the same angle, perhaps with our chosen filter?

I have lived in possibly the most materialistic country in the world, Dubai, that does everything bigger and better. There, I was inundated with the best of everything; chairs for designer hand bags, cinemas with waiter service, and an attendant to pump the gas into ultimate fantasy cars. Sounds like a dream right? How about the delivery from the corner shop for water? Getting bad tempered with the taxi drivers because they’ve taken a different route, or entered a traffic queue?

Dubai taught me so many things, and I think the biggest lesson I learned was that I didn’t belong there; indeed, Dubai seemed to me to have more status than soul.

So, this got me thinking...

Have I ever made the mistake of flaunting my own status, rolling my eyes in sheer arrogance at my own superiority?

Have I ever been that person that I have now come to hate? Is that why I can recognise it now so clearly?

As we endlessly scroll through social media, we enter a world of keyboard warriors, filters, fake news and scare tactics; ads that are tailored to our personal browsing profiles, to tantalise and seduce us into spending. Occasionally, some ads seem so far away from my interest that I take offence and immediately alert the ad police! I digress...

My point being that if you align yourself with the common voice, who will ever hear you?

Be different

I dare you to stand out.

Don’t agree, and don’t then complain that you’ve gone along with something just because that’s what everyone else does. See your world through different eyes. Remove personal gain, ego, and status, for life is simple, so keep it basic, genuine and true. Try being that person that you’ve always wanted to be.

Who are you really?

Not your job, your relationships or even your qualifications. Who are you? What are your values, how do you apply them daily? Are you a product of your upbringing or do you have your own ideals?

Really question who you are, now, and then think about moving towards the person you’d like to be, removing ego, opinion, family expectations and relationships from your calculations. Stand alone, centred within yourself.

It is a commonly held opinion that 70-80% of everything that swirls around your mind is negative, so if you’re constantly being unkind to yourself, or dissatisfied with who you are, have you asked yourself why?

Is it the environment you’re in? Work or relationships? Are they to blame? Or is it simply the way that you, yourself are processing life?

Unfortunately for some, there are situations that are beyond normal, with seemingly hopeless outlooks lacking help and support, but even then, I’d still like you to take a look to who you really are.

Let’s do a little exercise. Take a blank piece of paper and a pen, sit there with your thoughts and then ask yourself, who are you? What are you really like? Not the face you show to others, but the person who is there when no one else is watching.

Are your answers balanced? Are they kind or unkind?

The opinion you have of yourself will unconsciously be picked up by others and this little nugget of self discovery could help you see how you view your real self.

If you’d asked me this question ten years ago I’d have definitely been more status than soul. Age has softened me, but it’s hardened me too. I’m far more accepting of who I am, and not who I’m trying to be.

So who are you now? Your soul will thank you for asking.