Your voice is important while you are on this planet.  Never silence your voice out of fear.  However, use it to speak the truth with compassion.  The original intent of this blog was to give myself a voice and to encourage others who had perhaps lost their voice, or never found it in the first place, to be authentic without fear.  We all know that fear is what drives so many things in this world and that part of coming together in peace is learning to live without fear.  When we let go of our notion of fear as the welling up of malevolent forces within us and begin to see fear and its companion emotions as basically information, we can think about them consciously.

When you begin to use your voice, it is important to let go of any expectations.  Expectations are fixed ideas about how the outcome of a situation ‘should be.’ They are inaccurate more often than not, and holding on to these ideas can cause a lot of complications.  Life very rarely follows the scripts we create in our heads and clinging to a belief that there is only one acceptable outcome not only sets us up for a great deal of disappointment, but creates tension and struggle. When we refuse to release our expectations of how things should be, we are refusing to go with the flow of life, which often results in trying to control events and that is futile and exhausting.

When you make the decision to be authentic and use your voice to communicate what is important be prepared as you might lose some friends.  We will not be immune to life challenges.  Some of those in your circle will not be able to hear the truth, and might in fact take offense. Do not be angry with these people, instead project compassion onto them and know they are simply operating from a place of fear.  You do not have to go along with what others have said, or tolerate their mistreatment of you, but be prepared for often times when you speak your truth, others may leave you, ending the relationship.  You may simply use this time to reflect on their behavior and look to see why you might have drawn them into your life to begin with, what are they doing that you might need to work on?  There is always a lesson to be learned from these situations.   The universe always gives us exactly what we need, it is up to us whether we will do the work or close the door out of fear.

This is the essence of our journey while on this planet.  We are not to take so much personally, but when situations arise where you are uncomfortable do not shut down and forget to use your voice.  It is important to love yourself, to care for your own needs, but to also hold others with compassion.  I can think of many great prophets who espouse this loving kindness, metta as the Buddhists refer to it.  Make it a part of your daily practice, sending love out into the world.  However, love and honor yourself first, and in fact you must in order to send it out into the world, and never let go of your authentic truth.   When we know who we are, stripped down to our true essence, we can then connect with our higher purpose and find fulfillment on our unique journey.

You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love.

~Cheryl Strayed