How Much Do You Believe in Yourself?
How much do you believe in yourself? 20%? 50%? or 100%? Everyone is always telling us, "You must go this way," or "You should live that way." Our parents, our spouses and children, our friends, society, religion, culture, the economy, the internet, the media—they all have their own idea for us. How we should think, act, pray, spend, save, communicate, and feel. Who can compete with that? It's a very tall order.
You'd hate to think that your whole life could just be a patchwork of what all these [influences] are trying to mold you into. We know that to some extent we will be influenced by it, but isn't there one thing, somewhere, not dependent on all of this?
There's one way to find out. Throw away all of the above and see what happens. Never mind about approval or disapproval. Ask your own true self the same question and see if you trust what appears.