Satisfy your soul, not society – I borrowed this title; it was a quote I saw on social media and it really resonated with me. I think this is not only my life’s ambition – to satisfy my soul, but it’s also why so many people are not happy and healthy in their lives. They are living from the outside in, not the inside out. They are satisfying society, rather than satisfying their soul.

 

Satisfying society is exhausting

Every day, you are dragged this way and that way. There is always another expectation to meet. How should you talk, what should you wear, what job should you do, what should you believe, how should you think, where should you go, who should you marry, how much money should you make, what car should you drive, what direction should you take? There are as many expectations as there are people, and if you keep looking out there trying to gather them all and meet them all, you will fall to pieces. It’s too much. And it’s not actually helping you have a happy, healthy or fulfilling life. It’s just exhausting and usually breeds resentment and regret.

 

Satisfying your soul is energising

On the other hand, if you look within and ask yourself: ‘What do I want?’ you will start to energise from within. You could even experience excitement at the prospect of living your life, the way you want to live it. Imagine not worrying about what other people on social media are doing, imagine having the confidence to stand up to your parents and say ‘no’, imagine being able to decline that social event that you don’t want to go to. Imagine putting your own soul first, on every occasion.

Of course, if this is the first time you’re satisfying your soul, the thought of doing these things may terrify you. You may be filled with fear, guilt and shame. The thought may arise: ‘Can I REALLY do this? Can I really put myself first? Can I go against the grain?’. The answer is yes. If you want to, you can. The only thing standing in your way is you.

 

A responsive ‘no’

It starts by discerning what is not for you. Someone advised me to be on Tik Tok for my business. And my soul said ‘nope, that’s not for me’. So, I didn’t do it. My parents wanted me to get an arranged marriage. And my soul said ‘no thanks’. So, I didn’t do it. Some people invite me to parties, and I don’t want to go, so I say ‘thanks, but no thanks’.

As I have matured, I realise that these aren’t agitated, reactive ‘no’s’. I don’t justify myself and explain why I’m not going in the direction advised by others. When you truly know your own soul, saying no to what is not for you, is calm, confident, responsive and straightforward. You don’t need to explain yourself. You don’t need to justify or appease. You just say no.

I have to say, I’m still working on this in many areas of my life! Pleasing others and meeting their expectations is a deeply ingrained pattern for me that is hard to break. But I’m getting better at it every day.

The only reason your ‘no’ may be agitated or nervous is because you haven’t practised it much. It’s new, and it’s scary. Sometimes you’ve spent so long saying ‘yes’ to things that do not align with your soul, that the final ‘no’ bursts out of you like a volcano that’s been waiting to erupt. This is OK. I’ve been there too. Don’t judge yourself. It’s a process. Start saying no to the small things that don’t align with your soul, and soon you will build confidence.

 

A heart-filled yes

And now, we must also start saying yes to that which does please our soul. And even this may feel scary. Can you really go travelling? Can you really wear that dress or get that haircut? Can you really date that person? Or spend that money, or take that job? Again, if you’ve not practised following your soul, there will be nerves and uncertainty. It’s new, that’s all. But as soon as you start saying ‘yes’ to your soul, it will get easier and easier. Your inner knowing, wisdom, guidance and intuition will grow stronger. Your confidence and wholeness in yourself will become more and more stable. But like any skill in life, you must practise it. So, start saying yes today to the whispers of your soul.

 

You’re not a bad person for following your own soul

When you follow your soul and do something other than what friends, family, colleagues, social media, wider society, cultural practices etc. are doing, they are not always going to take it well! They might make it difficult for you. They may not respond kindly. That’s partly because there is an innate, animalistic desire in us to remain as part of a group, to follow the crowd. This is a matter of survival. The zebra that strays from the herd is the one who’s most at risk of being eaten.

But you’re not a zebra. You’re a powerful human being with advanced consciousness. Does that mean you will never fall or be harmed if you stray from the herd? No. Sorry, but safety cannot be guaranteed. But the chances are, you will make it through because when you follow your soul, you unlock levels of innate resilience, courage, wisdom and ingenuity that you didn’t know you had.

When you start to satisfy your soul instead of satisfying society, people may judge. They may question, ridicule, and gossip. That’s because they don’t understand. They don’t know what it feels like to be you. Only you know that. They cannot feel what your heart feels, what your mind sees and what your intuition informs you of. Only you know those things. So, how can they really judge what they cannot see, know or experience? They are only judging from their own limited perceptions. They do not know the truth. The truth is what you see and feel inside you. And that’s all that really matters.

 

Are you willing to walk alone?

As you walk the path of your soul and stray from the path of society, you may find you’re the only one on that road. But trust me, others are there too. And they will find you. I have gathered an amazing soul tribe throughout my life and it continues to evolve and grow. But for that to happen, you may have to wander alone for a while. There is never a crowd on the leading edge. Some people find this terrifying – partly for the reasons already stated above. But remember, you are not a herd animal being chased by predators, you are an advanced being going on a journey of conscious evolution. For those times when you wander alone, you can learn to enjoy it – I know I do! And when people do enter your life, you will pick those who align with you, you will choose quality over quantity, and you will build your soul tribe.

 

You’re never alone anyway

When you walk the path of your soul, it looks like you’re alone in terms of the physical world because you’re standing out, walking a different path from mainstream society and you’re not hanging out with the crowd. But inside, you don’t feel alone at all. When you connect to who you truly are, there is no such thing as loneliness. In fact, it becomes the opposite. You get to experience what it feels like to be connected to the whole, to that which I call ‘God’ and ‘oneness’. From here, you feel so complete. You can enjoy other people, interactions and experiences, but you don’t need them. You don’t feel trapped by them. You don’t feel lonely without them. You aren’t concerned with what they expect of you because you are so grounded in your own truth. Don’t take my word for it – walk the path and see what happens.

Many people will read this and say ‘what on EARTH is she talking about?!’!! All this ‘woo woo’, soul, truth, oneness, blah, blah, blah… and that’s fine. This message is not for everyone. If these words are for you, you’ll feel it in your soul. If you know there’s something inside you that wants to be birthed and expressed, if you know that fitting into society is not making you happy, then I wish you the courage to walk off the beaten track. “Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.” Vincent van Gogh.

Go get your flowers!

Read more about Pinky Jangra and her other articles HERE

 

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