My wife has given birth twice by natural childbirth. Not outdoors in a field, mind you, but outside of the traditional hospital setting. Her reasoning was, “My body knows what to do. I trust it.”
Trust is a hard issue. Trusting others is a test of your faith in humanity, but trusting in yourself is a total reevaluation of your worth and personal authority. These days it has become easy and fashionable to crowdsource our opinions. We always know the right answer, but we fail to trust ourselves and instead subcontract to strangers. Unless we exercise our instincts, we will never learn to trust them.
The beginning of trusting yourself is merely understanding that your thoughts are in your head for a purpose. They matter, and they are valid. Listen to your own opinions, rather than the nagging echoes of fearful friends and family. Too often those thoughts that creep into our heads are fear-driven, wild prognostications of failure, carnage, and financial ruin, that usually begin with, “What if . . . ?” But where your thoughts go, you go. It takes faith in yourself and your abilities to see these thoughts as the imposters they are. When the fog of doubt is cleared, the imposters banished, we can begin to see more clearly our true nature and instincts. Then, with a little faith in yourself, you can raise your sights, look up from the abyss of failure, and take the next step. Then the one after that.
Trusting yourself gives you the faith that people will hear your message, be inspired by your cause, and rise to your challenge. It’s completely probable that not everyone will heed your call; but trust that the ones who do are your team, your support, and your audience.
Your body knows, your instincts know, your impulses are spot-on—don’t question, just trust.
