“There is always a way out of your trouble; and if you take the time to think clearly, to think how to get rid of the cause of your anxiety instead of just worrying about it, you become a master” – Paramhansa Yogananda

Exploring The Land of The Unknown

The unknown is what deep down drives us to continue exploring our potential. Our hearts yearn for new possibilities and experiences. The problem of our modern world now is that living has become quite easy and comfortable for many of us.

We live in a world where people work hard to create a comfortable and secure life. What many don’t realize is that they are searching for a beautiful imprisonment. Security can only be found in the known and comfortable.

The problem with the known is that after a while it becomes monotonous, then completely miserable. People know they are miserable, but don’t change because at least being miserable is something they know is comfortable. The thing you have to understand is that life is not secure, life is dynamic, not mechanical. Be a student of life and seek understanding not knowledge. Gaining more knowledge just makes you more certain and comfortable.

Learn to trust and feel what’s going on inside you, that is an intelligence that has a knowing for the new and unknown. Thinking too much keeps you stuck in the past, because all your mind can do is search through old memories.

To venture off into the unknown is to jump into freedom. People say they want to be free, but freedom creates fear. They are afraid of the reality they know would make them feel truly alive and integrated with life. Freedom and the unknown make people afraid because there is a danger of insecurity. The danger lies in that they feel they are going to lose themselves and lose everything they have ever known.

They are right, but the only thing they are losing is their false sense of self (ego), living in the unknown your ego falls apart and the real you begins to emerge. The thing we have to understand is that life is constantly changing, there is nothing we can do, so don’t worry about trying to change it. The uncertainty of life is its very nature. Just remember that the only responsibility you have is toward your own being.

Being Courageous In The Unknown

You will need courage to go into the unknown. In the beginning, all your fears will come to the surface. The only way to move ahead and accept your fears is through courage. To be a courageous person you will need to leave your analytical mind and live with your heart. The brave person only pretends to be courageous, he is still living through the head, and he creates a false security in being brave through logic.

I have always loved to travel, and when I graduated college I decided I wanted to live in the Czech Republic. My parents and friends although supportive made it clear that I was a little crazy about moving to a completely different environment all on my own. My mind would entertain their opinions and then many doubts would rise up within me. I would think what if I get robbed, killed, make no friends, etc.

These fears were now in my mind and would paralyze me. I listened to my heart, and deep down I knew this was what I wanted and needed to do at the time. Listening to your heart will start to move you in the right direction, by being in tune with it you don’t need to think about what is right and wrong.

So I listened to my heart and jumped on the plane with two big bags and my laptop. I still vividly recall the first night at one in the morning checking in into a hostel in downtown Prague, lying in bed and thinking… “now what do I do?”.

Listening and Moving With Your Heart

Listening and moving with your heart you will fall many times because you just want to experience the unknown, doesn’t matter if it’s pleasant or not. But each time you fall, you get up and become stronger; these are the experiences in which you really grow. Now I have developed the courage that I can just pack up a few belongings, hop on a plane, immerse myself anywhere and I know that somehow I will figure it out. Learn to respect your own inner voice and follow it.

When you follow it, be prepared that it will also take you into what you perceive as wrong. This is life the only way you know what right is, is by experiencing the wrong. Too many people live their lives only by what other people or religions tell them is the right way to live. Living like this you are not able to move, because something wrong might happen. Anything that is not based on your experience, learn to accept it only hypothetically.

This is your life to explore, commit many mistakes all the while remembering only one thing: don’t commit the same mistake again. Live like this and you will be growing and gaining wisdom not borrowed from anyone. You will understand what truth is because you have experienced it and not just a belief you have.

You develop trust in yourself; trust is only developed by an experience, not a belief. The problem with our society is that we have all been conditioned to believe, but not taught to know and trust. Trust can only be personal, beliefs belong to society. Your heart knows how to trust but your mind only works through your beliefs.

Developing your trust will help you become decisive in the present moment because you will have the courage to act spontaneously. To be spontaneous you will be constantly updating the ideas you have of yourself. To continually reinvent yourself and move on with a new life you will need to be disidentified with your ego. The ego can’t move into the new because that means its death. Just remember that you are consciousness and not memory (ego).

Being alone in a foreign country allowed me to face up to my fears and not be afraid. By not being afraid I became open to anything life threw at me. I would make wonderful connections with people because when you are open you invite others to come into the core of your being, you have nothing to hide. You become a more loving person. By being alone I began to see how all my previous conditioning began to fall apart, because the ego depends on things outside of it’s self to exist. To be a truly loving person means that you sacrifice your ego.

Next time you are alone don’t freak out, if you feel anxiety just remember that it’s your false self, your false self needs society to exist. To help you become acquainted with your true nature start to meditate. Meditation is the discipline of learning to be with one’s true self and not running away from it. If you find that you can’t be in your home alone without at least watching TV, you are running away from facing your true nature.

All you know is your ego; as soon as you don’t have anything to do you freak out and look for anything that keeps your mind entertained. I encourage you to explore your silence, learn to recognize that this is your real self, learn to be with it, and you will slowly become more even-minded. You will begin to gain a whole new quality to your being that transforms you.

Next time the unknown comes knocking at your door don’t worry. Worry can convince you that it is impossible to do what you want to do. The choice is yours to live in the known or to go into the risky, the dangerous, and the insecure unknown. Remember that the new is better than the old; the only way to keep growing is by experiencing the new.

I wish you the best, keep growing, keep evolving, and keep shining my friend – Ivan

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