Written by Anthony Meindl
For the 1st 5 (More) Things You Know (Even If You Don’t Know You Know) column, click here
6) Know The Power of “No” Which Can Really Be A “Yes.”
Life is all about saying yes. But sometimes we have to say no to something externally, but which internally, is an affirmative (“yes!”) declaration of self.
But we’re so often scared to say no to someone because we think they won’t like us or we’ll be rejected for doing so. So we end up compromising our ideals, our integrity, and disregard our inner voice’s knowing, all because of what we think others will think if we follow it. Saying no can be healthy, empowering and self-affirming.
Those people who we’re scared to say no to are not the people who really care for us anyway. So trust your inner voice. Be brave and say no. Look at how often you’re expending energy toward wanting people to “like you.” Spend less time trying to be liked by others and like yourself more.
As Dr. Seuss would say, “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
7) Know That It’s Up To You.
The things you want to see happen in your life require you to make the first move. It’s not up to your mom or dad or teacher or sister or spouse. You have to take the step, and when you do, there are all sorts of unforeseen magical forces that will come to your aid. All sorts of synchronicities and information and dynamic relationships will unfold and become available to you but you first have to take the step.
Lao Tzu said it best, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
8) The Moment Always Wants To Show Us The Truth.
The moment always wants to show us the truth because the moment is truth. But often, we don’t look at what the moment is really trying to show us. That’s understandable. We feel we’re not equipped to face it or it’s too scary or we’re not strong enough. But those are just the conditioned ramblings of our left brain that want to keep us stuck and cut off from the real power we possess that the moment, ironically, is trying to forge out of us.
9) The Moment Always Wants To Show Us The Truth, But Sometimes You Have To Wait For It.
The other part of this is that sometimes it takes a while for us to catch up with what the deeper part of us already knows. The voices in our head are so loud and disconnected that they often don’t allow us to simply be with our feelings and express them. So be patient and wait for the head noise to quiet down and when it does, be brave enough to express the real feeling that’s going on for you. It’s rarely what our head was telling us it was.
10) Know That All Of Your Knowing Comes From Stepping Into The Unknown.
All of your victories in life have come by you stepping into something unfamiliar, uncomfortable, new. When you get to the other side of what the unknowingness is, you then have experience (which Einstein said), equals knowledge. But that’s gained by stepping into the complete unknown.
We’re naturally hardwired to do this, but as we get older we start to avoid that which is unknown because our ego tells us it’s unsafe.
Think of babies. They are seekers, adventurers, curious explorers. They’re not scared of the unknown. They just play and explore millions of mysterious micro-worlds. But what happens as adults is we start seeking comfort, safety, familiarity – we become seduced by what we know and that’s a sort of death. We stop playing.
Everything you want is in there. So step into the unknown more often. Get back to the spirit of who you were as a child. You wanted to seek. You wanted to play. You didn’t care about failure or how things looked.
The unknown wasn’t scary. It was home.
“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Anthony Meindl is an award-winning writer, producer, director and actor whose first feature screenplay, THE WONDER GIRLS, was the Grand Prize Winning Feature Screenplay in the Slamdance Film Festival Screenplay Competition in 2007. Prior to this accomplishment, Meindl was responsible for the production of an array of award-winning projects. His background in acting, training, and performance has afforded him the opportunity to create what has become a thriving artist community in Los Angeles.
