When Trusting Yourself is an Act of Rebellion

The freedom to live according to your own inner truth

We live in a world that demands our attention and compliance. We are taught, from an early age, to rely on some external authority – parents, teachers, the government, the church, other ‘experts’ – to show us the proper way to navigate our way through life. Depending on the circumstances of our upbringing, there are countless layers of rules and paradigms that become the script we consciously or unconsciously follow.

This serves us…..until it doesn’t. One day we wake up and wonder what happened to not only our dreams, but also to our sense of wonder and curiosity for the world around us. When exactly did we lose our ability to say what was on our minds without first checking if it fit with the narratives we grew up with? When did we replace the trust we had in what we felt and knew was true for us and instead fell in line with the repetitive droning of supposed experts?

We are never taught to trust ourselves. We are not encouraged to look within, to our own heart and soul, or to listen to the whispers of our own innate wisdom. We are never shown how to access the truth within ourselves, to find what resonates and is in alignment with our unique blueprint. Heck, has anyone ever explained what ‘resonates’ and ‘alignment’ even means, let alone ‘our unique blueprint’?! These terms usually cause people to roll their eyes, convinced that you belong to some woo-woo hippie tribe that sits around singing kumbaya.

There is a lot of lip service paid to the term ‘trust yourself.’ Sometimes it’s a veiled attempt to market something to you (Go on! You know you want/need to buy this…) or to convince you to follow some directive. Governments and institutions have become very adept at doing this, persuading us that trusting them is trusting ourselves to ‘do the right thing.’ The question is, the right thing according to and for whom? This is the formula for control, whether it’s a government, a parent or other authority figure.

Trusting yourself then becomes an act of defiance, a radical reversal of power – back to yourself where it belongs. Because to trust yourself is to be beyond the control of another. Trusting yourself means that the final authority is you. It always has been you.

It is when you will not be swayed from your inner knowing. It is when you act in accordance with the design of your inner truth. Sure, you may listen to others and ask questions, not to supplant your own beliefs but as a way to delve even deeper into your own. In the end, it is acting from your own inner truth that is the cornerstone of freedom.

Trusting yourself is also an act of radical responsibility. It means you take full responsibility for your thoughts, words and actions. You do not look for external approval nor do you blame others if things go pear-shaped – as they often will. Trusting yourself is not about getting something right; it’s about stepping outside your known parameters with curiosity rather than trepidation. It’s the child-like quality that says, ‘I wonder what’s down this path?’ and trusting yourself enough to face whatever is down that path.

So how do you learn to trust yourself?

The first step is to notice where you don’t trust yourself and why. Is it because you lack knowledge? Confidence? Support? It’s not like you’re going to wake up tomorrow and have full trust in what your inner voice is saying. You need to fill in the gaps, so to speak, and find what’s missing. You need to develop discernment between your soul’s voice and the mindless chatter of your ego. It’s trial and error. But do not fear the errors – it’s the errors that will lead you to a deeper knowledge of self and inner truth. Trusting yourself enough to make mistakes is a powerful way to live.

Even though the world at large does not encourage or want us to trust ourselves, I believe it is the path to our authenticity, liberation and sanity. It becomes the ultimate act of rebellion.

Go on then: Be a rebel.