When you hear the phrase "Walking in someone else's shoes" what does that mean to you?
There are actually 2 aspects to this. Firstly, there is the usual meaning that most understand about understanding someone else's struggles without judgement, however what if we apply the same logic to the people we look up to, to the future you that you aspire to be?
As we look into both of these, I want to go a little deeper into how to effectively walk in someone else's shoes. Taking the physical analogy being used, you cannot fit your feet into someone else's shoes without taking your own shoes off, even if you could, should they have shoes that were several times larger, you would not experience what they experience.
This means is that we have to step out of our own lives of conditioning to be able to be completely open to theirs, completely unbiased by our beliefs about how the world works and how people should act, unbiased by our own #values and #boundaries, unbiased by our own past, good and bad, and unbiased by our own expectations. In other words, we must shed our own preconceptions and biases in order to fully immerse ourselves in someone else's reality. Attempting to understand someone without first letting go of our own assumptions can lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations. This is stepping into the ability to have genuine compassion for the person without #judgement, accepting that, had we experienced their exact same life, lifetime of experiences and conditioning, we could be in the same situation. Is it possible to clear yourself of all of this? To completely put aside decades of of your own beliefs, most of which are at a subconscious level, is not possible, even with decades of personal development work, since this is always a journey and never a final destination. Hence there is added importance to be aware that you will have #unconsciousbias.
The fascinating part of this is that this same concept can be focused inwards. This principle applies in both directions. It can be harder to let go of the judgement we have about ourselves than it is about others. We are often our own biggest critics. We are prone to see things in others we compare ourselves against and knock ourselves down. If you have goals and desires to reach particular levels, be that in career, wealth, recognition, relationship, etc.
By removing the shoes that you have been conditioned to or comfortable with is the key to bypassing the beliefs you have about your abilities, beliefs you have about those past events and perceived failures, and beliefs about worthiness, both yours and of your family, you can start to walk in the shoes of the you that you desire to be. This is letting go of all #selfjudgement. This is letting go of the examples and frames of reference you have built up about yourself based on how you have interpreted past events and the subconscious protocols you have created to protect yourself from the experiencing same feelings and emotions that came up.
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