Day 11 Lesson:

“Everyone has an outer life and an inner life. The outer life is our public life that people can see. The inner life is made up of your thoughts, attitudes and motives. Only you and God know what’s going on inside. Too many people go around today pretending — acting one way, yet on the inside, they’re thinking something totally different. Their heart and their actions don’t line up.” -Joel Osteen

Day 11 has you realizing what roles you are playing. A step to understanding how you show up in the world is by becoming aware of all the roles you have in your life and how they serve you. Take a moment to list them now. Think about the roles you are playing.  Which ones are the ones you have created to live your best life? Remember you are the star in this movie of your life.  You are also the writer and director of your life.  Are you creating the life you would love to live?Throughout your life you choose different roles for home, work and your social life.  You can choose these roles to fit in or elevate your status. Roles can keep you stuck and limit yourself.  There are payoffs and costs.  Understanding the roles you play can provide you with some direction for your life. You have the freedom to choose your roles.  You have within you the chatter in your head or your inner wisdom to listen to as you make decisions about what is needed for your life. You decide which voice you will listen to.  As you make a decision to play a certain role, you are fulfilling a need. As you choose your different roles, pay attention to how you think you need to act.

You will choose different ways to show up in the world to get your needs met.  The problem comes in when these roles are chosen from a wounded part of yourself, when you are trying to fill a void.

Where are you stuck because of these fears? What would you like to have or do in your life but are afraid to work to make it happen? What are you afraid to say? How do you play small because of your fears of what others will say or what might happen to you? You can feel the discrepancy of your authentic self and the role you are playing.  You can change your roles to find the fulfillment you want. How could you shift to have love run most of your decisions?

Take steps to release yourself from the prison of measuring yourself by the outside world. Move inward to living your life on purpose. You can tell whether you are living by external measures or by your internal world by whether you are at peace with what you are doing.   Measure your progress by whether you are in alignment with living your dreams and how all that is feeling for you.  Focus on getting better rather than being better than others. You won’t need to take on these roles to try to fill a hole. Try to see yourself in terms of who you could be rather than playing a role to meet the needs of others.

Actions Steps
Discovering Your Best Life Exercises: Daily Practice

1. What is one thing that you most identify yourself with (your looks, your job, your family, etc.)? How do you think others see you? How many of your choices are made to maintain this image? What choices have you made that are genuine expressions of who you are and in alignment with what you want from life? What roles have been created by these? How can you fill those needs without that role? Who would you be without that label?
2. What roles do you have that no longer serve your greatest good? Take some time to reveal what you have gained from the roles you are playing. Then write down what has it cost you. Decide how you could meet that need in a healthier way.