ditch the either/or thinking and love your humanity.

yesterday i came across a quote that said it’s okay to be one thing AND something that is completely opposite of that thing. ⁣

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since life is made up of many paradoxes, this only makes sense. it was an aha moment for me nonetheless. ⁣

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most of my life i have been conditioned to think in an either/or way. so when this picture quote came to my awareness, i felt an instant sense of relief.⁣

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it is as simple as this... ⁣

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you can be a hot mess AND be in your divinity. ⁣

you can have strict boundaries AND be loving.⁣

you can sleep in AND be a productive person.⁣

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and the list goes on and on. ⁣

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i have noticed in many ways, spirituality has been a path (for many) to evade their humanity. ⁣

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most people who are drawn to transcendental work are people who have suffered greatly. and anything that gives you freedom has the power to constrain you too. ⁣

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if you aren’t conscious, even “good” things can become “bad.”⁣

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we are human AND spirit. to try to take the human out of the picture and live in the esoteric is only to suffer more. ⁣

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the only reason we want to evade our humanity is that humans hurt people. humans have hurt us. ⁣

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and while this makes sense, it doesn’t mean it is possible. it is a logical fallacy to think that being spiritual and in tune with your spirit means you never face the pain again. ⁣

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anytime we buy into something false, we suffer. ⁣

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either/or thinking leads to many traps but the one that comes to mind before any other is the perfection trap. ⁣

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in our society, what is perceived is what people consider to be real. therefore, so many people think that showing a part of themselves that is, let's say, more neurotic is going to cancel out any other part of them. ⁣

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for example, how many of us feel like if we ever say the two-letter word NO that we are bad people or not good friends, coworkers, parents, etc. ⁣

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this leaves so much room for inauthenticity. ⁣

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and because of it, ironically, our relationships suffer. ⁣

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this is especially true for people who think they have to be a “good” person (which if you grew up in today's day and age is almost everyone). ⁣

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when we manipulate others to see us in a certain way, what we are doing is detrimental to ourselves more than anyone else. we end up having to keep up with a facade that eventually leads us to crash and burn. ⁣

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no one wants to be perceived as a bad person. but it doesn’t have to be an either/or thing. this way we can respect ourselves AND respect others. we can meet our NEEDS and serve others to the best of our ability. it doesn’t have to be “either you or me” it can instead be, “you AND me.”⁣

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show up, show up in all your flaws. we are humans and that isn’t changing (at least not today). when we love our humanity we give other people permission to love their own humanity and the world becomes a better place because of it. ⁣

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being human is messy at times AND it is a very fulfilling experience. ⁣

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what either/or ways of thinking can you shift to AND? ⁣

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#getoutthetrap⁣