“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
Have you ever paused to wonder just who you belong to…
“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
You belong, first and foremost, to yourself. Others may make claims on your time, your efforts, your energies, your emotions, but you ultimately belong to yourself. You are your own first, your own constant, your own last. It is simply just the way it is.
And yet, this very fact can leave one feeling bewildered and even lost to it’s meaning. I know I was brought up a bit short the first time I came across this notion. Just how does one belong to oneself? Herein lies the beauty and majesty of this quote because truly, “the greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”.
For starters, to know how to belong to yourself, you must understand who and what you are at your core. This doesn’t have to be difficult or even intimidating (both things I have thought before). It’s knowing the simple, lovely things about yourself. Things like knowing what makes you smile. What makes you feel safe or happy or grumpy. Knowing what makes you want to do something or not want to do something. What you enjoy eating or making or taking part in. Knowing what smells you like and dislike, what tastes, what feelings, what textures, what sounds, etc.
Once you have that established (and most all of us do, we just function on autopilot instead of actively thinking about it) you start to take even more in and begin to work out your actions and reactions to things. By taking notice of this, you begin to take mindful control of your responses and your feelings. You allow yourself to feel and become aware of how this affects you and others. Now you are realizing that you do belong to yourself and that this belonging is a wonderful, powerful gift that is all yours. And the more you flex and take ownership of yourself and your actions and reactions, the more wholly you belong to yourself.
It’s truly such an incredible gift, this ability to stretch out and fill out every single bit of yourself and to so completely and thoroughly belong to and of yourself. There is no need for judgement and no room for it in this self that you are. There is no good or bad, just a mix of light and dark that provides contrast and reflection. Choosing to belong to yourself and becoming mindful of what that means to you means that you are taking full part in this human experience and that is why you are here.
The more I delve into this quote and take note of what it means to me to belong to myself, the more relaxed and delighted I become. I make my own rules, set my own standards, create my own boundaries. Others may try to put me into a box and society may try to keep me small, but they shall be trying in vain. So long as I keep in mind that I belong only to myself and that nobody else gets a piece of me without my permission (permission that can be revoke should I so choose), I know I will be in control of ME.
You, too, have the ability to belong entirely to yourself and finding out how to belong to oneself is not so intimidating or difficult as it may seem. There is immense power to be had in knowing how to fully belong to oneself and I encourage you to begin figuring it out for yourself right now. You are worth it and you won’t be sorry you did!
Namaste ~ Ella
~ Affirmation Mondays are positive words of wisdom, insight and joy to add a bit of cheer to the start of your week and any day you need a bit of a pick-me-up! For even more inspiration please check out my Affirmation Mondays Pinterest Board and my Quote-spirational Board!
~ Visit my Instagram ~ on Mondays there are Inspirational quotes and every day has a little jolt of happiness to brighten up your life!
Lawhimsy 