Watched

Who’s watching you? We often don’t pay any attention to who is watching us, but we all get watched. Children watch us to learn how to behave in the world. They watch what you do, how you speak, the way you treat people. Friends watch us to see how we are, how we are following our dreams, how we strive. Toxic friends was us to see how bad it is, how we are suffering so they can support us in following our negativity. ( I apologize to all my friends from the olden days whom I supported in their misery.) Sometimes we are watched because people want to learn how we create our success. Then we are role models. Being the object of observation is a big responsibility. Remembering that we are always being watched is a good way to remember to observe your own behavior. What kind of example are you setting? If a child were watching how you behave, would you feel proud? Neutral? Ashamed? Or something else. When we are living on-purpose, we are in line with our values and dreams. We behave in a consistent, uplifting manner. We routinely set and reach goals that make us feel good. We help others, we take care of ourselves. We are being watched, and learned from. When we are living off-purpose, we act in ways that go against our values. We sabotage our dreams. We whine and complain, and spew negativity onto those around us. We neglect ourselves and take it out on each other. We are being watched, and learned from. We like to think that our behavior is private, that we are invisible to some extent, but people notice. They notice because we are a part of our families, our communities, our society, even if we are loners or isolate ourselves. We scrutinize each other. This isn’t creepy, or weird behavior. We all do it. Noticing people at the grocery store or gas station; how they behave, how they treat their children. We make judgements about each other all the time. Think about people you know -- who do you like? Who don’t you like? Who is challenging to be around? Who is an inspiration to you? Whom do you try to avoid? Why? So we are one those lists for others. All of them. I know there are people who find me a royal pain in the patoot, people who wouldn’t mind never seeing me again. I also know that there are people who treasure me, and people who love to spend time with me. And there are people watching what I do, even when I’m not aware of it. What I take away from that is to live on-purpose to the best of my ability. To take a moment to think about my behavior if I am having big feelings. To practice feeling grateful, and loving, many times every day. To do what I need to do, to take care of myself, to keep my inclination to whining in check, to curb my urges to blame you. I endeavor to live in my flow, in that place where it is easy and natural and comfortable. How do I know I’m on the right track?