To go your own way.

To choose what is right for you 

"You've always been a bit of a rebel, Carina!"
"Rebel!?"
We're sitting 8-10 people around a table in a large storefront, converted into a party room for the evening. Depending on which generation you belong to, you might remember how it was very popular for a period with arranged reunions. A party organizer invited everyone to a party evening with food and mingling, "somehow" many years after you finished ninth grade. Or high school, or yes, there were apparently many different occasions to celebrate.

But here we are, several classmates, now as young adults, and airing thoughts about our shared history and how life developed. So when one of the guys at our table says that he thought of me as a rebel, I'm naturally curious to know more. "Well, you've always gone your own way and done what you believe in" "Yes, that's right" says one of the girls "You don't care what others think. You choose what you believe in"

This is one of the warmest compliments I've ever received. Obviously because after all these years it is so present in my memory. Not because I in any way have neither strived for nor avoided being a rebel. But because we had all known each other since we were children. We were all very familiar with each other's upbringing with everything that journey meant, from challenges to victories. What made my heart so warm from their comments was that they actually saw that I genuinely always tried to be true to my own heart. Not playing games or adapting to something or someone. To be true to myself. So I will forever carry this opportunity in my heart.

To go your own way. What comes to mind when you hear that sentence? Is it perhaps just being a little rebellious, or is something warm and soft starting to tickle in your stomach, something positive and hopeful? To let go of the societal norm of living from the outside in, according to other people's expectations, and completely turn the concept around. Living from the heart and creating from that in life, listening to what your beautiful unique soul guides you to. How does that idea feel? You may already be doing it to the fullest.

Not only people and animals can choose to go their own way, plants too. I am of the opinion that everything has a soul. People, animals, trees and plants, everything. So when I discovered a fern on my lawn, which had chosen to grow all by itself about 2 meters away from its fellow species, I smiled big. It also wants to go its own way. So I haven't touched it. If it wants to grow there, it should be allowed to. I also have a tomato plant this year that doesn't like sun. Has anyone ever heard of a tomato plant that DOESN'T like sun??!! But of course, I try to do what I can to respect this too, as it is a bit difficult to always find shade for this little friend at this time of year.

Going your own way is not always easy. On the contrary, it can be the biggest challenge you have ever taken on. Because it can take courage to dare to break the accustomed pattern and no longer conform to everything and everyone, what is considered the societal norm. To stop the exhausting adaptation because you are simply afraid of not fitting in and not being accepted. Because you do not want to stand out. It can mean being questioned and challenged, both by yourself and also by those around you.

Going your own way can mean that we suddenly see things in a new light and with that clarity also realize that there are also many relationships in our lives that we have actually grown out of. It can be lonely, frustrating and completely upsetting. There are times when it feels like walking on thin ice. At the same time, that voice continues to whisper from your heart, "You want something different with your life. You deserve Your Very Best and Happiness. Keep moving forward!"

Because when we turn inward, into our own true essence, our core, there are deeply unique dreams and desires that like a wild mustang want to gallop, wild and free. Get room to grow. Our soul desires nothing more than to thrive in its own authenticity and be genuine.

Going your own way, and what it means, is just like everything else, very individual. The essence of it all is to let your own heart show the way to what it means for you. Going your own way is not about talking about it with everything and everyone, or shouting your message from the rooftops to those around you. Going your own way is to continue doing what you believe in, according to your own firm conviction. Because it feels right. To continue to fight for, and stand strong in it every day, even without appreciation or confirmation from those around you. You go your own way because it feels right in your heart and your soul applauds your progress.

Lasse the Tramp paws his own unique path

An animal that has truly confidently pawed its own path is the cat Luffar-Lasse (Lasse the Tramp) in Trollhättan, Sweden. Lasse is a unique cat that has taken Sweden by storm and his magic is starting to spread globally. He lives in an apartment with his petmum Elin and her three children and two other cats. For the first two years, Lasse was an indoor cat, but when the children were born, Lasse was keen to stay close to them at all times. This simply meant that he accompanied them on the stroller walk to the Överby shopping centre. Today, when the children are older, Lasse has found his own way through the forest and the residential area to the shopping centre 1.5 kilometres away, which he continues to visit on a daily basis. When he has walked around the various shops and feels satisfied for the day, he heads out to the car park and begs for a ride home again.

Lasse has become a real celebrity and tourist attraction. Outside the shopping centre, Lasse has got his own cat house and the municipality has put up his own warning signs for Lasse. He has had a roundabout decorated in his honour and has his own Facebook group. He has raised money for the fundraising event Musikhjälpen and books have been written about him and slow-TV programmes have been created about this very special ginger kitty. He engages and makes people happy. He also heals them.

Say what you want about Lasse, but when he picks someone out in the parking lot to give him a lift home, or when he greets people at the mall, he sprinkles his cat healing magic over them. He is a super-honed healer! Maybe not everyone he comes into contact with understands how much they need his healing right then and there. But Lasse does. He brings people together and has made them create networks and relationships that they might not have otherwise. He spreads love all around him. One-little-red-cat! This is Kitty Healing on a high-vibration level!

So let's be inspired by Lasse. Going our own way doesn't have to mean that we all get a roundabout named after us or a lift home from the nearest mall. ;) Going our own way is a lot about creating awareness of what we actually want. When we know what we want, it's much easier to weed out everything that doesn't contribute to the feeling of peace and harmony. When we know what we want, and have found the inner compass direction, it is easier to feel satisfied. With those steps, Going Your Own Way begins. Learning to feel what is important in your life. Choosing from the heart.