Food for Thought Friday - Navigating the Inner and Outer Worlds

Posted by Kevin Boon. Follow me on Twitter.

This past couple of weeks have been an interesting time of personal growth. Business activities have taken me away from blogging and I am always frustrated when I lose consistency with my posting because I feel I get out of the groove.

The good news is each new day or week allows me to get back on track.

Meditation is Crap!

Several weeks ago one of my friends said to me, what’s all that meditation crap you’re doing on your blog? Do you really believe in all that $#%@?

I smiled and I told him my meditation was part of a much larger government conspiracy that was planning to take over the planet but he should not worry because I put in a good word for him. He looked at me slightly puzzled, we laughed and then talked about baseball.

What I've noticed is people in social settings have a hard time with those inner conversations about feelings, thoughts or even ideas. In the business world conversations tend to focus on presenting an image, demonstrating how smart or funny you are or achieving some goal or objective. We are so conditioned to look only at our outer world especially in business. We focus on our image, careers, financial portfolios, houses, cars, TVs or whatever.

Little recognition is given to the inner world, yet in my conversations lately I am noticing the inner part of every person - in plain view.

What do I mean by Inner World?

The outer world is what we do. We drive our cars, we go to work, we go shopping and we do things. The inner world is how we interact within our minds, our thoughts, feelings or what I call the inner self. Some people will mistake what I’m saying and think I’m talking about God or getting religious but I’m really not. You can be an atheist or even a scientist and still go inside and listen to your thoughts or your feelings.

Your belief in God has nothing to do with your inner world.

In social gatherings and with some practice it becomes easy to observe the inner world of others. When you connect on an inner level you get a sense of whether a person is honest, telling the truth, really interested in you or generally whether they are a good person.

If the other person is connected to their own inner self (either consciously or naturally) many times you will feel a great connection and there is an opportunity for awesome conversation.

Why is the Inner World Important?

When people ask me what has meditation and inner reflection taught me I tell them it has allowed me to connect better with people. From a personal level it has allowed me to be more real, be more in tune with what I want and have more fun. Most importantly it has allowed me to create a better outer world experience.

The inner and outer world exists in every person. The real question becomes how much time do we give to our inner experience and how do we create a balance between our inner and outer realities?

Next week I will post a review of Seth Godin and some ideas on social media.

Comments

[Debra]

Another brilliant post filled with insightful observations, Kevin!

I believe we experience the most authentic joy in life when we live from the inside out.

So much of our culture indoctrinates the pattern and idea of externalizing. We externalize our experience to such a great extent that we become numb to even the notion of "an inner world".

In my world I observe greatness when action, communication, expression, etc. begin from the inside. This is where true power is.

When we attempt to initiate action, communication, expression, etc. from the 'outer world' we become tired, stressed, have feelings of not-enough-ness. We are powerless...and we have no idea why.

What I love most about this post is your clarity on the importance of the inner world reality and how that has positively influenced your outer world experience.

No matter how a person comes to this realization, through meditation...or a myriad of other potentials...realizing this *is* the key to the kingdom.

Well, one of them anyway! :0)

Thanks for sharing, Kevin!

In Harmony, Debra
(@debsoul on Twitter)

[SpiritintheVillage]

Thanks Debra.

It is true many of us forget the inner experience and yet it is probably the most important aspect of life.