Your Path Is Yours, Not Theirs

[ysabeau]

So this is something that I wanted to type up because it's been bothering me and I felt that others may benefit from it. Plus, it's my 100th post and I want to make this one count for something good.

Your Path is Yours! Not Theirs!
I'd say it louder in the back for those who can't hear. But you get the point.

One of the most difficult things with starting out on a path or even having walked it for years, you will still find yourself under scrutiny.
This can come from friends, relatives, to outsiders. The problem is that sometimes it gets to us, especially when you trust and respect the person that it is coming from. There are a few things that I wanted to go over with this. You have the people that support you and will encourage you, you'll have the people who seem to do that but tell you that their way is better, some that will be slick about it and say they support but completely underhand you passively with comments, to people outright attack it.

Walk it in stride and know that they believe what they want to believe and they will not change. They will not budge unless something traumatically drastic happens. But you are meant to walk your path the way you are meant to. This can mean that someone who is traditionally taught from a long line of witches can be just as strong as someone who is a first generations pagan or energy user.

It's like basketball. You practice every day with it, you use it and build your skills every day. The person who has the latent talent can just get by if they want or they can work at honing it. The person who doesn't have the latent or genetic talent can work every day just as hard and get to the same place at the end of years. The one that dedicates their time and effort will have more proficiency in their skills than the one who, though latent, lagged on their practice.

I have a friend that I love to death, she's my best friend. But it's a pain to talk meta with her at times because her family is traditionally witches and they teach this stuff down generations of lines. I am newer and someone that is working through this at a pace that can be totally different since I have to find my own way. She grew up the daughter of a High Priestess and witches... and sometimes she comments on how... different, my practice is. How "beautifully" light I am and walking in that, though I have firmly taken the Middle Path and work with both.

This is classic in that we are friends but our beliefs and practices are different. This is where you have to realize that you can practice totally different things and be okay, but having them make comments or snipes about it, is not okay.

Everyone's path is different. Every person's experiences are different. No two experiences are going to be the same, so don't compare yours to theirs. Just as they should not compare theirs to yours. Every person's experience is unique and special to them. Don't devalue yours because it's not shiny or brilliant that others have, as yours are shiny in their own way.

[Saber]

This is true with art... frustratingly so. It can be very hard to be unique and not understood for who you are or what you do. Thank you so much for sharing this. It helps.

[Conium]

Thank you for this! Truly!

This is a key part that I personally don't think many people think about. Sure, there's overlap in the basis of the knowledge, but what comes from it- how we each dedicate ourselves to our practices, and what we make of it is what makes a spiritual path so much more rewarding. It allows for all of us to grow and develop into ourselves. Sure, the generational thing is tried and true for some, but at the same time, the best piece of advice that I've gotten about magic or spirituality is "do what works for you."

[Titan]

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Who is "they", "the others"? WHO are the people in reference controlling your life and WHAT do they want. Also, were did they come from? Are htey a figment of our imagination or a subjective and observable person. 777 Peace love and Light to all!

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