Today is my birthday. I’ve lived five-plus decades on this planet. At times, it feels like ten times that. At other times, it feels as if I’m just getting started and don’t know much at all. I have learned a lot of life lessons — some good, some bad, some I seem to have to repeat over and over again, and I still haven’t gotten them right!
One notab
le mention I’m addressing here has to do with what some call a trigger. For many of us, when someone says something about us that we perceive as negative, we may spend a lot of our limited time on earth fighting it, negating it, worrying if it’s true, fearful of it and its implications. I’m not immune to placing importance on what outsiders say, even if the source isn’t one I value. (That’s one of the things I’m still working on learning to navigate in this life…)
The phrase that’s recently become a trigger for me is that of being called a “lone wolf”; it’s right up there with being told to “tone it down” and being asked “who do you think you are?” (not in a positive sort of way).
In the past year or so, I’ve really stepped up my game in the examination of labels and the consideration of source. I’m realizing that perceptions are just that, and the meanings we assign to things are just that, and that everything has its dark and its light. I’m also stepping into more and more loving what is and ALL of who I am.
In this world today where “culture” oftentimes masks “conformity” and where everyone has an opinion and even worse, everyone seems to feel as if their opinion is the only one that counts, it’s a daily struggle to remember who you are. Who you REALLY are. And to EMBRACE every part of you.
I found this “Code of the Wolf” quite by accident, and, yet, it so spoke to me. Yes, I AM a “lone wolf” if you perceive me as not staying silent when something should be said, or if you believe that a female is only on this planet to be in servitude to others, or if you’re too threatened by someone who will venture into the wilderness to find another way and exhibit true leadership. Going along just to get along or for fear of retaliation has never been my style. We’re seeing what doing so is resulting in worldwide right now. And it’s no way to survive, let alone live.
I am a “lone wolf” if that’s the label you need to affix onto me. But know that in my embracing of this role, it’s a badge of honor I accept. In the animal kingdom, lone wolves leave to prevent inbreeding or to go in search of new territory. It’s said that lone wolves don’t remain alone; rather, once they find a pack of their own, they’re much stronger…and far more dangerous than the wolves who never were going to have a chance at being anything other than a follower.
Not to get all preachy here, but the next time anyone tries to label you, consider the source, evaluate every aspect of possible perspective, and embrace everything about the label that fits you while disregarding everything else. If you choose to break from the pack, do it. You’ll be better for it, and the ones you’ve left behind just haven’t the capacity and may never rise to the level at which you already howl.
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