How Our Surroundings Affect Us
Natural Bridges, California
Have you adopted the idea that ‘you’re an ordinary person?’ Maybe not intentionally—we don’t consciously declare ourselves as ordinary—but over time in observing our surroundings we can easily start thinking that way. This extraordinary tunnel is located in what looks to be an ordinary valley. What if you’re the extraordinary person who has come to know ordinary surroundings?
By way of furthering a sense of belonging, we tend to attach our identity to a hometown or a city…any place we’ve come to know well. This self attachment can bolster a certain sense of pride but also sneak in a grey acceptance of who you are. Our surroundings try to define us—what our future looks like, what we should strive to accomplish, even how happy we should be; That given definition undercuts who we are and what we’re capable of.
Unlike the tunnel, you can get up and move—change where you are, what you do, and everything about what has become your normal. The point is: Don’t settle for an identity that is made to match your surroundings. Don’t try to bend who you are just to fit in with what is ordinary.
