Lessons Learned from a Green Iguana
The fable below is more of an insult to the Iguana than to whom I was thinking about when I wrote the paragraph. We all know someone as outlined in the paragraph, but do we recognize our self in parts of it?
The above photo is a male iguana and he carries the outward appearance of an executive with a big title. I sat and watched this iguana and kept visualizing how, if it could talk, it would spout a lot descriptive dialogue about all its smartness compared to the other less colorful iguanas. I bet it would assume because of its appearance (i.e. Big Title) the other iguanas hang on its every word not realizing the other iguanas are there because of the green grass (i.e. paycheck). I bet this iguana never hears a word the other iguanas offer up as advice and probably consistently talks over the others. I bet he would highlight all the other important reptiles and animals he knows and maybe say something like “I just had lunch with the Howler Monkey and we are in deep negotiations on expanding our papaya operations.” However, the one critical point the iguana is missing is humility and, in fact, doesn’t seem to realize he is just a lizard like all the other iguanas he tends to lecture.
We as humans are the worst at seeing ourselves as we really are in the world and, more importantly, we desire to project plastic images of our self. The brain consistently lies to us and does so for self-preservation, ego, and fear of rejection. We tend to read all the press about our positives and negate all our faults. I believe it causes us to always be in risk mitigation mode where we simply don’t make the best choices for ourselves. In effect, like a cat in the sandbox, we work hard to cover up our faults which are really fear based decisions. Additionally, if we worked to be self-aware of our faults and acknowledge those faults, we could free ourselves of the stress and depression that is an epidemic in this country. In other words, when we die into our limitations, we free ourselves from those limitations. Of course, with all our political correctness today, society encourages hiding of our individuality and any misstep today can result in being an outcast in social media, loss of a job, or labeled a family renegade. What would happen to your career if you challenged “corporate” from running off your top revenue producers while replacing them with administrative secretaries with fancy titles? “Beheading by the Cube Monkeys” … so you follow the herd mentality rule which dictates that you stay in the mentality of the pack which is the safest. Oddly, the family unit is the worst place to display our limitations so we learn to hide from everybody including the most important person which is our self. We become a fake. I do have action steps that will empower you to work on freeing the self-imposed bondage…
Step one: Admit you are awesome, BUT you have some flaws that you aren’t self-aware of at this point. Acknowledge the ones you are working so hard to keep a secret. This isn’t about announcing these issues but refocusing your energy to be self-aware and improving on these faults which will in fact free yourself of those self-imposed boundaries. You can peel off the “mask” of cover up. No one… NO one is perfect.
Step two: Challenge yourself about the accuracy of your assessment at the point where you perceive something strongly or have a strong opinion. Play the devil’s advocate.
Our comfort zone SCREAMS for cover up, but our soul screams for freedom from our self-imposed bondage. “Thy Self Be True” comes with an enormous amount of liberation, but you must take it in baby steps.
Final thought, if you are constantly in the middle of the herd, aren’t you really looking at someone’s butt all day? Just food for thought…
Also, if you happen to wonder as to whom the Green Iguana is in the fable?
It was ME.
PURA VEDA
