Friday, January 20, 2012

Live Like the Honey Badger: Principle 1

This is the first in a series of posts entitled, Live Like the Honey Badger. Each week, I will address one aspect of developing confidence, self-worth, a fearless nature and the like.

Principle 1: Honey Badger Don't Care

The honey badger does what he wants, when he wants, without regard for what will be thought of him. Simply, he is not controlled by external forces, like many of us.

Think about it. When was the last time you second guessed what your wore, how you styled your hair or whether or not you should make an attempt at greatness based on how you thought others might perceive you?

Be honest. It was probably recently.

We live in a society where we are judged by our peers and unfortunately, ourselves, for just about everything. All too often, we view the often unattainable images seen in the media and throughout popular culture as perfection. We try to live up to standards that can't and perhaps, shouldn't, be reached. And if you are constantly striving to be what others want you to be, somewhere along the way, you are going to lose who you are. Don't do it.

  • Don't live for someone else's happiness in sake of your own.
  • Don't hold your true self back just because others might show negativity towards your choices.
  • Don't change who you are or who you want to be because you are afraid that those around you won't support you.

The people who love you are going to love you regardless of whether or not they agree with how you choose to express yourself. That's what support systems do. They support. And if you are constantly faced with opposition for your life choices, perhaps it's time to reevaluate who you surround yourself with. 

I know it's not easy to look past the judgements and I know it's not easy to put yourself out there, but believing that you have the right to live your life as you see fit and believing that you have value will make it easier.

Sure, you will face negativity. Haters are going to hate. But their reaction to you, probably has less to do with you and the way you choose to live your life than you think. I have often found that when people negatively judge your choices, it's not because of the choice, but rather how they think the choice with affect THEM.

  • Perhaps you make them uncomfortable. 
  • Perhaps you make them question how they have been living.
  • Perhaps your choices scare them.
  • Perhaps they fear that what you do will somehow be used in another person's judgement of them.

One thing rings true in all of these scenarios - IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. It's all about them. And you can't let "them" be in charge of who you are.

Realizing this is the first step to living like the honey badger. If you give yourself permission to be exactly who you want to be, regardless of who likes it, you'll build a strong foundation for self-worth and confidence. You won't be dictated by external forces. And each day, you'll get one step closer to being the best version of yourself.

The honey badger don't care. And you don't need to either.

21 comments:

Marlene said...

Amen Sister!

Jen said...

Freakin amazing and I so needed to hear that!

Kayla said...

Great post! Love it! :)

carrie said...

THANK YOU!!! I LOVE this post and I'm looking forward to each Friday! I wanna be a honey badger!

Jason said...

The HoneyBadger don't give a sh*t and thus he doesn't care that others hate him either.

Here is my theory on this:
People are going to dislike you NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO. It happens that is a part of life.

You wear blue, people hate the color blue. You eat healthy and people hate that you do that so why give two rats tails what they think? Do what you need to do to make yourself happy.

I used to get criticism all the time from people about my training and how I'm eating healthy and when I chose not to engage them in a war of words but instead told them this is my life and I want to live forever (literally!) they stopped criticizing and actually started getting healthy themselves.

We all have choices to make so make the choice that makes you happy and smile and not the one that you think will make others happy because there will always be others who are not going to be happy no matter what you do.

Michelle said...

Lovin' me some HONEY BADGER lately!

SupermomE13 said...

Amen and Amen!

justme said...

love the honey badger....he don't give a shit

Unknown said...

I secretly feel that way about religion...and living in the bible belt makes not giving a#@$% really hard. But on on!

Unknown said...

Such a great lesson... and one I need to personally work on!

a runners' life said...

This is great, thank you! I have to stop worrying about what others think and just be happy with me.

The Jesse said...

This is a really great post and lesson. Thank you for sharing :)

Brandi said...

LOVE this! Awesome inspiration! Who DOESN'T LOVE the Honey Badger?? (not that he'd care if anyone didn't!!)

As an aside, one of my coworkers was trying to make a Honey Badger-related comment, but wasn't super familiar... and referred to 'him' as the SUGAR BEAVER. (FYI, Sugar Beaver doesn't give a shit EITHER!!) Ha!

Running Backwards in High Heels said...

I love this. I always feel like a bull in a china shop around my sister, like everything that comes out of my mouth is offensive to her. She never says how she truly feels and I am glad that I can be confident enough in myself that I can say how I feel.

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

I'm not sure what I liked more--this post or Brandi's comment above. LMAO @ Sugar Beaver. That sounds like a raunchy pet name.

Unknown said...

This is why you're such a BADASS! Love this. Thanks for launching such an important series.

Winks & Smiles,
Wifey

Jessica (Pace of Me) said...

i really really love this. truly.
can't wait for more posts on this topic.
and i am also quite fond of the sugar beaver comment - soo funny!

ajh said...

Completely unrelated.
You are the other NCIS fan I know. I assume you are much farther along than I am but if not past Season 2 stop reading.

Okay - Killing Kate? Really? I don't want to keep watching it. Do they find someone to replace her with such good interactions with Tony?

Christy said...

Awesome!

Elle said...

Just found this series of posts and they are wonderful. And a great visual reminder.

HoneyBadger... love it. Thank you.

Unknown said...

LOVE!!!!