Rebel, Rebel, Never Settle: Why We Must Always Reach for More

Why do we settle for less than we deserve when we know deep down that we are worth so much more? It’s a tough question, and the answer is certainly hidden deep beneath many layers. It’s a cold hard fact that if we do not love and value ourselves and recognize the difference we can make in the world, no one else will. We should remember that no one short-changes us, only we short-change ourselves.

At some point in time we all need to make a decision. Do we continue on the path of least resistance or do we strike out and lovingly rebel against our own limiting beliefs (and those of others) that hold us back from achieving what we deserve? Never settling for less is not a self-righteous or self-absorbed stance where no one and nothing can live up to our lofty standards. We are not better than anyone else and no one else is better than us -- but we all each bathe in our own hard-won expressions of individuality.

When we choose not to settle, it means we have delved deeply into the darkest places of our soul so we can magnetize our inherent wants and needs with what we wish to create or materialize into our physical world.

Rebel, Rebel, Never Settle: Why We Must Always Reach for More

I started my life with a single absolute: that the world was mine to shape in the image of my highest values and never to be given up to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle.

― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Self-love is an act of rebellion against all that pierces our heart and sends ripples of not quite, not yet, too much or too little into our bones. It is a long and nebulous walk into rocky emotional terrain, but one that leads us back to the centre of our spirit and inner fire.

It is a pilgrimage that shines a light on all the times we've allowed ourselves to accept second-best because we felt anything more was beyond our reach.

Where devaluing ourselves has become the norm, loving ourselves becomes a revolutionary act. And this is what love compels us to do: to act.

Rebelling against 'normal'

To discover your mission and put it into action -- instead of worrying on the sidelines -- is to find peace of mind and a heart full of love.

-- Scilla Elworthy

‘Normal’ is a construct of the reality we live in. It is an idea defined by the many and not by those of independent or valiant spirits. Normal provokes the fear of not fitting in, which we feel as daggers of 'not right' or 'not enough' that penetrate violently into our hearts and minds. Normal is limiting. Yet when we look around us, we see ordinary people doing extraordinary things and breaking the boundaries of what may be considered normal.

Our strength lies in everything that stirs us to rise and bravely challenge the status quo. Somewhere along the way we were infiltrated with the idea that we were not enough, so we keep trying to align ourselves to the archetype of what is perceived by others as acceptable. But what if we are meant for so much more? When we begin to nurture every difference and flaw that we've camouflaged in order to keep up appearances, we find our way back to ourselves -- and learn to love each piece that comprises the whole. We are our own best-kept secret.

Never settle for less than

Self-love is the source of all our other loves.

-- Pierre Corneille

Grief, fears, and inner conflicts act like shards of glass that shatter our capacity for self-love. They all stem from notions of lack or loss -- yet we lack nothing. We can confront and combat our limiting beliefs through a limitless vine of love and a fierce commitment to all that we are. Love asks us to move from mind to heart; to stop hiding and start seeking; to renounce settling and fight for more.

Our life experiences lace us with an emotional gold -- richer for all its sorrow, and wiser through all its pain. When we respect our presence and efforts, we choose to share them with those who keep our inner fire burning rather than those who attempt to extinguish it.

Freedom says ‘Show up and shine’

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

-- Albert Camus

It is the sharp stings of life as well as the sweetness that shape us into who we are. We can liberate ourselves by accepting the rough with the smooth while always remaining true to our hopes and visions. Love lives in freedom: the freedom we seek to just be, and to flow with our truth instead of fighting against it by settling for less.

We are our best incentive to show up and shine; the world becomes a starless place when we conceal our own light. We can choose to act and ditch compromise through love and self-awareness, forgoing fear, submission and judgment.

Nail down ‘Never settle’ as your life's goal

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

-- Nelson Mandela (more quotes)

We chase new paradigms for what we deserve based on our own raw truth that we enunciate with loving action. We can decide to emanate from unflinching principles and be the masters of what we accept, dream, and are inspired to create. Our struggle to get there is crucial to our story. This is what it means to never settle.

We gild and beautify each page of hardship because without it our book loses its substance in the library of life.