This is a book about trusting yourself, your gut, or in Glennon’s words your knowing. While written from the perspective of a female and how she presents herself to the world, I think this can translate to everyone. She talks about how she is put into a cage (the book uses a metaphor of a cheetah in the zoo) and not being her true self. She is conditioned to be caged and not to be who she is meant to be.
This book is stories about how she was put into the cage and how she works to free herself from the cage. She frees herself by trusting her knowing, her gut. Trusting yourself can be so hard because we are constantly taking cues from the outside world on how we should act or who we should be. We spend so much time thinking about things outside our bodies when we should be focusing on what’s going on inside our bodies (our heart, head, and gut).
How many times have you ignored your wants or needs for the sake of others’ needs or expectations? I know I am guilty of this. Trusting yourself is putting faith that you already know the answer to how you want to be in the world. This is scary because if we show up as who we truly are we fear that people might not like us or will abandon us.
This book is great for those who are looking to show up more authentically in their lives.
Quotes I love from the book:
“When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself.”
This is so damn true. You can’t please the world. You can’t make everyone happy. You can’t meet the expectations of everyone. It’s impossible. It’s also really exhausting to try to maintain this lifestyle. Once you realize this you can then let go of this belief and focus on your needs. You can begin to ask yourself ’what do I want?’ ‘Who do I want to be?’ You can then can become your true self.
“I will not stay, not ever again – in a room or conversation or relationship or institution that requires me to abandon myself.”
This is an amazing act of self-love. Choosing yourself over others’ expectations is such a beautiful way to show yourself love and respect. By doing this you are accepting yourself for you are without apology. People who love you in the way that you deserve will not expect you to be someone else. Your true support system will love you for you. You shouldn’t have to shapeshift to fit in with others. Embrace you are.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs inspiration to lean into becoming more themselves.
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