Life is about inner works. It flow from cause inside to produce effect outside. Most of the people are stuck in a reactive mode, there is something happening outside in their life and in order to survive there is reaction from our compulsive mind, on which we have no power. We are reactive to the situations and thus create our life unconsciously.
There is more powerful way of being than being in a survival mode. There is survival instinct which comes first in times of crisis. It is of compulsive nature, you are operating from mind which is powered by reactions, beliefs, doubts, fears or scarcity mode. These all emotions get flooded in our minds, as we live our life, gain experiences good or bad, influence from people, family, books, movies and activities we engage in. Habits play crucial part, all good habits are formed in the formative year of child development, like eating healthy food, exercising, reading books, not engaging in harmful activities like smoking, alcohol etc. Being honest, being humane and respectful of life and living creatures and being conscious. Once this habit of being conscious develops, it is hard to have any of the damaging habits. Being conscious means that there is gap between you and compulsive mind. You will not be overpowered by the compulsive mind when you are mindful.
When you start getting mindful of your thoughts, emotions, motivations and sensations in the body, you are in a powerful position. You are out of compulsive nature of your mind, now you have power to respond to any challenges you face. Your mind is calmer and hence it provides creative solution in such cases. When you are conscious, you are in a power to change course of your life by taking better decisions. There comes a point when you have mastery over your mind and you can direct your life, the way you want it to be. That is living inside to outside. You are not ruled by outside compulsions to take actions but you decide which course of action to take.
When you are conscious, you do not take short cuts to achieve your goals. You take legitimate path and wait for due course of time for success to follow. That success is not authentic and has no value where your core ethics are compromised to achieve your goals. We feel compelled to achieve worldly success because that is the way our success is measured. You feel the need to validate yourself by achieving numbers and figures in the success list. Sometimes, if you look at the live of some celebrities they have achieved great success in the world but it does not bring happiness in their inner life, Why? Because outer success has not been married to inner values. You may be living a very rich outer life but inner life, life of spirit, which matter to you the most is very poor.
Your inner life is rich, when in due course of your life, you have built it on your core values and with test of time you have lived with integrity and not compromised on your ethics in challenging times. when you stick to your core ethics and principles of humanity, you gain immeasurable self worth. A self worthy person is equally concerned about other lives and will not do anything which is against the principles of humanity. A self worthy person lives a richer, happier and healthier life. The more generous, friendly or helpful you are , you generate that kind of energy inside and around you and that keeps you happy and healthy.
The stress which is very common these days is because people have shifted from being simple to complex. The outer life is quite different from inner life and that is the cause of conflict and stress. We have grown our egos which is false self and have shrunken our heart. Our outer life is grand outside but we are unable to experience it because we have shrunken our heart. If we start living from inside out, no matter what outer compulsions are, live the principles of life, care for each other and the world will be a better place to live.