Have you ever felt like an outsider?

For many years, I have felt like an outsider. Although my grandparents brought me up as their own, I didn’t quite belong with their family unit, but I also didn’t fit in with my mum’s family after she remarried. At school, I wasn’t quite a tomboy but I wasn’t a girly girl either. Later on, when I worked for an American organisation, I didn’t feel the same affinity with my local colleagues, but I wasn’t one of the Americans. Moving to the UK has only aggravated this sense of being neither here nor there: I felt like a tourist in Azerbaijan, and despite having a British passport, I didn’t feel like a Brit.

So this feeling of not belonging haunted me all my life.

When you don't belong, you become an expert at fitting in.

Do you know what's the difference between fitting in and true belonging?

When you try to fit in, you:

- Go above and beyond to get along;

- Constantly censor your every word;

- Feel under pressure to please everyone, which in turn generates a lot of anxiety.

When you belong,

- Your whole being is relaxed, there's ease, you're not efforting to get other people's approval and validation;

- You have deep sense of connection;

- You feel supported; you're not alone anymore.

It was only through doing the inner work I came to the point where I belong with myself, and from there, external connections flow with more ease.

Feeling a sense of belonging is such a key to finding your rightful place in life. We were not meant to function in isolation. Without this sense of belonging, you live with deep yearning for true connections with your soul tribe, people who understand you and speak 'your language'.

If this is you, join my last live masterclass before the summer break on 14 July. It's on longing to belong. You can join us here: www.gularavincent.co.uk/belonging

P.S. My new practitioner training is filling fast. Drop me a line if you'd like a chat. All details are here: www.gularavincent.co.uk/practitioner-training

And if you join me by 11 July, as a thank you for joining me early, you'll receive the recordings of two live rounds of my 'Good Enough' course (£540) www.gularavincent.co.uk/good-enough + access to my live 3-hour class 'Longing to Belong' (£120) www.gularavincent.co.uk/belonging for free.

With all my love,

Gulara