Do You need to change your "Echo Chamber"?

   

     Have you ever been somewhere and in your inner monologue you just simply said to yourself..."what am I doing here? I could be somewhere else doing something better with my life"  I'm sure many of us have had that thought at least once in our lives.. Well that probably means that you are in the wrong "echo chamber". You maybe saying to yourself right now...what the heck does that mean?!  An echo chamber is not a futuristic sci-fi capsule to keep you forever young, it's a fancy new term ...that means your surroundings and the people that are in it.
 
      An echo chamber can either derail you or lift you to the next level of your life.  It all comes down  to who might be within it and what they are trying to echo throughout the room.  But if you happen to be in one that might make you feel heavy, negative, not promising, or too self centered...you need to leave it and say goodbye....no matter how personal the grouping might be to you.  Your mission is to find a surrounding that has a positive vibe and you are all there to help one another and see the other succeed.  I'm not saying to find a group of people holding hands in a circle and singing Kumbaya, but a group that is welcoming and most importantly makes you feel comfortable.  A group that one's mission is to see the other achieve, a human ladder if you will.
 
    The truth is, it's not at as easy as it sounds to many people because they are either intimated of change, and not comfortable, and that's normal.   It's totally understood, but have you tried?   Do you think people still want to hear how life has turned on you...and that life is not fair.  If so...you are wrong and if they haven't said it to you...they are saying it to themselves. You need to be self-aware of yourself first, as well as everybody else ...once that self awareness kicks in...good things happen.  When positive self-awareness occurs... there is no-one on the planet that smiling more than me.  I want to see good things happen to people, sometimes as crazy as it sounds more than me.  I want to see people to win.
   
     So how do you know that you are in the wrong echo chamber...well it's simple.  Listen.  Listen to what is being said and see if you want to be apart of what is echoing around the room.  Now, I'm not saying after one day or night...I'm saying when it's consistent.  When it becomes consistent and you want no part of it..it's a gut check moment, and no matter how hard it is to leave...you need to change your surroundings.  I remember where I was somewhere where I must have heard the word "hate" subconsciously used well over a dozen times.....and that wasn't the first time.  It was rather sad...and I knew it was time for me to go..and I must say I didn't look at my rear mirror once. 
     
      It was one of  the best things I ever did.  As the old saying goes "life is short" and indeed it is and that gets more and more evident as you get older where the battle of the clock starts to reveal itself.  A changing of one's surroundings is probably one of the healthiest things one can do in one's life.  Where you you wish your previous echo chamber all the best...but you have to break away from the pack and start your own course.

  So where do you find these new surroundings, well you need to look for them and then eventually they start looking for you.  First take into account what interests you, then with the power of social platforms attend events like General Assembly, Biz Bash, etc  On the day you arrive...do one thing and...listen again.  You might actually like what you hear.  It doesn't matter where you go, from your local community to your nearby city, there is something for everybody. These are organizations where you can learn a few new things about what interests you and many times about yourself.  Things that at first glance where you might have thought are not achievable and suddenly you realize they are.  These echo chambers echo a variety of amazing people and interests that the moment you leave...I promise you will come out of it with a much different perspective. No...it's not a cult :) LOL! I'll share with you a little secret.. there are indeed people out there that care and want to see others achieve, not everything in the world is dark.

   So I leave you with this.  See where You are right now in your life and where do You want to be without anyone telling You where You should be.   Then looking at your surroundings and ask your self..are you happy? Do you need to change?   Once you have the answers to those questions, you know where you stand.  You might be in a surrounding that is perfect, fantastic! Stay in it and carry on.  However if you start to realize that your surroundings might be a bit more toxic and you don't like what is being echoed around..well then you know you need to find the exit.
    There are two things that constantly hover over me that was once said by my late father and currently from my mother.  My father once said to me when I was 15.. If you are in a room and a group of people are talking or attacking someone you care about that is not present to defend him/herself and you don't say a word ...you are guilty by association.  The other one is where my mom said to me and mind you an old greek saying.."show me your friends and I will tell you who you are" which I am guilty of both..

So with that said...how is your echo chamber?