I’ve got news you won’t hear on CNN.

It’s not your genes that define you so much as your tribe.  According to Dr Mario Martinez, less than 5% (Dr Bruce Lipton states less than 2%) of your body’s response to life (how you age, heal or even if you get sick or not) is defined by your genes!

This is a powerful indicator that you’re being defined by, you guessed it, the tribe.  The tribe is your culture which includes your family, friends, what you watch on television, experience at work and in the hospital.  Even those at the grocery store are defining who and what you are. Of course the tribe’s power is evolutionary. For millennia, it’s been safer to stick with the group. When the food is tough to get and predators abound there’s safety in numbers. Now, sticking with the wrong group can put you peril; the beliefs of the group can make us scared and sick.

A few common observations of the mainstream North American tribe:

• don’t age gracefully – getting old sucks  (take a poll to find out)
• speak more about illness than health (listen to what people talk about)
• instead of take a walk  – take a pill (have a look in your medicine cabinet and why don’t we call it a wellness cabinet?!)
• our medical system is predatory
• don’t listen to your body
• don’t know yourself
• discourage joy (it’s not safe to be too happy)

Yikes!  Are you ready to split? I can’t blame you. It’s not exactly a party till the end.

What’s next?

So there’s good news and a wee bit of bad.  First the good. You can leave the scared tribe and become free of their negative beliefs (many of which aren’t even true) AND you’ll take the best of the tribe with you naturally, when you go. Yay! But. Once you’re out my friend, there’s no turning back. So aside from,  “if you stay, you’ll pay” as motivation to leave, what are some benefits to leaving the tribe and what really happens next when you do?

Benefits to leaving the tribe:

• you get to age gracefully if that’s what you choose
• you get to celebrate your health with a happy and active lifestyle
• you can throw away all the pills and items from the world of health terrorism
• you get to breathe deeply and know who you are
• you get to be healthy and wealthy (if that’s your wish)
• you can be worthy of love
• it’s ok to let go
• and the best part of leaving mainstream culture is…you get to be joyfilled!

How do you know you’re stuck in mainstream culture? If you felt ANY resistance to the last list. Like if you wanted to accuse me of being Pollyanna. I’ll give it to you straight. Pollyanna would have burst into flames a thousand times over going through the shit I did to get here. I’m positive because I feel worthy of being happy and loved. I feel this way because I let go as a practice.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

So let’s say you begin the process of leaving your tribe. Maybe you’re well into it. What does this look like?

I won’t sugar coat it. For me, leaving the tribe brought up a heap of resistance. It took a few years to find and learn how to let go.

Hey, before you bail to go for dinner with those friends that only lightly suck your will to live, but you’ve known them forever, know this.  It’s worth it!  It’s so worth it! What you’re essentially doing is creating your own subculture with the best of your old culture and adding the new.

Your process of letting go helps you to shed what you don’t want from the old tribe and to reveal what needs to be included in your new one. Then you don’t go hunting for others to join you as much as you become more and more of who you are. So much more that your peeps will find you.

Blogging is a perfect example of sharing your subculture so that others may connect. This is a great reason for blogging. So if what I share in this blog makes your heart skip a beat, then you’re instantly part of my wee subculture. Incidentally, I was raised by Canadians with Scottish and Ukrainian roots. I like and use the word “wee”, was a keen Highland dancer for many years and can make a mean pierogi.

I’m ok with this post not being on CNN. I’m ok with being small and smiley. I’m ok with letting go that which no longer serves my Highest Good.