I was looking at a pile of old magazines at a friend's house, and they had headlines that said things like "RESET NOW" and "VULNERABILITY IS STRENGTH" and "MOVING FORWARD WITH KINDNESS," etc. etc. Lots of commands from the universe to do more than what I am presently doing. When I looked at all the titles, it started making me feel that just being myself might not be enough.
This gave me pause, and it made me realize that there is a lot of information and a lot of voices preaching about self-help. Some of this makes sense. Personally, I do think we need more encouragement to achieve our goals. I do think the busyness of daily life gets in our way. As kids, we knew that we were a first grader for a year. We would be learning to read and do some simple writing with some math and other subjects. When the school year came to an end, we would take a much needed summer break and then move on to second grade. We would get that figured out too with parents, teachers and aids to help us. As adults, however, it is all running together. Maybe you have been at the same job for the last decade. Is one year remarkably different from another? Are the milestones or benchmarks of achievement so distinct? I don't know? Do you have a way of knowing if you are on the right track? Maybe a performance review or a bonus gives you the feedback you need. Maybe you just go along and don't even know where you stand. That not knowing is not comforting.
For these reasons, we enlist the help of the experts. Let them do the work for us. Trainers at the gym know what they are talking about. I know this first hand. As a yoga instructor and chi flow guide, I have been through a lot of training on how to lead classes, handle emergencies and motivate participants. Doctors and other health care professionals are supposed to know their content too. We rely on them to tell us what we need to know. If it's the right professional, then we trust their advice, and if we are "compliant," we follow their advice. This usually helps us. When I had a flying squirrel in my house, I called the Wildlife Management folks. They knew exactly what to do. I let them do it.
When it comes to our heart's desire, we benefit from trusting our own instincts. We can rely on the most expert person of all--ourselves. We know how we really feel about things. We know what we would really like to have happen. We know how good it feels when our lives are "flowing" in the direction we'd like them to go. We listen to the voice inside our heads all day and night long. We believe it to be true. Perception is reality, so if this is the voice of reason, we can trust it and behave accordingly. If it is the voice of crazy thinking, then our behavior that follows won't feel good, look good or be good for us. It will tell us what we need to know.
I encourage you to listen to yourself. Take some time to slow down long enough to let the possibilities come to you. Are you are the right track? Are you spending your time where your values lie? Are your emotional needs being met by the people closest to you? Are you putting yourself first often enough? Are you de-stressing on a regular basis so you can enjoy your precious life?
We don't always need to be striving. We can relax too and take stock. At the very least, let's be open to flowing, which is the sense that you are moving in the direction you'd like with little resistance and more natural energy simply guiding you along. Before you realize it, you will have arrived where you intended to be. This time, you will be fully aware of it.
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