“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” -Henry David  Thoreau

Creating Success: Being One with Life

We all want success, but for many it feels elusive, impossible, or like a lot of  hard work. Though it is true we need to make efforts to achieve success in life, this doesn’t have to feel like Sisyphus in the Hell-bound myth straining to push a heavy boulder up the hill, only to have it roll down, again and again. Unlike Sisyphus, we have another option and possibility.

By tuning in and listening to Self, authentic true Self…the part of us that knows no fear, is fully awakened and confident because it knows who it is…, we learn to make choices that align with our highest good. There are only two kinds of choices in our lives, those dictated by ego/ small, conditioned self– the part that succumbs to fear and uses guilt to keep us in static, conditioned responses from the past–or those that come from Source/ Self with life-affirming, dynamic, renewing choices.

We all come from the same Source (whatever name we give it), and when we align with it, we can’t help but make choices that connect to our deepest desires and highest purpose. Since we only have to choose between two possibilities, let’s look a little closer at how we can  distinguish the difference betwen them.

Choices made following the dictates of conditioned mind and its myriad of old beliefs, place us in a narrow comfort zone, where we cling to old behavior patterns and ingrained responses out of fear, fear of making mistakes or fear of being hurt. These responses undoubtedly helped us through the situation that established them in our childhood, or in a situation where we were in danger of physical or psychological abuse. We do not want to belittle survival subpersonalities for taking care of us, but in many cases today, these conditioned responses no longer match our present challenge or circumstance.

Yet, even when we want to step out, turn over a new leaf, do things differently, change an unhealthy addictive behavior like smoking, overeating, negative self talk, we often find we cannot  do it without pushing, forcing or punishing ourselves. It’s like we fall into the same proverbial rut over and over again, even when we become aware (first step in our process of change) that old responses aren’t helping us face today’s challenges. And if we continue to allow our past to guide us in the present moment, while hoping against hope for a new result, that has been said to be the definition of ‘insanity’.

Despair not! We all have moments of insanity, as my mother used to say, but let’s not let them last the rest of our life. Until we decide, “enough is enough…I will no longer expect the wake of my boat to propel me forward in life. I choose instead to focus on and fuel the motor”…until we make that inner decision and switch, we go through life ‘asleep’, unconscious, assailed by the voice of fear and (to one degree or another) insane… repeating old behaviors and patterns that keep us from living in the now, doing old things that don’t work yet expecting a new result, then finding ourselves back in the same old place with a slight variation on the theme. (Sound at all familiar?)

Making choices with the guidance of authentic Self gives us the shift we need from static to dynamic choices,  allows us to engage with life as it is now, and moves us closer to realizing our deepest desires and the life we feel  we came to lead. This change does not happen over night (for most of us), but does not need to, and can be very unsettling if it happens too quickly. Freud himself said to beware of the “flight into health”. Often this is no more than a trick on the part of our magician friend, the ego or small self, who has zero investment in us making a change.  It is important to  understand that the shift we are speaking of, is a process.  There is no rush;  to succeed we need support in a community, with a guide/teacher, and patience with our own progress. This is a journey, our life’s journey and it starts with the desire, intention and realization, I do not have to remain a rat in a cage running insanely around and around on a self-imposed treadmill that honors family conditioning, beliefs, and ancestral behaviors. I can step out  into the light, into new possibility and be safe…and what’s more, feel happy, joyful and fulfilled!

Why wait any longer? Join a community of people who understand where you are, because they’ve been there too, people who aspire like you to go where they feel called. Make a commitment to yourSelf today and embark on the unique journey of a lifetime with support, encouragement, and feeling held while you step into your greatness! Carpe Diem!