Where does the time go!? For you... is it moving fast or slow?
At one point I felt there wasn't enough time... this is surely how I felt a decade ago. Before quitting my FT job of 22 years, working PT and clearing out my life, mind & emotions. I felt a mix of bore, dread & overwhelm with the day-to-day go to work, run here, run there, get the kids, go home, make dinner, repeat, repeat, day after day. The overwhelm was mostly wanting to do other things, yet the to-do and bucket lists were so long, life felt like a race to get it all done AND enjoy myself.
One swift change was to prioritize all of my time. Most of my to-do list got tossed in the trash. What REALLY needs to be done? Especially if there are things you'd enjoy doing, like taking long walks or going on vacation. Do you really need to update your house to get more $ when you sell it? How much is your time worth? You can't turn the clock back. Life is truly here for enjoyment, not survival. I stripped my life down to working 1 hour per week initially, but yeah.... I took half of my retirement out and decided I'd be finding long-term health and happiness, or I'd probably die trying, so I had nothing to lose!
Stop doing things for or with other people that you don't want to do. Be honest, and if someone loves you, they will appreciate your honesty and ideally respect that your time, your energy, your feelings matter, and they will understand. If not.... well, you can figure that one out!
Many people could work less if they cut out unnecessary spending. Yet, people feel they are buying things that make them happy. Really? Oftentimes, it's an emotional loop of spending on something desired for a short-term high . Every emotional high is followed by an emotional crash - it's like sugar, like an emotional addiction. These emotional swings come with resentment, overwhelm, and so much more. Emotions are temporary and polarized, so if your main enjoyment comes from this, you'll always be crashing afterwards into the grief or despair of losing something that was emotionally charged. It's like running on a hamster wheel - you get nowhere. It doesn't mean we can't enjoy the emotions, or the material things, but it's more about being aware of them and connected to the constant presence within us that is always smoothly underlying and dissolving the ups and downs into a constant stay of joy. I found this stabilizing force, this connection to 'All That Is' (Source, God, Me, Soul, whatever) easiest to access through the breath, through the heart, and by constantly feeling and relaxing the body. For sure I was often reminding myself in various ways to stay alert, stay awake, stay aware of how I'm feeling and how the feelings (emotions) are passing through, they come and go, but they're not me, I'm the witness. I would even write on my hand, with Sharpe Marker, little reminders! Remember who you are!
Other emotional addictions that I'm quite experienced with have to do with a need to stay busy, to keep running ahead, and often to achieve things to no end, like working, exercising, cleaning, cooking, traveling, hobbies, perfecting certain identities, thinking about things that are not beneficial nor relevant to this very moment, etc. Each of these things can be wonderful when choosing consciously, except when you don't feel satisfied just BEing, without doing anything, without being anybody in particular, and without thinking. When you don't feel content just being in the neutral space of essence, that's when life can feel like a rat race or a prison. This is where many of us have experienced anxiety, stress, burnout or depression!
Whether you get to burnout level, or something happens in your life to stop you in your tracks, or you just choose to clear out your schedule and spend some time getting clear, relaxing, and enjoying simple things in life, this can be a huge shift from the constant go go go way of living.
After our physical world slows down, it is the mind and the emotional energies that take time to acclimate. You can have nothing to do, but still feel overwhelmed when you're in the consciousness of constant forward motion. It's this buildup of emotional energy that is still having you feel pressured, unable to unwind, relax, and most importantly letting your body and mind open, relax, rebalance, and rejuvenate.
You are realigning into feeling content in your own skin and into feeling your true essence -- that timelessness, that endless being, that natural state that you start to move from without pressure.
Once we marinate in that state of being for long enough, the desire returns to create anew! Now, without all the emotional energies pressuring us, but from a place of joy, lightness, and so much more ease. We're no longer doing it because we HAVE TO KEEP MOVING, or because it's what others want, what society deems normal, what our parents taught us, to get a paycheck, to get get in particular, etc. We are doing what we do because we can express ourselves here, can create there, can have fun with this, can have fun with that, and we are actually having fun with just about everything because there's no longer emotional energy propelling us, nor emotional attachments to outcomes.
Nothing is a 'must do' or 'should do', it's about being true to ourselves of what we really enjoy doing in each moment, each day, and living life in a whole new way. Not every single thing is super fun, but we have an inner state of enjoying everything we do, especially because we now choose what we do consciously, and keep choosing to make the most of all our actions, words, creations, and expressions.
Maybe it's doing everything with love, maybe it's injecting humor and silliness, maybe it's seeing the beauty in everything, maybe it's feeling grateful for everything, but we are always the One who gets to choose our approach and perspectives on life. We are the one creating energy through this physical body conduit of Source Energy, and the best is when what we create is not polarized nor dualized, but created of JOY just because. "It's a fabulous day because... I Exist, I am Here, I am alive!!!" Being can be beautiful, but the real expansive, exuberant joy comes from pure expression! This can also be amplified into more joy when we express together!
This is where we no longer seek for anything! The gift is the giving, which is the expression of YOU! You are the gift to yourself and the world, that divine essence of unconditional love and radiance at the core of each of us, and you get to receive that first. From here, external things just work out... money, friends, opportunities, enjoyments... all the things we were striving for in the old way become the natural result of our pure expression.
Wherever you are at, if you'd like to breathe and relax more into your true essence - that timeless space... perhaps join me for a Breathe & Feel live event.
Give yourself endless love, acceptance and compassion... always! Wishing you loads of fun, ease and enjoyment!
