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Ugh…those moments.
You know what I’m talking about…those moments where we stop, look around, and face the sobering reality that we’ve run into yet…another…dead end.
As we come into contact with this wall, we close our eyes, lean against its rough, unforgiving surface, and rest our sweaty brows against it—exhausted. Then we turn around, hands on knees, and look at our past.
So many mistakes.
There before us, we see opportunity after opportunity that we should have acted and capitalized on laid to waste.
We see the people we’ve hurt and we wonder how we could have been so insensitive.
Here’s a quote for you…
“Spiritual growth involves giving up the stories of your past so the universe can write a new one.”
-Marianne Williamson, The Law of Divine Compensation
First, we try to coerce. Manipulate. We try to be the sole authors of our lives.
Sometimes, we get that square peg through the round hole by brute force. A lot of people live their whole lives doing this.
I’d like to suggest another approach…
Stop writing. Just put the pen down for a sec. Close your eyes. Feel the story that wants to express through you. Through your eyes, ears, hands, and heart.
Look into your inclinations. Your tendencies. The things you love. The directions you want to go—the things that give you unrelenting joy. This is where you’ll find it, if you’re listening.
You know, deep down, what it is. Problem is, we constantly talk ourselves out of living it. We think there’s no way it should be this obvious.
I propose that we put those beliefs down for a while and try a different way.
Follow your hunches, your inclinations, your bliss. Even if they don’t seem like ‘you’ came up with them. Surrender your past story to a higher one.
This takes listening instead of talking so much…
We must be receptive in order to let a bigger, grander life live through us.
…to let the words be written through us—not by us.
Blocked authors call it automatic writing. Athletes call it being in the zone. Some people call it the flow state.
Same difference…
This is where life’s power is. Sure, there’s effort involved. But the effort won’t feel like it because you’ll be carried by a power greater than your tired, human brain while enjoying it all the way.
Put the pen down for a sec, shake out your tired wrist, and breathe. Notice that you’re being breathed. Even that essential element of life isn’t up to you. Don’t believe me? Think it’s your choice? Try not breathing. Just for a minute.
Be breathed. Be lived. Let a bigger part of you write your story. I think you’ll be amazed where it takes you.
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This post was originally published on medium.com, and is republished here with the author’s permission.
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Photo credit: Seth Doyle on Unsplash