How strongly do you believe in the value of giving yourself direction and staying in step with the natural impulse of Life and how strongly do you believe in following others or waiting for whatever shows up?
Maybe you don’t believe in the value of following but (subconsciously) believe that most of the time that’s the best you can do and that’s the best that any of us can do.
Or, perhaps you have not really given serious thought to what you could be doing instead of merely following others or waiting for things to happen.
We are trained to follow from a very early age.
Do what I do. Follow my actions. Speak the way I speak. Think the way I think. Draw this way. Write this way. Read this way. Sing this way. Dress this way. Walk this way. Look this way. Wear your hair this way. Eat this way. Sit this way. Cough this way. Ask this way. Apologize this way.
After so many years of being trained to follow, is it any wonder that we find it hard to really set our own course in life? To direct every moment and every event of our life?
No, this is not about control which really is about doing things in such a way as to guarantee the outcome. None of us have that kind of control. Such a thing doesn’t exist. It’s one of the corruptive myths that the collective Ego (and there is only a collective Ego) has downloaded into our consciousness.
Maintaining the status quo is not a real option for us. Most of us have lived long enough to realize that this is true even if we don’t like to admit it. The reason is that LIFE is a constantly changing process and whether you realize it or not, whether you accept it or not, as an expression of Life, you are a constantly changing process.
No matter how hard you try to keep things constant, sooner or later something is going to happen that forces change. Someone dies or gets terribly ill. You lose your job or your partner or a key. You lock yourself out of your house for the third time in as many weeks. The economy takes a dive and you’re affected. Your house or car gets broken into. Someone says or does something hurtful. The money you thought you were going to receive didn’t come through.
Sometimes the change is minor, not affecting you too adversely. But sometimes, it is major. Out of the blue. Sudden and traumatic. You can be certain of one thing about living – maintaining the status quo is not a viable option since the very nature of life is change, growth and expansion.
And if you refuse to change, grow and expand, you’re going to be very badly affected by things that you don’t like and didn’t expect.
Life is change, growth and expansion
Successful people are not people who never experience things they don’t like or didn’t expect. But they are people who take it on the chin. Matter of fact, they don’t take things personally. They don’t do the ‘Why me?’.
Instead, they have a very mature understanding and appreciation that Life is entirely change, growth and expansion. And if it weren’t, Life as we know it would cease to be.
Successful people don’t say, ‘That’s Life’ with the kind of tempered helplessness that some people say it with, that subtle spill of victimhood.
Rather, they are more likely to say and think things like,
‘OK, how can I best respond to this?’ or ‘What can I learn from this?’ or ‘Is there something that I can do that will help prevent this from happening again?’ or ‘What are some things I can do to improve the possibility of something different or better happening instead?’ or ‘What do I really want instead and how can I create the conditions for that to happen?’.
Image by David Dennis at WikimediaQuestions open doors to new and better possibilities that statements or declarations, denials and assumptions have slammed shut. Questions keep us open and moving in the flow of Life, in Love, in God.
Self-directing is really falling under the influence of Love, of God, of Infinite Intelligence which is forever fresh and unfolding
Asking questions with a childlike curiosity is how we self-direct rather than follow. It is how we keep moving with the natural and effortless flow of Life, of Love.
And if we are sincere in asking, then we will be sincere in accepting the answers that we recognize in our gut as true. And we will allow ourselves to move in the direction that those answers provide, taking whatever action they inspire.
Self-directing is really falling under the influence of Love, of God, of Infinite Intelligence which is forever fresh and unfolding. It is actively living in, as and through that unfolding design in which you are a unique and consciously changing, growing and expanding expression.
To be self-directing is to be consciously expressing the full potential of Life through its masterpiece that bears your name.
If you aren’t self-directing, you’re following or waiting, the energy of which is stale and depleting.
Apart from asking questions, you self-direct by Intending and Allowing Love to direct your every thought, word and deed. You intend and allow the perfect unfoldment of your desires without attaching to them.
You self-direct by dedicating each day to the wellbeing of all of life recognizing that there is no thing and no part of Life that is not a part of you.
You self-direct by being bold and expansive in your desires, goals and intentions not because your happiness depends on them but because they allow you to respond to the natural impulse of Life which is to expand into its fullness, your fullness.
Those are your options for the rest of your life starting now – to follow or to self-direct. Choosing the latter is something you can do right now!
It begins with something as simple as an Intention. No matter how small or weak that intention may feel right now, it will move you in a new direction.
Make that intention as sincerely as you can. Suspend for just a few moments any doubt, any argument, any resistance.
No, I’m not suggesting you deny the presence of doubt, argument or resistance. Simply acknowledge it and you might even tell it something like this:
I acknowledge your presence but right now I want to give my attention to something else. When I’m done, I’ll come back to you.
Then, focus once more on your Intention expressing it even more sincerely now that you have acknowledged any doubt, argument or resistance.
Feel free to contact me if you would like some help with this.
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