I Am Enough! You Are Enough--Now, Not In 5-10 Years

Yes, as the motivational speakers like to say, we truly are human beings and not human doings.  You wouldn't know that or stay mindful of what that beings from the information we are deluged with on the Internet and everywhere else on productivity, personal development and schedules for it,  getting things done, becoming an entrepreneur, doing it, just do it, what we should with any free time,  and the whole "Be All You Can Be" themes of the writing, speakers and culture.  Let's not forget the emphasis in these medium on how to make more money.  That must be the hottest ticket on the auction markets for keywords.

Why can't we be enough just as we are for a minute?  Aren't I good enough as I am?  Why does everyone want to convince me that I'm lacking, a slacker and a bum if I just want enjoy who I am today and what I do?  Who do we have to be and what do we have to do to be loved, which is really all we want?  Can even God love me as I am?



Here are the top 50 productivity blogs for those of you who are human doings.  It wears you out just to read the titles of the articles:  "Five Ridiculous Reasons You're A Couch Potato," (being tired and wanting to rest is no excuse) (Dumb Little Man); "Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade Your Daily Routine, " (Lifehacker), "Tying to Pursue Too Many Goals At Once," (Lifehacker); "Thinking Only in the Short Term Halts Your Ability to Pursue Multiple Goals," (I feel another stern lecture coming on.  Lifehacker); "Putting First Things First," (Get Rich Slowly.  Are you surprised to learn that "first things" aren't developing more compassion, peace, your life's purpose, or anything that can't be measured, seen and touched.  No, things mentioned as coming first are investing as you can as early as possible for retirement, building an emergency fund ASAP, paying your bills as they arrive, being fit and following a fitness program and eating a good breakfast.) 

Oh there's so many more it makes me tired just to read the titles.  Why do we have to spend every free moment improving ourselves by making more money, working out, losing weight even if we aren't obese, building a platform, having good branding, on and on.  It never lets up.

Is it any wonder that there are so many unhappy frustrated people not getting enough rest or sleep who are driving themselves to early strokes and heart attacks because they cannot believe that they are enough as they are? 

The ego is driven.  The ego hates rest and tells you why you should pull another all-nighter on a work night.  The ego wants more money, fame, glamour, beautiful sex partners, and self-importance.  It wants you to make out that damn daily schedule where you write down what time you expect to be brushing your teeth at night and eating meals at six o'clock exactly, and making sure every free minute is scheduled for productivity and self-improvement. 

What do you want?  What does your higher consciousness want for your inner life?  What are your values, intentions and beliefs, and let's knock off goal setting for one day.  I don't want to learn more efficient ways to multi-task.  I have ADD and barely get things finished as it is. 

Don't I get a break at for what I have accomplished?  Doesn't any of the accomplishments we already have count for something?  Maybe only on LinkedIn and our resumes.  Some of us have had to overcome some major obstacles in our life such as alcoholism, addiction, mental or physical illnesses, losing loved ones, losing custody of our children, being homeless, being poor, being unemployed for long periods--just plain playing the cards we were given.  Don't these people get to rest on their laurels just a little bit?  Put that whip down please.  I never joined the Marines.  I don't want to go to boot camps of any variety.  My goals have subgoals and I work towards them everyday. 

I don't know about you, but as a result of all the mental conditioning to be more and do more and get more done, I don't let myself slow down for a minute.  I have too much to do to take the time to visit a friend or even call one.  Too much to do to read all the interesting information that drifts to my browser, but I really wish I could stop and read that.  I have too much to do to be bothered with taking walks, nature, meditation, cleaning and organizing, being compassionate to all, asking to know God's will for me...

Is God's will for me to go to grad school?  I hope not even if I can help others more with an advanced degree because it's more of too much to do.  I am already or planning to work on improving myself by learning French, Web design, digital photography, publishing my two novels, writing e-books, submitting mindful articles to major publications or at least getting the nerve up to query some of them, grant writing, start a grant writing business, start a nonprofit and mange it, find a solution and work towards using it on problems like homelessness, poverty, injustice of any kind, illiteracy, legal rights for only those who can afford them, Big Pharm's latest assaults, the artificial interference with our food, pesticide loading on fruits and vegetables, and more every day. 

What is my soul's mission and what was I put here on this Earth to do?  I hope it has nothing to do with Pilates, running, not eating cookies, shopping at Aldi's instead of health food grocery stores, being frugal till it hurts, having a brand and a platform, owning a second home for retirement, building anything with wood, bricks or paint, or reading more teeny tiny print and government publications.  I hope my soul's mission is to be joyous, learn, help, give, appreciate, develop and use my talents for the benefit of others not just me, provide humor and beauty to my small patch of the world, be a good role model for my children and others, listen to people with concerns and problems, and things of that nature.  Mostly I think I am here to love:  myself and my neighbor and everyone in the world. 

The Dalai Lama says we are here to find joy and be joyous.  I can go along with that.  It is the result of loving and giving.  I wasn't born with a soul and consciousness that are only meant for tangible accomplishments that result in getting more done, making more money or being successful in the business world.

I am enough.  I am enough right now, today, and I am worthy of love as I am.  I am enough in what I have accomplished and persevered to do,  and it's good I have dreams and plan to continue to contribute in a lot of different ways, but I need to make sure that I am not blocking today's self-acceptance on what I have yet to do to win approval by the world's standards.  It's good to  slow down to be attentive to the still, small voice within, and to pay attention to the synchronicity that delights with miraculous wonders and is always on time.

I think that for now I will just row, row, row my boat and be mindful that life is but a dream.  It is not a competition or a race.  There's no prize for who gets there first, wherever "there" is.   I will live in the eternal now or keep trying.

SOME THINGS I BELIEVE AND ME AND MY OLD BUDDY, LIFE

I believe that:



1.  Becoming compassionate can save human beings and this planet.

2.  We are all one in different bodies.

3.  No one is greater or lesser than other.

4.  Each person is born with gifts that can contribute something great to the
     world.

5.  We cannot love another until we love ourselves.

6.  "Falling in love" is a shallow, superficial Hollywood fantasy, and real love is a
      a commitment and a decision.

7.  Every action, word and even thought we put out into the universe comes back
     to us.

8.  Goodness is surely its own reward.

9.  You cannot know your life's purpose nor how you are to live if you are not
     your authentic self

10.  Kind acts and words send ripples that go on forever.

11.  You give a great gift of healthy self-esteem when you reflect a person's good
        through your mirror of non-critical judgment.

12.  Sensitivity is strength, never weakness.

 13.  Good poetry transports the mind and soul.

14.  Love is forever.

15.  There is no death only a moving on to a different plane of consciousness.

16.  Unconditional love abounds.

17.  God's love knows no restrictions or limits.

18.   Angels are real and watch over us throughout our lives.

19.  Unless we fill our souls with spiritual food, there is a gaping, sucking hole
        that wants to be filled with anything:  food, drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling...

20.  Children are our most precious treasure and sacred responsibility.

21.  All illness and disease begins in the mind.

22.  The mind-body connection can overcome any degree of disease or illness.

23.  All things are possible with God.

24.  Resentment blocks the sunlight of the spirit and results in cancer and other
        diseases.

25.  We must learn to forgive from the moment we first feel a resentment or ill
        will toward another forming.

HOW DO YOU GET ALONG WITH YOUR LIFE?  ARE YOU BUDDIES?  IS HE/SHE A CRITICAL NAG?  WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO YOU HAVE?


 
 Journaling Exercise:

1.  Write a story called, "My Life and I."
2,  See yourself as an active character in your life.
3.  Do you enjoy each other's company?
4.  How do you treat each other?
5.  Do you trust each other?
6.  If your life were a person what attributes would it have.
7.  Do you agree on your purpose?

My Response:


  My Life and I

My life and I were cruising in the garbage can on wheels, bright purple, doing 90 all the way with no cops anywhere.  Life and I are good company for each other.  We basically get along pretty well.   Life doesn't much care that I don't clean house or attempt to create any order or organization out of the chaos that is my living environment.  Life could care less that I'm always broke and bouncing more checks that get more overdraft fees that keep me from ever getting the balance into the black.

Basically we jibe.  Life has learned not to expect too much out of me but for pipe dreams, fantasies and lists of goals.  And as long as I don't pick up the first drink or illegal drug, she trusts me.  Things were pretty hairy when I was using and drinking though.  I didn't know what would happen next, and life sure wasn't taking any bets.  Life still gets nervous if I miss my A.A. meetings.

We like a lot of the same things.  We both like journaling and reading for hours when we wake up.  Life never tries to hurry me or tells me to put a fire under that burner.  Life is cool about my wasting my days goofing on the Internet chasing every shiny moving object like a cat instead of doing my freelance work or anything constructive.  No, I have to check my e-mail accounts every hour or so, see who is up and around at Facebook, and see what's going on at Twitter.  I do a search for something I need for an article I'm writing and end up spending hours reading some of the links that popped up in the search that didn't belong like book reviews, articles, news items, etc.

If Life were a person I bet she'd be peppy, energetic, curious, non-judgmental, easy-going, calm, kind of a geek, helpful, and  humorous. (She mocks me and teases me all the time.)   Life, yes sir, life would be one to roll with the punches.  She's flexible, resillent.

I do know that Life secretly wishes that I would provide more financial security for us and some financial freedom, but then she knows me too well to really expect that to happen. It's just too hard for me to care about things like that and take it seriously.  I do know we both want to swim in the ocean once more before we leave this gorgeous planet though.

Life wasn't a hippie like I was and is much more materialistic.  She grew up in a lower-middle-class home.  She dreams of big honking luxury homes, vacations in tropical islands, and TV's the size of the living room.

But my purpose in life has nothing to do with that crap. I hope Life can accept that I am here to be authentic and to touch hearts and minds through my writing, and share my experience, strength and hope with those who still suffer from the diseases and disorders I am recovering from.  We are all meant to serve.  Unconditional love and service brings bliss and great personal rewards of fulfillment and satisfaction.

I asked Life the other day, "Hey, ol' buddy, can we get real here for a sec?  I'm just not that interested in being an entrepreneur or in publishing a bunch of books and magazine articles right now. You are just going to have to accept me in sickness and in health, in richness and in poorness."

She just got all quiet and, as usual, didn't pick up the tab for our lunch.  Oh well.  She'll come round.

FINDING YOUR TRUE LIFE'S WORK: "DOORS WILL OPEN WHERE YOU DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE GOING TO BE"

"If you follow your bliss," Joseph Campbell* said, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there a while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."

Oprah Winfrey also is a big believer in people establishing new careers by following their bliss and she is a perfect example of the theory herself. People who love what they do, do it well, and are well rewarded for doing it. Life is far too short to stay stuck in a dead-end job collecting a pay check and being unhappy.

We were all given talents. Many of us lost our belief in our gifts because they weren't encouraged when we were children. We may have lost them by feeling inferior and unworthy as a result of thoughtless criticism from teachers or even parents.

We are not supposed to hide our light under a basket. We need to free ourselves-to return to our childhood exuberance and become the very one we truly are. George Eliot wrote, "It is never too late to be what you might have been."

It really is never too late. We have only to get in touch with our spiritual side. But then as the philosopher Teilhard de Chardin wrote, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." It is only that we let our human side, our ego, our lesser self, get in the way of the spiritual self we are created to be. That being is not motivated by fear and resentment but by love.

How do we get in touch with our higher self? Many religious people are not spiritual. Also, many spiritual people are not religious. If you can formulate a concept of a power greater than yourself that you are comfortable with, that is a great start. If you already have one, so much the better.

Begin tuning into the spiritual simply by being still and quiet.  We cannot hear the small voice within each of us that directs and guides when we are noisy and all over the place jumping from one activity to the next. Slow down.

Then begin to meditate. Any meditation method will do. Just still the body and mind so the spirit can come through. Focus on the breaths. Take in deep breaths and watch each go in and out. If you think a thought don't be discouraged, just watch it float over you like a cloud and say "Thought."  You will notice an improvement in your well-being and in your life almost immediately once you start a discipline of regular meditation.

Pray. Even if you aren't sure who, if anyone, is out there, act as if. Talk to this entity, perhaps beginning by saying, "Hey, I don't even know if you're there, but if you are will you show me the way home."

Begin to notice the increased coincidences in your life. Coincidences, they say, are just miracles God doesn't sign his or her name to. Things will begin to change in your life. Something, call it the universe, is trying to get your attention and miraculous events are taking place more often the more you notice them and wonder what message you are supposed to take from them.

Then all things become possible. If our lives are based on love rather than fear, we can no longer show up just to collect a paycheck because we think that's what we're supposed to do in life according to the way we were brought up.  A new career direction may  begin to reveal itself to you.  A life transformation might start with quitting a much-hated job. 

You can help this process by using your non-physical guides. Who are they?  Some believe they are old souls we knew in past lives. Others believe they are the departed souls of friends and family members from this life. But we all have people watching lovingly over us just waiting for a word or sign from you to begin to help directing you. You can ask them questions as you would ask a friend. Ask, "What is my motivation for continuing to stay in the same old dead-end job and what can I do about it?" Then pay attention. Keep an open mind.  Say to them, "Help me, please,  I lack courage, strength and direction.  Guide me.  Show me the way."  Doors will open that you didn't know were there.

Spiritual awakening has to mean a new direction in your career or a new career because being spiritual means that you cannot conduct business as usual unless you conducted your nine to five life authentically and honestly.  You will want to act from a higher ground of love which means honesty, integrity, responsibility and compassion direct our actions.  You will not want to work with the notion of "What's in it for me?" anymore and this will change everything.

You can develop your innate psychic abilities to further direct you. Practice re-learning what you were taught to forget as a child. Guess who's on the phone or at the door before you pick it up or open it. Predict what mail you'll be getting that day. Work on empathy. When talking with a friend try to feel what he feels Then state the feelings to him and ask if you are correct. There is nothing weird or odd about psychic abilities. They are gifts that everyone has but let wither from disbelief and not using them.

The more loving and compassionate you become,  the more you will be on the path to following your bliss. Far from serving as a permission to anything you will desires goes, instead of selfish pursuits you find that you want to serve. You want to contribute to your community and to the world because your heart is full. This is how we are going to change and save this poor planet-by transforming ourselves one by one.  We are evolving as human beings.  Can you feel it in the air?  More people are choosing freedom to be who they are and do what they really want to do.  It always ends in bliss and love.

Following your bliss will put you in touch with the dreams of your real self. Remember that soul? You will find yourself doing things called  work that feel more like play.   Like Joseph Campbell experienced,  invisible hands will reach out and take yours and show you the way to your new life's work.

___________________


*Joseph Campbell--American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology.