When things don’t feel as if they are working out the way you’d hoped and no matter what you do or how hard you work, the universe feels as if it’s not delivering, it can feel like the answer is to try harder, push more, and work longer. Just chuck more at it. Or simply sit with your head in your hands and weep. The problem is…
When we find ourselves in this state of mind, it can often seem like the most urgent moment to take action, even though it's precisely when we feel the least motivated to do anything much.
It goes without saying that even when we force ourselves to soldier on, we seldom do our most creative work or make our best decisions from this place. Any efforts feel depleting rather than energising as we fail to see the rewards we think we should. We just aren't getting off the ground.
Often the harder we chase our goals the further away they seem to appear. This is because one of the things the mind loves to do is seek.
Why? Because at the end of seeking comes reward. The reward being, a brief feeling of happiness or the cessation of the agitation that always accompanies seeking.
This happiness though, if sought as the end goal or the idea of success, is usually short-lived, and so the seeking must begin again.
We often see end goals or success as a means whereby we might feel better and in doing so we start chasing that feeling whilst losing sight of ourselves and our creativity. So how can we reconnect with our purpose and creativity?
Understanding how our mind works in this way can go a long way in helping us to work with rather than against ourselves which so often ends up being the case.
So if you’re feeling stuck, all out of ideas and as if life isn’t giving you much of a helping hand right now, rather than trying to fix it with more pushing and shoving, try this…
Five steps to reconnecting with our creativity
1. Take a moment
Slow down and take a moment to be still and quiet your mind. Breath. (You can have all your busy, what feels like useful thinking back in a moment)
2. Redirect your awareness
Take your attention away from all that you think you need and don’t yet have and place it right where you are now before all the chatter. (You can travel to the future again if you want to after the exercise)
3. Remember
Remember that you are exactly where you are supposed to be right now. (Relax into the truth that it would be impossible to be anywhere else)
4. Experience
Experience the feeling of acceptance and peace in this place where nothing is lacking (just for a moment).
5. Create
Go out into the world again from this place and do what you want to do…
When we want something that feels as if it’s coming soon but isn’t here yet it’s easy to get caught up in viewing success as something that's going to be achieved in the future. However, if we check into our direct experience, we will find that success is only ever felt in the moment. And it often takes us by surprise when it happens.
When we shift our awareness away from the outcome and embrace feelings of joy and creativity in our work, the stuff that only exists in this moment, we naturally emit and attract the energy needed to bring success to us where it can be experienced.
By consistently showing up and investing in our own creativity, with love care and a clear understanding of our purpose and vision, we align our actions with our aspirations experiencing the success of the fact that we are already doing what we love.
Feelings of lack and frustration, annoying as they are, do have their uses as they are here to show us that we have momentarily disconnected from our true nature, of flow creativity general okayness.
If we can notice them without panicking to banish them at all costs, they can serve as useful reminders pointing us back to where we will find all we need for success.
So when you feel like you’re striving hard and getting nowhere, take some time out to remember why you embarked on this journey, envision the positive impact you want to make in the world and check that your current actions are in harmony with that goal rather than chasing something that's never here...
Maxine Kemp is a transformative life coach based in East Suffolk UK who is dedicated to simplifying and demystifying the journey to greater peace well-being creativity and empowerment for everyone.
"It’s not supposed to be that difficult."
To find out more...
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