Posted on by — Leave a comment

Experiencing the Barren lands

 

 

Today I found the place inside myself that was barren.

A vastness of barren land.  Where all that could have been, had been and gone.

There was nothing but the dry earth all around me. It spread further than my eyes could see in every direction.

I experienced feeling hopeless. Then helpless. Then loneliness. Then profound aloneness.

As I opened up to this awareness, I noticed all the cracks in the ground and the loss of any and all possibilities for growth here. I began to recognise that I was waiting. I was in a place of waiting. That is to say I was just in the experience of waiting. I had no desires, no wantings.

I became profoundly connected with the barren land and realised this space was complete in its life cycle.

It had no more to give.

Nothing more was required of it.

All the potential had been and gone.

Unnoticed.

 

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Getting clarity….and taking action

new-years-day-2566661_1920I’ve been hearing a lot lately about staying focused, but what does that really mean?

For me, it means getting clear on what I should be doing – and then finding out how to actually get out of doing it. This usually starts with a to-do list… which, I’m thinking, would be better called my “avoiding-at-all-costs list of things I’m never going to get around to do” list. Do you have one of those?

So, I’ve written my to-do list, and then just when I’m getting into doing the first thing on the list, something pops into my head that I have to add to my already quite long list of things to do. By the time I’ve finished the first item on the list, I’ve added another 20 things that I also need to do.

What’s that all about?!

So then, I start researching strategies to make it easier for me to get all those things done (have you noticed how that is also stopping me from taking action?)

I end up finding this great strategy, which is to colour-code time in my diary – which means I have to go to the shop to buy some highlighter pens, so I can actually colour code. Well, that took an hour and a half, as while I was up there I thought I could also check out the notebooks and see if I needed a new one (obviously, 37 unused notebooks is not enough!)

I eventually get out of the shop and bump into a friend who suggests we go for a coffee. It’s quite busy at the coffee shop, so what I thought would only be half-an-hour turns into an hour. I get home and start playing around with which colour would best suit which block of activity… can you see where this is going yet?

Eventually, I decide to do this week’s schedule of time and planned activities. And the phone rings. Of course, I answer it. 45 minutes later, I’m back to colouring in my diary and filling in what I’m hoping I’ll actually do.

I realise I’m hungry, so it must be lunch time! I feel REALLY productive. I have a great strategy for how I’m going to get things done, and when I’m going to do them.

By the end of the day, I still have the to-do list that I started with, and now it seems to have grown a life of its own. It’s 3 pages long and… should I give up yet?

Only when you actually know what it is you LOVE to do, do I believe you can consciously get on with it. When you know what your life purpose is, or the fuel for your engine to keep going is, you become an unstoppable force.

map-2789052_1920It’s also always helpful to know what your rules for success are (and everyone is different). So, to use a car analogy:

  • – The Model you drive are your Rules for Success.
  • – The Fuel or Energy you use is your Life Purpose.
  • – The Map shows how Self-Aware you are.
  • – Your Destination is Knowing when you’re done.