Happy Post-Labor Day Weekend, folks! I’m writing this from the delicious Volta Coffee, Tea, & Chocolate in my old stomping grounds of Gainesville, Florida, and I’m headed back home to Pensacola in a bit. I spent the weekend down at my older brother Chris’ in Bradenton. My younger brother, Ellison, and I descended on his family and had a great time. Gainesville is in between Pensacola and Bradenton, so I stopped here on the way down as well. I heard one of Mickey Singer’s Thursday night talks, so that was nice. Of course he’s familiar to readers of this blog, because he’s the author of The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment. I got a masters of math here in a previous lifetime over ten years ago, and it’s nice to be back. That’s when I dove way into the spiritual world, and the friend I stayed with last night told me about him back then, but I never went to his Temple of the Universe. Why? I guess it was not the time. And look at what happened since then, as the universe brought him into my life a couple of years ago in a very significant way. So cool. And that intelligence is what we’re going to talk a bit about today, but in a way that might be new and refreshing.
So before taking the scenic way home through Old Florida, I thought I’d write a little Labor Day message. Because I’m slooowly getting it that wherever we are is exactly where we’re supposed to be… for now, anyway. And however we are is exactly how we are supposed to be… for now anyway. Because how do we know that’s not true? Lots of times when we’re learning about peace and looking for more of it, it becomes this dynamic that’s all about the future. And the finish line keeps moving, so that we never actually get there. It’s literally impossible because it’s a moving target. Think about that for a moment. I touched on how I noticed this dynamic in myself a while back in this post. And it’s absolutely still there, because this stuff is old, sneaky, and persistent! But it keeps shifting more and more, which is nice.
So I invite you to ponder whether or not you truly know that what’s going on in your life, internally and externally, isn’t exactly how it should be. Because how do you know – KNOW – not believe – that it’s not?? Really think about that. And it doesn’t mean you have to like it, either. But when you can let go of fighting life and insisting that it should be different than it currently is, already is, then a space can open up within you. And then the shifts that you want to happen can happen naturally and at the right time. And what’s more, you feel better. So it’s a win-win.
So what we’re talking about is not laboring so much. Because it never ends! Seriously, just think about it, really think about it. I recently heard my guy Matt Kahn use an analogy that really clicked, and it’s the seed that grows into a flower. When a seed is a seed, it’s supposed to be a seed; it’s not supposed to be a flower. Why? Because it’s not a flower yet! It’s still a seed. But you know what? Eventually, the seed grows into a flower. It’ll happen faster with better conditions of water and sunlight, of course. So what are those conditions? The main ones that I know of are self-love and a deeper breath, whenever the thought arises for either (or both). And of course self-love is done in this ingenious, bite-sized way that we’ve recently been doing. And in the deeper breath, feelings flow so that we feel better AND we can access our innate wisdom to better handle situations. We feel better and we respond to life better. Again, a win-win. And it just takes learning and then gentle practice. Also note that the conditions that most people go for are things like diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, etc. And while that’s all great, I’d focus on a deeper breath and self-love first. Then do the other things. Because the deeper breath and self-love are 24/7 practices, and they address and gradually undo our painful egoic patterns. So these are our foundational practices, our living practices, and everything else we do happens on top of that.
Before we go, here’s another way to view constantly “working on yourself.” I heard this from Matt Kahn as well, and it’s new for me, so this is just a taste (you know that I try to be as open as I can about letting you know exactly where I am on this wild journey!). If you have a strong intention to work on yourself, then life will show up to give you plenty to work on. So you can’t have the intention to work on yourself AND cross the finish line at the same time. In other words, you’ll never be able to stop working on yourself. And life will suck way more than it has to… So just play with that. Maybe instead you can have the intention that you’re exactly in the stage that you’re supposed to be in, somewhere in between seed and flower, and that life is always bringing you exactly what you need in order to continue to grow the fastest. So you’re no longer charge of your growth. You can relax, let life be in charge, feel things out, and let the flower open up petal by petal. Again, just play with that, breathe it in and feel it out. It’s interesting stuff, and just another way to look at it. What this is about is literally rewiring the subconscious mind, and we’ll be talking more about it in the future as I get it more deeply. So there you go, Happy Post-Labor Day Weekend! And the less you labor with yourself and your situation, the better life will become.