Listen To Youself

We often hear successful people say they are where they are because they have 'trusted their instinct'.  And yet so many of us feel we have lost touch with this valuable source.

Your instinct is not some mysterious entity coming from somewhere above and beyond. 

It is hiding there, in your heart, in your body, waiting for you.

It speaks to you every day in the form of urges, aches and pains, desires and excitement.

Your challenge is not that you do not know what to do, but that you do not trust your messengers. 

You have drowned that precious still small voice in activities, in your well-intentioned efforts to do the right things, to make things happen, to better the world.

The path of least resistance is what would lead us to greatness, but ironically, it is also the hardest path for us. 

We are used to steeping in anxiety, worrying, and self- denigrating, that the thought of pausing, loving, relaxing is frightening.

"What if things don't get done?" "What if it was just me finding excuses to be immoral?" "What if I am a lazy, horrible person, and I am fooling myself and those around me?"

For the intense and gifted souls, your very developed left brain combined with your high level of conscientiousness means this kind of self- scrutinising is inevitable.

But for how long now, have you exerted yourself to find the ground under your feet when things are always slipping through your fingers?

As Pema Chodron poignantly put: "We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't get solved. They come together, and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that.'

If what you are doing is not working, what have you got to lose?

However counter-intuitive, however uneasy it makes you feel, Maybe it is worthwhile to conduct a small, low-risk experiment.  Just for a day, or an evening, Let go. Listen in.

Listen to Joy: Take the plunge to do what excites you- even if it costs money, takes time, also if your inner critic says its self-indulgent.

Listen to Fatigue: Even just one cell in your body feels tired, dare to rest. Trust that what you have done today is enough, and things will get done in their designated timeline.

Listen to Passion: If you want to express affection, appreciate beauty, sing that melody, write that love poem, do it. One day you will not wake up, and there won't be any time.

Most important of all, love yourself. And that takes courage too.

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

— C.S. Lewis

THIS WEEK’S EXPERIMENT: MAKE A FOUND POEM

A “found poem” is one that is created using words that have been selected and rearranged from another text. 

Find some old books, newspapers, magazines or even brochures and instruction manuals that you no longer need.

In a quiet space, look through them, and pick out words and phrases that evoke strong feelings in you.

Now, make a poem out of the words and phrases you have chosen.

You may give it your original title.