There is nothing like a group to encourage, celebrate, learn, connect, and challenge your personal perceptions of the world.
The group doesn’t have to be big.
The group can even be a group of two.
But that contact with another serves as one of the most incredible opportunities for juicy, visceral awakening to who you are that is possible.
This past week I got to be with incredible people from several countries and continents, in two different groups.
The first? We were all gathered around big round tables with white table cloths in a conference room at a hotel. Food, hot drink, kind faces, people sharing.
The second? People sitting close on couches and soft chairs in a living room, tea mugs nearby, food on the kitchen island. People sharing.
The first was for business leadership, the second for spiritual leadership. Me being a leader in my own life.
And yet, not so much.
More like learning to STOP leading!
Here’s why:
As I sat in the company of other amazing people, I became aware of how little I can manage, how there is nothing really necessary to do, and how much the thought “I have to achieve something”all by myself has been stressful.
Let’s take a look with The Work.
Have you ever had the belief that you need to achieve, build, create, go for something, get something, understand, accomplish, manage, attend to, grow, win?
Most people have.
There are books written on how to accomplish and build, on how to win. Including spiritual awareness or enlightenment. Definitely on business.
But it is really true?
Are you sure you need to plan, control, manage, drive or build something?
Yes! I say yes! I need to work at it! Give myself pep talks (or get them from other people)!
Go Go Go! Success is coming!
However, can I really know it’s absolutely true that I need to lead? That I really do need to achieve something?
Not at all. Not when I think about it.
Nothing really has to be done or accomplished…at least not by me.
The groups prove it.
I get this body, called Grace, over to that location where there’s been an agreed-upon time and we all connect, listen, contemplate and feel alive together.
Sometimes there’s aggravation with others, or one other person…oh good. Inquiry time.
Sometimes there’s a feeling of great unity and joy.
But all that’s required is being there and noticing, watching the mind have its opinions about where or what you’re supposed to be.
Who would I be without the thought that I need to achieve something, soon, or tomorrow, or yesterday?
Without the thought that I need to be something bigger and better than I am?
Completely and totally free.
“If you are content with being nobody in particular, content not to stand out, you align yourself with the power of the universe. What looks like weakness to the ego is in fact the only true strength. This spiritual truth is diametrically opposed to the values of our contemporary culture and the way it conditions people to behave.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
I turn the thought around: I do NOT need to achieve anything. I do not need to be better, more improved, or different than I am.
Wow. Could that be true?
Because what I notice is that achievement happens, I grow, leadership gets developed, learning and connections occur.
“The miracle of love comes to you in the presence of the uninterpreted moment. If you are mentally somewhere else, you miss real life.” ~ Byron Katie
I adore showing up to hang with other people. I love them all, the new friends and the old.
Together, we all do, say, think, feel, live.
Joy!
Nothing required. Imagine that.
With love, Grace
P.S. If you’re wanting a group to journey with for a whole year in self-inquiry using The Work then join us on Fridays, March 7, 2014 – February 2015. We dive in, get to know each other deeply, and live honestly. It’s wonderful.