Breitenbush 4 day retreat is in 3 months—exactly! To find out more and learn how to sign up: CLICK HERE. If you register early, you get a big wonderful variety of housing choices. And an early-bird price!
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As I’ve spent more time in the last decade discovering quite astonishing things about this mind that apparently inhabits whoever I am….
….I’ve noticed some really fascinating stressful beliefs about success, clarity and seeking answers about life.
I’ve encountered hundreds of people wanting to end their personal pain, addiction, compulsive urges, unease, or unhappiness.
Often, when people get some traction, stability, when they find solid ground, they aren’t so sad or traumatized anymore. Through personal inquiry, they question deeply and they stop reacting so fast to the world around them as if it’s dangerous or dark….as if it hurt them.
Then after awhile, they might feel more successful. They might start feeling creative, dreaming bigger dreams. Maybe they dare to try something completely different.
Exciting!!
Sometimes people say to me that they feel finding The Work and self-inquiry saved their life.
They realize that their relationship with their spouse, before the work, was going downhill. Fast. Or their connection to one of their children, or a sibling was rough. Sometimes Money was agonizing at one time, and now they’re out of debt completely (like my story) and doing pretty well. Or they were a survivor of a major life trauma, and now they can actually find peace in the midst of all that.
Something shifted…..but then…..some other slightly stressful ideas appear.
Now that I feel so good, renewed, rejuvenated, more clear than ever in my life….I should be doing it differently: faster, better, bigger.
I call it the Success Stress part of the story. You feel stressed because you’re thinking thoughts about the ways you, or your world, could improve.
I should be more successful by now. I should be over it. I want to make a difference.
These are little persnickety thoughts that create a little frustration. But if you don’t take them to inquiry….they may grow. You may not realize how powerful they can be, and how debilitating.
I should be somewhere other than here, where I am.
Especially when it comes to my weight, my health, my spiritual awareness, my generosity, my love life, my career….you get the idea.
Let’s take a look, with The Work.
Is it true, that you should be doing better in that department by now? Is it true that you should be somewhere else?
Yes. I know I’m capable of much more. I have a book proposal almost done. I have fantastic workshops that could be taught to many more people. I want to spend more time with my family. I want to go on some adventures.
Can you absolutely, really, really know this is completely true?
Well…it SEEMS like it would be nice. It SEEMS like I’ll feel very psyched, thrilled and proud. But no, I can’t really know.
And there is something about being here, today, that is sooooooo sweet, even as I work on my writing or upcoming retreats, or plans, or buy plane tickets.
How do I react when I think the thought that I should be THERE, not here?
Clamped down, like I’m racing. Competitive with an image of the future. Pushy. Determined. No down time. Little rest.
I say “there’s no time, there’s no time, there’s no time” in about three hundred different ways through my week. Like everything is QUICK, quick, quick!
But who would you be…..you successful, clear person who is so eager to learn and grow….who would you BE without the thought that a little further on is better?
That next week or next month or next year you need to be MORE successful and YOU have to wake up, expand, achieve?!!!
Wow. Kind of crazy, how different that is from the usual way. You mean, it’s not up to me, all by myself?
“Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
Even though I feel so much more content, so changed, since being able to identify and question what I believe….do I still think that the future might be just a wee more important than today?
And if so, who would I be without that belief?
Who would I be without even knowing what success actually is? Without needing or wanting anything more in this day, today?
I notice that I don’t lie down on the couch, which is one of the greatest fears of so many successful people if they give up their drive, their motivation, their discipline. I don’t quit, I don’t go to bed.
I don’t FEEL like going to bed! I write with joy. I contemplate. I feel so excited, creative, alive. I write and tweak new curriculum. I spend time with my cute husband and children.
I actually feel more energy NOW than I ever used to feel when I had the thoughts that I MUST achieve success.
And I could die today–ha ha! What freedom!
“To cease cherishing illusions is a way of inverting the energy of seeking. The energy of seeking will be there in one form or another until you wake up from the dream state. You can’t just get rid of it……And if you’re like most spiritually oriented people, your spirituality is your most cherished illusion. Imagine that.” ~ Adyashanti
If you notice that you’d like to dissolve stressful beliefs about your own success (or lack of it) then you will LOVE coming to Breitenbush in June. No matter where you are on the trajectory of life, whether you’re wanting to question deep disappointment, or mild angst, come join me and my co-facilitator Susan Beekman.
If you need to rest and sink into deleting your stress, this is an amazing venue, a gorgeous natural environment, and very affordable.
I can’t wait to meet you!
Love, Grace