‘I’m in a hurry to get things done, I’m… rushing, rushing till life’s no fun.’
Does that phrase (from Alabama’s song) sound familiar? Has life become so fast paced that you’ve gotten sucked up into the whirlwind of it all, feeling totally out of control?
Do you feel like you can’t afford to stop long enough to catch your breath, and do you continue to race on the treadmill of life that often seems to be going nowhere?
At some point you have to ask yourself, “What’s the point??”
Even if you have a pretty good sense of what life is all about, and you are confident about its purpose, you can fall into the trap of living frantically day in and day out to meet deadlines, obligations, and expectations.
When you’ve had enough of that, and something inside you says, “You were born for something greater than this… there’s a more significant contribution you were meant to make during your time here,” or, “Why does peace and happiness always seem to be just one more task away?…”
What do you do?
First of all, it’s healthy to recognize those impressions within yourself. It is true, you WERE meant for more than this. You wouldn’t be having those feelings unless something greater was beckoning you to come do your part, make a difference, or quit waiting for whatever-it-is before you can be happy. You know it, but where and how do you begin?
Here’s how you begin: Today, do the things you have committed to do, giving it your best. You see, if you want to change your ‘space’, or your world, and escape the bondage of whatever kind it is that you feel, you must live the life you’re IN with completeness. You must more than ‘fill your place’. When you have ‘filled your place’, you become bigger than where you are, and circumstances must change, just to be able to continue holding you.
As James Allen describes in “As a Man Thinketh”, when a person completely and genuinely alters his or her thoughts about his or her [problem], and discovers the true perspective that God intends for him or her to adopt, it will “become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities, which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever.”
I like the way Wallace D. Wattles put it: “You can advance only by more than filling your present place.”
Don’t wait until you have the time to start something new and grandiose. Be grandiose where you are. In other words, be a spectacular you, right where you are, in just the very thing you are already doing.
If you want to have a better job, be bigger than the job you already have. Do it better than you ever have before… enjoy the feeling that comes from doing well, and before long, it will not be able to contain you any longer. Old circumstances will fall away and new ones will present themselves which will give you more opportunity for growth.
Do I mean, be a superperson and get 10 times as much done as the next person? NO. I simply mean, be present. If you are completing a task, allow yourself the pleasure of enjoying the task. Do it carefully and well, but most importantly, choose to enjoy it.
If you’re busy getting a lot of things done, and simply cannot slow down, you CAN do the same things you are already doing with a calm spirit. Much of the time we get all worked up and frantic about our deadlines and pressures, but we have to remember that the things that we do and the things that are happening around us are nothing more than events. We’re the ones that add the ‘stress element’ to the equation. In fact, if we can go about our day calmly, we will accomplish more than if we try to force things to happen faster. Force negates. What you push will push back. That’s one of those laws.
So much of what needs to happen is out of your control, so quit trying to control it! It’s not your job. Your job is to do the things that YOU can do, and trust God to handle the rest. If you are calm, He will. If you are frantic, He seems to step back and let you try to handle it on your own, so that maybe you’ll learn a lesson. At least that’s my interpretation of how He seems to have handled me. I finally had to ask, ‘How many times must I experience that feeling of abandonment before I learn that I CAN’T do it on my own anyway??’
I’m learning to calm down, and trust. Let’s resign as Manager of the Universe. Let’s have faith that by keeping a calm spirit, we will be in the right ‘vibration’ to allow the blessings to flow our way. Keeping a frantic spirit prevents the blessings from flowing. We cut ourself off from the Source of all good when we demonstrate our doubt through our stress. A faithful heart has no place for stress and worry.
I started reading the book of Mark in the Bible again recently. I think I’ve made it through about 7 chapters so far. Perhaps this is the first time I’ve really tried to picture myself there, taking the time to think about witnessing the miracles happen for myself. It would be a hard thing to read through all of those chapters without feeling a little more confident that something good could happen to me, too. Jesus performed miracles for the worthy and unworthy alike. He showed mercy to the broken hearted who hoped for relief.
No matter how you feel about yourself right now, you can be blessed with an abundant life. Need a ‘faith-lift’? Maybe you should read Mark. (Why did I choose Mark? Because it happened to be the shortest one of the 4 gospels, that’s all. If you’re short on time like me, it’s a good one to read.)
I also recommend reading Portal to Genius. You can read the entire prequel and first three chapters for free. Just visit PortalToGenius.com.
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2 Responses
A good reminder for my Monday morning – thank you!
Thank you for writing this Leslie.
It really resonated with me because I found in the past especially at work there would be situations where suddenly my thoughts and feelings would start to change. I would start to work faster I couldn’t think straight, it was like going into a panic. I would make mistakes and cause more problems and there would even be times where I said to myself “If I’d just calmed down and took my time I would have done it right first time.
It’s only the last few weeks that I started to turn things around. I found a quote on the Internet from Captain Jack Sparrow no less, that went “It’s not the problem that’s the problem, it’s your attitude towards the problem that’s the problem.” This was so true for me I was seeing these problems in my minds eye and I could only see trouble.
So I came up with a way of releasing this way of thinking and it just came as a moment of inspiration, this thought came into my head “Do my best, let the universe take care of the rest” and do you know what Leslie it is amazing the difference it has made.
When I let go of the outcome, concentrated my efforts on the job in hand and thought and acted clearly, it was uncanny how the universe came to my aid and presented me with situations that made everything flow smoothly.
Thanks again for this Leslie, it’s great when I get thoughts in my head that help me move forward, and then I read something like this that matches how I feel.