“You can still live on that shimmering line between your old thinking and your new understanding, always in a state of learning. In a figurative sense, this is a border that is always moving—as you advance forward in your studies and realizations, that mysterious forest of the unknown always stays a few feet ahead of you, so you have to travel light in order to keep following it.”
–Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
Many of us are continually striving to arrive. We want to reach that point, that moment, that second when every aspect of our lives simultaneously comes together. This is the future point where we can feel accomplished, be successful and finally give ourselves credit for how far we’ve come. But the problem is, this line keeps moving further and further out and until we realize that we are really doing ourselves a huge disservice. What if we allowed ourselves to live comfortably between worlds? What if we could actually permit ourselves to relax into the gap and not be so hyper-focused on Finishing or Being Done?
If you are always in a state of wanting to Finish something or Be Done, you are never ever going to enjoy where you are at.
“Yes, but I have all these other things I need to get done!” you contest.
Here is the thing, when you have completed what you are currently working on and move onto task number two, you will just want to push through again to task number three. And so it goes. The important factor here is not how you go about accomplishing tasks, it’s how YOU FEEL ABOUT ACCOMPLISHING THESE TASKS. If you are pushing, you feel rushed, anxious, behind, and frustrated. This mental state leads to stress that the body takes on and a mind that can not rest.
On the contrary, let’s pretend for a moment that you can accept that you have done your best. You continue to do your best, and what you have accomplished up to date is exactly where you need to be. Let me repeat: You ARE EXACTLY WHERE YOU NEED TO BE. Because, the logic goes, if you have done everything that you could to the best to your ability it has led you RIGHT here. Therefore, you are not falling behind—you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
Freeing your mind from the worry and stress of having to be somewhere you aren’t actually allows you to feel better right now.
If you are satisfied with yourself, your choices, and your circumstance, the strangest thing happens: you can be happy. Happiness leads to reduced stress, a positive attitude, and an optimistic outlook on life. But, even more, happy and relaxed people GET MORE DONE! Because you are traveling lightly (no more mental baggage, stress, and guilt) you have freed up space in your world to move forward easily.
Your happiness is directly proportional to the amount you are able to accept and embrace your current situation.
You are where you are. If you decide you want to make a change, great, I encourage you to. But, you also need to bring your full awareness to each step along the way of that process. Being happy through a transition is the biggest lesson we can actually learn—change comes about faster once we have fully accepted our situation for exactly what it is. If you think about it, we will probably spend most of our lifetime in a state of transition, so why not get used to it! And, ultimately, the more you come to understand what it means to be in the process, the more you will understand there is less to do.
“Ultimately, you must forget about technique. The further you progress, the fewer teachings there are. The Great Path is really No Path.”
–Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace
