#465 – How can you rest your way to fulfillment?

If effort and hard work were the key to success in life, I know many people who'd be more successful than certain famous billionaires––for example, their landscapers, housekeepers, or personal assistants.

Yesterday I participated in a group meditation at my local Transcendental Meditation center, where we watched a 1971 talk by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

He told the story of a young German executive at a car manufacturer who, as a result of meditating, had started working less and laughing more. His bosses were concerned, Maharishi said, that he wasn't serious enough. Despite his outstanding results, his superiors frowned at his newfound enjoyment.

I remembered a conversation with an Irish phonetics professor. After I'd helped my thesis supervisor organize a phonetics and phonology conference in Madrid, she invited me to join the international speakers' welcome lunch. The Irish professor was so happy to finally be in Spain.

While dipping a piece of crunchy bread in olive oil with gourmand delight, she told us that her mother berated her for wanting to live more like the Spanish and less like the Germans––because she loved fiesta and siesta more than work and study. She always thought, who doesn't?

Maharishi continued: when you engage in "right thought," he said, nature supports you. Then things seem easy, effortless. But when you struggle, that means that what you're doing is misaligned with nature, and so it can't support you––hence the difficulty.

That explained a lot. When I was attempting a career in academia, everything felt like a never-ending uphill race––my shoelaces tied together.

I'd thought that only hard work and extreme effort would lead me to success (i.e., tenure). When I realized I didn't have the necessary stamina, I dropped out, feeling like a failure.

But now I see the struggle for what it really was: a neon sign that read "wrong way."

Dropping out wasn't a failure––it was one successful step towards finding my direction.

What struggle will you drop out of so that you walk closer to your fulfillment?

Love,

Carolina