#543 – What part of you enjoys the struggle?

We're taught that effort is worth medals. That we deserve a reward only when we work "hard." And of course, that "pain" is the path to "gain."

I was recently struggling through a downward dog pose, when something I'd heard Michael Singer say came to mind: "Stop resisting!" Scanning through my muscles, I noticed my calves and hamstrings were contracted––effectively resisting the stretch. When I relaxed, the soles of my feet miraculously sensed the yoga mat.

That's probably how you've also been going about life.

Maybe, like me, you've felt inadequate when things came too easily. And, like me, you've dismissed your talents and work because it felt like "nothing."

My client CF, the general manager of a TV production studio, felt like he was "cheating" whenever he took time to review scripts, because it was the part of the job he enjoyed the most. He thought that to be a good GM, he was supposed to feel on the brink of burnout all the time. So he read the scripts at lunchtime.

Or take me: because I had a lot of fun working on my PhD dissertation, I thought it was subpar work. I wasn't suffering, as I'd seen other doctoral candidates do, so I might have been doing something wrong.

But what if it was the opposite? What if "feeling good" and liking what we did was precisely the compass that showed us where we're going right?

In other words, don't we have more chances of succeeding when we float downstream than when we try and paddle upstream?

Your only job is to find your "downstream" and allow yourself to be carried.

Where will your "feel-good GPS" lead you to, when you follow it?

Love,

Carolina