#326 – What did they teach you about suffering?

Many cultures and religions value suffering as a virtuous path to the purification of the soul. What if that's just boloney?

Yesterday I received an email from a business consultant I spent a large sum on last year––with zero ROI. My stomach turned seeing it, so didn't read it, but didn't delete it either. A few hours later, I came back to it.

As I read the first lines, memories of the group coaching calls I was a part of came to mind. Small business owners like me, all women, all struggling with money, some tearing up while sharing their business stories––all too often, their lack of progress.

We were together, it seemed like, in the suffering. Deep in the trenches, trudging in mud toward a promised land where our startup would succeed and birds would sing amidst rainbows and butterflies.

Until then, it was okay to weep and suffer and be afraid and doubt.

I stopped attending the calls and told a peer that being there stole my joy. But then I felt guilty, thinking it was the suffering that would make me succeed.

That's just not true.

You don't succeed by suffering. Because suffering comes from the Ego and the Ghosts, the parts of your mind that hijack your attention.

By focusing on them, you shut down the most creative part of your mind: your True Self. The only part that can help you come up with solutions, ideas that may actually work.

The part that can objectively assess reality––if you're not making money, it's not a business.

Only the True Self knows what you want, and it guides you through the body, not with thoughts.

Your body is the compass: when you feel peace and joy, you know that's the right direction.

Suffering is your cue to pivot, not a sure path to success.

Where in your life are you getting that cue to pivot?

Love,

Carolina