Skip to main content

Resist urgency



"May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back."
                                                                                                     -Rilke

I wanted to write a little more about what was underneath the last post.  What I continue to need to hear again and again.  It is the promise to resist urgency.

I feel urgency in my body as a tightening.  It is a tightness in my breath.  It is a tightness in my expression.

I find that my brain can get consumed with uncertainty, comparison, and fear.  It feels like there is a buzzing in my back that scares me into thinking that if I don't get to all of my ideas soon, then I will lose them, fall behind, miss an opportunity, and not be successful.  I know in my heart that this isn't true.  The truth is that the feeling of urgency is fear and it isn't reality.

When I feel the anxiety of uncertainty, I start to cling to my old ways.  I try to gather more information, look to others for validation or opinions, seek distractions.  All of these things keep me busy and also keep me from doing what is really the necessary antidote to fear; step back, listen, accept, and then move forward.

I recently listened to a podcast in which Fabeku, who describes himself as a "business awesomizer," says that we can't let "uncertainty shape what we do in an unhelpful way."  I can't let fear push me into doing what everyone else is doing because it seems safer.  I will end up on a path of detours and restarts.

I hope to "remember the lichen" and remember the river.  Let things flow in a way that feels natural, true, and in their own organic way.


Can you recognize when anxiety and a sense of urgency are driving your decisions?  
What helps you to step back and recognize the truth?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letting go & holding on- how you can do both at the same time

Everyday I am thinking about letting go.  My days are spent in sessions with clients, or reading about decluttering tips, or writing blog posts, all in an effort to support clients as they let go of clutter and unwanted habits.  Letting go is something that I have made into my life's work, but never is it more "in my face" than when I sit with my grandma at the nursing home.  My grandma has Dementia/Alzheimers.  I don't even know what or which or why or how, but I do know that it seems we have lost her to the disease and letting go & holding on are happening all at once. As I sit and watch her sleep, I can stroke her hand and feel the many memories of playing Go to the Dump or Crazy Eight on my days off of Kindergarten, getting a home perm in her kitchen in elementary school, and painting my nails at her kitchen nook in H.S.  I remember learning how to snap a dish towel with my cousins as we cleaned up from holiday gatherings & singing and dancing...
2 comments
Read more

Creativity

This summer has been a journey in the pursuit of my creative person!  It started with the desire to seek a new path, to try on some new ways of thinking, and to shift a bit from the usual patterns.  My soul was yearning to make more time for creativity, so I have been using the past two months to honor that spirit in me. I thought that I would start from the very beginning-try putting myself through an elementary art class.  That meant going through a step-by-step process of learning how to draw, watercolor, use oil pastels, paint, etc.  I got started with a kid's art book from the library and a trip to The Sketchy Artist.  I bought a few supplies and sat down to start my lessons. The lessons didn't last.  I am completely interested in playing around with all of the supplies and trying out techniques, but I found a rigid plan to "be creative" isn't what I need. What I am coming to understand is that creativity is more than an art class.  Creativity ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Knowing

After thinking about all of those old worn out tapes of my saboteur, I decided to take some time to find the cheerleader in me.  Unfortunately, it took some uncovering. For quite awhile, I tried hard to hear a voice that might shout "You can do it!  Believe in yourself! Yes, you are on the right track!"  But, no-I couldn't hear anything like that. I tried to locate where the voice was in my body.  Was it in my gut? Everyone always says, "listen to your gut," but mine wasn't telling me anything.  Not literally.  And what I thought I needed to look for was a voice that would whisper words to me.  I thought there must be something wrong since my little cheerleader, fairy godmother, voice of God, wasn't giving me any verbal reassurance. I needed to rethink this.  Maybe the old "trust your gut" advice is just meant to remind you that it's not your head that will guide you, but your body or heart? So, what are the cues my body gives me when ...
Post a Comment
Read more