“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So, when you’re riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief, and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!” ― Bob Marley
For many of us the daily routine has become unfulfilling. Social media highlights this ostensible gap between our best life and the life we’re living.
However, there is no best life. Life is relative. We will always want ‘better’ if we’re never satisfied. Until we realize that our craving for different is the source of our suffering then we will always feel unfulfilled.
Instead of qualifying our dissatisfaction as a rut, we need to reframe. We need to see it as an opportunity to explore where this dissatisfaction comes from. Once we discount our cravings as simple hedonic pleasure (which over time is unfulfilling), we should spend time investigating our feelings. If life seems out of alignment it could go well beyond our career, it could be the friends we spend time with, what we spend our time doing, etc.
Once we become more aware of ourselves and our situation, we should then ask ourselves why we’re not implementing the life changes we feel may serve us better.
This friction to change is always buttressed by some underlying fear. And although it feels very real, it’s not. We just give it life by thinking it’s real. The way to deal with fear is to be conscious of the present moment and qualify fear for what it is, a mental manifestation of our insecurities. If we can take responsibility for this moment of our lives without judgment, we are no longer victims.
Shrinking these dragons in our rearview mirror will unlock our courage to energize, move forward, and choose different. Start with realizing that we are creating the fear, write it down, learn, and move the needle, so the next time it will have less power.
Once we know we have control over it, fear won’t consume us. Eventually we’ll learn to use this fear. It will be that proverbial canary in a coal-mine, guiding us on our path to growth and greater fulfillment.
And when in doubt…
Pause. Breathe, And Quiet the NOISE.
| A symptom of fear is anxiety. This anxiety and stress is like a voice in our head telling us to return to safer shores. Sometimes this stress protects us and sometimes it holds us back. Positive stress, eustress, simply reminds us that we’re doing something that matters. Negative stress, distress, holds us back and doesn’t serve us in the long run. Zero dB is a catalyst to help us overcome the anxiety related to distress. When the negative voices are simply noise holding us back, grab a Zero dB Focus+Calm to provide a little more clarity. |