A struggle addict breaks his habit

I am in the midst of giving up a life-long romance with struggle. 

In my twenties, in a journal, I noted that I enjoyed struggle. It may sound odd in that era of get-it-now, buy-it-later that this would be so. But it was. I enjoyed projects that required endurance and pluck to get through.

It served me well then.

In the midst of conspicuous consumption, I was able to kick into austerity programs and save for these adventures:

• a bicycle trip from the Colorado mountains to the Louisiana swamps.
• A meandering motorcycle trip with alternating buddies, from South Florida to Nova Scotia to New York City.
• Two kayak trips, one a month long around Lake Champlain and back to New York City via the canal system and the Hudson River.
• A van trip across America and back.

I wrote three books, worked hard in between, had some other adventures — and maintained a sometimes frenetic romantic life while doing all this. It takes an enjoyment of the long payoff to accomplish those things. You must relish the long process.

Time for a new motif

Things of this nature become aspects of your character. You don’t even notice the heavy, loaded base of the iceberg beneath its exquisitely exposed peak. Oh, the peak is beautiful — it shimmers in the sun, impossibly imposing in its magnificence. But that hidden base of gargantuan proportions outweighs every anchor in the world massed together.

I’ve been operating as if only struggle is noble! And I hadn’t noticed. At least not until I paid attention to how I speak about my experience. That’s when I noticed the thrill I got when describing difficulties overcome.

Now, harking back to Point Number 1 from the previous post, I’m more attentive to the stories I tell. This is also an Abraham-Hicks motif of renewed significance for me as I chart a new way of speaking about my world. Their instruction is simple: Tell a better story.

Recently I was listening to Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, speak about optimal performance. I’m paraphrasing his brilliance here: One key aspect to optimal performance is that you must tell the best story possible without subverting the facts. (My emphasis.)

Not only does doing so energize you, it focuses you on the best possible outcome. And as we all know, that helps you get there. Or somewhere near there — as opposed to far from there.

So my mission is to find a new motif, one that speaks to being in the divine flow————-

Maybe there’s something in your life too that you can find a better way to speak about, so that it serves your forward movement and no longer anchors you in place.

Let’s do it together — speak new patterns into existence.

You first.

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