“I just can’t seem to figure out what I want to do.”
“Why can’t I figure out what’s next for me?”
“If only I could figure out my purpose.”
These and similar thoughts plague my clients, and they used to plague me. (Knock on wood.) But recently I was struck by a BFOO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious): I can NEVER figure my way out of my current perspective or way of being. Thinking will NEVER show me WHAT to do in matters of purpose, meaning,
So what do we do when figuring things out won’t work? And what purpose does our cognitive briliancce serve, if not to figure out where we are going?
When figuring things out won’t work, we are called into our hearts, our physical sensations or somatic experiences, and our connection and engagement with life around us. These other ways of seeing will always show us who we are in this moment, and that will always show us our immediate next step, but only if we listen and follow instructions.
Listen to what? Follow what instructions? There are many good ways to listen. Focusing. Process Work. Working with a coach. Feldenkrais work. And they are all ways to listen to our essential selves. As to the instructions, the primary one I’m aware of is, “Stay here.” Any movement out of the present moment forecloses my awreness of what is unfolding in me. This can be maddening when my “front brain” is convinced that I need to make progress.
In a recent newsletter I wrote: “If compassion is the noun, cherishing is the verb.” David Cicia responded by sending me a beautiful exercise he’s developed, a practice of Free-Beingness. I’m very impressed (and moved) by David’s work, and I hope you will investigate it for yourself. Let me know what you experience. (Haven’t we both had enough of what we think?)
You’ll never figure your way out of the hole
