On keeping the spark alive

[Sir Darius the Clairvoyent]

So… trough out most my life I have been pretty hard working. Not necessarily in the sense of academic or career success, but in identifying what I want, make a plan and work towards it. I feel like I have lost this drive.

 

Thoughts?

Edited November 27 by Sir Darius the Clairvoyent
Typo: lost, not most.

[Jenn]

Might be an interesting time to explore why you need plans and goals.

 

I often feel like aspects of my experiences are like a string on an instrument. Left alone it is still and neutral. If you pull it to one side it vibrates, equally on both sides from where it was still. If your focus or identity is on the future, then it likely is also vibrating in the past and your only briefly experiencing the now as the "string" "passes" side to side. The harder you pull on the future, the louder the past also becomes and harder it is to return to the present.

 

A lot of the negative feelings and hardships in life can be (at least temporarily) forgotten/overcome by hope and a dream for the future. Bigger things to run from, bigger dreams to run to. Losing that, you can start experience all the suffering you've been ignoring without the lifeline you had that will see you through it. Plus side, I found it force me to deal with some of the areas of my life that had been hidden by drive, ceaseless action and aspirations. Although I was pretty grumpy about it at the time (not being able to see a future for myself / a goal to build my life around was like losing who I was), I am coming around to letting what's next be a big unknown.

 

Perhaps it will be a blessing to let go of the future and be surprised by what you find instead? Not to say you will never have goals again, but if you are attaching to them, maybe a forced break from being able to experience that "high" will help you break the attachment and have healthier experiences going forward?

[Sir Darius the Clairvoyent]

Beautiful words, @Jenn. They resonate.

 

Appreciate it!