“It is getting harder to say yes to anything that is not a full body yes.  If a pathway does not move your heart, call to your soul, make you giddy with excitement, it is feeling more difficult to commit yourself to it,” Ashmi Pathela.  I have never agreed with something more viscerally than I have with this statement.  It’s partially where I’m at in life, learning to lean toward the things that make me happy, the things that bring me joy, taking care of me in a way that is aligned with my soul rather than people pleasing.  It’s also just a profound, simple truth.  We consider it natural to sacrifice and do things we don’t actually want to do.  We think it impolite to point out that we have differences from other people in regards to taste or how we want to spend our time.  That diminishes our natural instincts.  I’m not saying that we need to say yes to everything, I’m saying that we need to get in touch with that voice inside that tells us what we really like and what we really want to do.

There seems to be something in the air lately that makes this statement stick out.  It’s getting harder and harder to find motivation to do work that serves no purpose.  There was a time when we’d simply go about our routine and do what needed to be done.  That was the point.  Now it’s harder to do things that don’t matter on a personal level.  There’s a reason for that.  I think as we see more and more systems fall apart, the more we question what our purpose is, the more challenging it is to do anything that feels like it doesn’t fit.  I also believe that is by design.  As more fields are exposed that their operational design is to keep people on the hamster wheel, we see we don’t want to be treated like we only have one option in life, to keep that wheel going.  We want to feel alive and be free of what we are told to want.  We hone our instinct and realize what we need.  Like we talked about this week, doing what makes us come alive is how we live.  Why spend our time doing anything other than what we love? 

Time is the most valuable resource we have and it should be filled with things that excite and energize us.  We tend to our own desires over those around us.  Again, I’m not saying to ignore others or not help others, I’m saying don’t sacrifice our own dreams and desires for the sake of helping others.  We need to learn to respect each other enough that we don’t hold others accountable for our dreams.  Our dreams are our responsibility and that’s why it’s so important to do the things that make us feel good and it’s equally important to allow others to respond to that as well.  We aren’t all going to be on the same page all the time, and we aren’t all going to want to go after the same goal at the same time.  We have no interest in competing for something that requires no competition in the first place.  Simply lean into what feels right, the things that bring excitement in.  Those are the things we need to be all in for, the things we need to spend our time working with.  When we can’t do the same routine anymore, ask what brings that spark back.  Go do that, and then find the next spark.  Then continue.  Soon our bodies and souls will be lit with the energy of doing what we love.  DO THAT.