Does inner-peace come at the expense of being driven?
Most of my life I’d had a deep desire to make a difference in the world. When I was young it was a hot and burning desire that filled me with both motivation and frustration. It hurt to see all the pain and suffering, I felt as if there was something wrong with the world, and I wanted to do anything I could to fix it.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve change so much, I no longer feel like that same person anymore. I’ve achieved a level of peace where things don’t feel so urgent anymore. I hope we make it. If we don’t, it was a good run. I still want to do everything I can, but I no longer feel any desperation, and it isn’t necessarily because Of any confidence that I will be able to make that difference in the world, although I do feel I’ve made a few tiny little dents.
A lot of what I’ve spent the last few years doing is unraveling my ego, finding who I am beyond all the stories I’ve become accustomed to telling myself, forfeiting all ideas that my own happiness is reliant upon any outside circumstance. I do have to admit, I miss the fire.
I don’t truly believe that the passion is gone, and in fact where I can muster it up, it is far more sincere and reaches much further than it used to. But realizing that everything is always perfect despite how we may perceive it doesn’t exactly leave one with any urgency about anything. I could just stay in bed, so it takes that extra bit of desire to not be in bed to get me out of bed. Fear of failure doesn’t motivate like it used to. It’s all good, so damn good, but I sure wish I knew how to keep the fire going as hot as it used to be, this time running 100% on love.
“The weight of the world is love.
Under the burden of solitude,
under the burden of dissatisfaction
the weight,the weight we carry is love. ” ― Allen Ginsberg
One of my favorite definitions of Love is the felt experience of connection to another being. So this universal, eternal Love can be said to be the felt experience of everything. It can be hard to function in this state; chaotic and overwhelming to some, blissful and toxicing to others, peace perhaps can be seen as in the center of this cyclone.
I always felt detachment is not that you don't feel things, but you feel things so deeply and completely, they dissipate and your ready for the next felt experience.
The World is perfect as it is, including my desire to change it
-Ram Dass
(just some of the silly thoughts floating around my innerspace)
That is an awesome definition of love! Yes!
I don’t think I call his detachment although certain Buddhist influenced thought seem to word it that way. Your silly thoughts are truly inspired today!
How to keep the fire going ... make sure you are always learning new things and get enough sleep. Make sure you exercise and eat well. The creative spark is always there, you just have to be ready receive.
Abundance mentality is a must!
I don't think it does. It is about finding that balance where you can still work toward something without it devouring you.
"I sure wish I knew how to keep the fire going as hot as it used to be" I think some of that comes from the way our outlooks shift as we get older. I know that I am not as driven as I was in my 20's but I think I make better use of my efforts now... or that's what I tell myself anyway lol.
I know it doesn’t but it’s hard to feel in those moments when I’m not in the zone, we grow up driven by fear, so being driven by passion just as consistently takes a whole lot of rewiring.
I had no idea that you were not in your 20s haha.
Haha Well I am not that far out of them but I have felt old since I was a kid lol.
Fear of failure is an anchor that only drags you down. The myth in today's society is that suffering drives productivity. This isnt true.
Chase Jarvis has some awesome youtube videos that I like for exactly this topic, he's an extremely successful and joyful person who always talks about how he got even more productive as learned to relax and be more self-focused with health and mindfulness etc
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve done a complete rewiring on my inner workings over the last 5-10 years and it’s mostly all good, but there are still some things I need to work on, productivity that is filled with passion rather than fear is one of them!
To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:
Hi! I'm a bot, and this answer was posted automatically. Check this post out for more information.
You’ve never been driven...
HAHA. That bot is driven by its creator.
You can be at peace with Life/the universe and still have goals! Just because everything will always turn out fine doesn't mean you just stop with life. To get motivated, maybe you can make smaller/more specific goals. Instead of "Change the world" it could be "Change the world by building a community on Steemit" oh wait you're already doing that! =D
I know what you mean. Being driven from passion without fear requires an abundance mentality though, and it’s hard to maintain 24/7!
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