If you’re feeling down a lot. If you don’t feel excited by the potential or passionate about anything, then here are some pointers and ways of thinking that work for me (continued from Part One)
6 – Feel the Potential
One thing that really excites me day to day and makes me actually kind of vibrate (which is weird I know but true) is the way I have learned to literally feel the potential that we are surrounded with every day.
I mean the physical and energetic abundance that we are swimming in. From this raw stuff, this energy, this matter, humans have done some pretty amazing things and continue to do so. From making babies to constructing the Taj Mahal to landing robots on Mars, we can do so much and I get really buzzed just bathing in this amazing and abundant potential.
I can feel it all day long (I mean literally feel it buzzing and humming around, in and through me) but I know a lot of people cannot. In order to do so I strongly recommend meditating.
When you get into The Clear Space of Good Feeling via meditation, you tap into this energetic reality in a very physical way and do this enough, it carries with you from moment to moment every day. It is this state of cosmic connection with the field of pure potential (which we are swimming in every moment, aware of it or not) that takes thoughts and pushes them towards becoming physical reality.
And in more concrete, down to earth news, meditating can really helps you feel much more positive and uplifted than you otherwise might.
Yeah that’s right, I am not just the annoyingly happy glass-half-full guy, but I am also the resident office New Age twaddle spouting hippy – boo ya!
7 – Get a Universal Perspective
We are so, so small, physically, in the scheme of things, that I find it funny (and sometimes sad) how wrapped up we get in our own dramas and situations.
You may be annoyed at your neighbour, cut-up about your lack of career momentum or emotionally shredded because your girlfriend left you – and there is a validity to your pain in context no doubt, especially in serious situations.
But at a universal level, while I don’t think it means NOTHING, it probably doesn’t mean as much as we like to think it does.
We are like tiny bugs, and I reckon that you’d probably be lying if you say you’ve never accidentally squashed a small bug and then thought very little of it. Certainly, it mattered to you much less than it did to the bug.
Far from being depressing, I find this liberating. To me this frees us to disregard petty bullshit and fear of failure.
I truly agree with what Steve Jobs said: “there is no reason not to follow your heart”
It’s true; there is actually no reason not to.
In a few short years you will be dead, and while it won’t be a path to happiness to be irresponsible and uncaring, it also makes no sense to completely subjugate your own desires and personal fulfillment to what you perceive as being the right thing to do.
Yes, look after your kids, and yes be a tolerant, compassionate responsible member of society, but you won’t make anyone, not you OR your kids, happy by hopelessly schlepping off to a job you hate forever with no outlet or recourse for self-expression.
8 – Find Your Passion and You Will Find the Time
When I m working “for the money”, doing things that are boring for me, it physically drains me of energy and mentally too. I have always found the 8 hour workday arduous when I have had a “day job” for which I cared little. I literally just can’t do shit I hate for 8 hours in row, it drains me into total zombiedom.
But when I am doing things I love, be it writing, playing music or pursuing business ideas that I am passionate about, I find that it is the opposite: It feeds my energy.
So sometimes after a long day of work and parenting (not calling either a non-passion, I actually enjoy both very much), sometimes I feel tired and start to question the wisdom of my final evening shift that I have planned.
But if I go into my room and start typing or jamming or recording or executing I soon find that the hours have flown by and I have to force myself to stop and wind down if I am to get any sleep because my energy levels have peaked, fed by the passion I have for what I do.
If you know what your passions are – then stop making excuses and just start, once you start the muse will land on your shoulder and pump you full off the energy you need.
If you do not know what your passion is then just don’t stop looking, keep exploring, keep trying new things. Don’t give up hope. Consider it your mission to find your passion no matter how long it takes.
9 – Look After Yourself
One thing that I am still working on is the issue of keeping yourself healthy. It is an important factor in your feeling of general wellbeing and happiness. I am traditionally a bit of a party animal (although this has been slowing down a little lately due to impending geriatric status). Loads of fun, yes, but the downside of this has been too many days spent blue as a blue-thing purely because I just had too much fun the night before and wore myself out.
I didn’t used to think this mattered too much. But then I used to be able to spend the day in bed playing with my doodle until I felt better, but now I have little children and the responsibilities that come with that.
Also, unlike when I was in my twenties, I no longer under-value my time. Buggered if I am going to spend a whole day in bed when there are so many things I want to get done before I am stuffed and mounted.
So, I try to look after myself, and I suspect this theme is going to be one of increasing importance.
10 – Look After Others
I believe that service is one of the surest routes to happiness.
I find that helping people to get what they want helps me to get what I want, not just materially but emotionally, spiritually and … Gallipoli.
No wait … ohh this article is getting long … starting to go a bit silly…
Yet despite the encroaching madness that is descending upon me after typing out over 2300 words in a little under an hour without stopping, the point is valid.
Sometimes the little fact that…
- my partner & I have “processed” the children through their day with the utmost care
- I have been unscrupulous in my efforts to provide maximum value to my clients
- Even though, I don’t really like using the phone, I called my Mum or an old friend just to let them know I love them
- I give what I can to charity
- I helped an acquaintance out with a small favour
- I was nice with the poor schmo on the other end of the customer service line despite falling victim to the usual corporate/bureaucratic incompetence
…is enough to make me happy because it makes others happy.
And if life isn’t about being happy then truly, I do not know what it is about.
Viva you! Get amongst it!
Disclaimer: I am not a psychologist or counsellor or anything officious sounding at all really. These are my observations of what works for me and a lot of other people. Please do see a professional if you are suffering; a blog post is not a substitute for proper health care.
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