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Ever flown in a plane? Sure you have. Chances are, you've
probably flown tons of times, so much so that it's getting kinda
boring.
Wasn't like that the first time, though, was it? Do you
remember the first time you took off in a plane? It was amazing
- the roaring of the engines, getting thrust back into your
seat, and watching the ground peel away from you, rising up over
the trees, then the clouds... cars and buildings looking like
ants on the ground.
Do you know what it was that made that first flight so
exciting? Distance and perspective. Within a minute, you had
a completely different perspective on the world, because rather
than being on the ground, you suddenly got 10,000 feet above it.
But after taking as many flights as you have now, some of the
excitement has worn off, I'm sure.
Remember the first time you did what you do for a living?
Remember what it felt like - the newness, the excitement? Or the
first time you kissed someone you were so attracted to, you
thought your toes would pop off?
But what happens over time? You get used to it. The
bazillionth time you treat a patient, massage a back, stick a
needle in someone, or walk someone through a crisis... it can
lose its magic. Just like those lips that once sent you over the
moon, now just flap there, like the gaping mouth of a
wide-mouthed bass. Bo-ring.
How you get the magic back
Imagine climbing not into a seat on a plane, but into a seat on
the space shuttle. Whoa! That'd be a different ride, huh? Or a
barnstorming plane, where you're ten feet over the ground, going
160 miles an hour? Change your distance, and you radically alter
your perspective.
But how do you do this in your life?
The more time you spend looking at your life from the same
distance and perspective, the easier it's going to be to get
bored. If you look at your problems, the way you run your
business, or where your life is headed the same way all the
time... snnzzzzz. And chances are, even if you aren't snoring
now, you will be sooner or later - because it's natural to put
aspects of your life on auto-pilot. And auto-pilot is boring.
So if you want to get out of your rut, you've gotta get off
auto-pilot and change your perspective. And the best way to
do that is to look at the questions you are asking.
Because whether you realize it or not, you got where you are in
life by asking questions and looking for answers. Questions
like,
- what will make me happy? - what do I want to do with my life?
- who do I want to spend my time with? - how do I want to
express myself in the world?
Some of these questions, you asked your self. Some, you asked
your heart. And when you got answers that worked, you stuck with
them, for better or worse.
[I say "better or worse" because the answers from our hearts are
usually the ones that sustain us, sometimes indefinitely, and
the answers from the self are those that almost always get stale
at some point...]
What happens when you get on auto-pilot is that you stop
asking new questions, and get satisfied with the same old
answers. Same answers, same perspective.
Take that space shuttle ride - and then barnstorm
To breathe life into whatever you are doing, I recommend
taking two different rides, each with a specific purpose:
The Space Shuttle: to pull back, zoom out, and see the
big picture. This is where you ask yourself questions like:
- Where am I going? - Do I know why I want to go there? - Do I
need this in my life? - Am I headed in a direction that feeds my
heart?
Without clarity from the Space Shuttle level, you can get caught
in "doing" mode, working away without a clue about where all
your work is taking you. Then you look up one day and say,
"How'd I get here? This isn't where I wanted to go!"
The Barnstorm: to peer closely, zoom in, and see the
minute details. This is where you ask yourself questions like:
- How am I going about this? - Do I know why I'm doing it this
way? - Am I present in what I'm doing? - Are my actions having
the effect I'm looking for?
Without clarity on the Barnstorm level, you could be acting
without understanding how things work. Taking the how-to's for
granted can have you frittering away unproductively,
ineffectively, or at a far cry from the level of performance you
could be enjoying if you knew why you were doing what you were
doing.
What to do on these rides? Ask, and you shall receive
Once you get on the Space Shuttle or the Barnstormer, do what
you used to do so well - ask those questions! Use the
questions I wrote above to get you started, and then let your
natural curiosity take over. Take the time to sit in Remembrance
(being in your heart, and calling to the Divine Presence,
however you relate to it, whatever name you call it), let it
expand your heart's inner perspective, and then listen and feel
what answers come to you.
[And remember, the answers that expand your heart are more
likely to "scratch the itch"... answers that sound good, but
don't ring that tuning fork of truth in your heart, aren't going
to have the same effect in your life.]
"Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man ceases to
live unreflectively and begins to devote himself to his life
with reverence in order to raise it to its true value." - Albert
Schweitzer
About the author:
©2009-2015 Adam Kayce. All Rights Reserved. Want to cross the bridge
between where you are now and where you want to be? Want to go
where can you find simple, yet sublime ideas, on spirituality,
personal development, happiness, fulfillment, healing, and
living the life you want? Head over to http://www.adamkayce.com
today and see how good life can be.
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