It is early in the morning, a candle is burning next to me and I am surrounded by the magical stillness of the woods amidst which our house is located. I can feel the world around me waking up, a noise every now and then, some traffic on our little country lane, the first glimpse of dawn…
My body is warm, gradually preparing for the tasks of the day and feeling so yummy today. Still, something in me tries to suggest that I am wrong as I have not done what I had thought needed to be done this morning.
Yet I feel perfectly at ease and I know that everything is right just as it is. What just dawned on me is that I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.
Before, there were endless lists – written down or just imagined – packed with things to do and time limits by when they should be completed. This meant constant stress and tension; the feeling of failure was a well-known companion.
I would never meet my expectations.
I would override what I felt would be good to do in favour of what was next on my lists.
Over the last month I have developed a different approach. Now there still is a constant rhythm in my life, like going to bed early and getting up early and some of the basic structures of my day, but this rhythm is only followed because I can feel how much it supports me.
I could not let go of my beloved lists instantly and so turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists – this took enormous pressure out of my life. These new lists now help me remember things that do need to be done, but I am not at their mercy anymore.
Now I will feel what needs to be done next and will go for it, even if my mind might try to tell me that this cannot be right.
My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them: just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.
This has been one of the most profound changes in my life. I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.
Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing. Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.
Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to find and walk this way back to my stillness again.
By Michael Kremer, Personal Assistant, Buchholz, Germany
Further Reading:
Stillness
The Body Is The Marker Of All Truth
Time: How I Changed my Relationship with the Invisible Tyrant
I loved reading this statement, “I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again”. What a confirmation that within all of us, we have this knowing that offers us what is next. That no list will be needed with this knowing and life could be lived from this place.
Could this be the antidote to our exhaustion too?..To stop the doing and running around? Worth pondering over.
“no perfection needed” Letting go of the drive for perfection allows us to be true to who we are.
It is interesting how we can put so much pressure upon ourselves, place so much expectations on ourselves and then be hard on ourselves for not completing a list that is near impossible to get done. What does this achieve? Nothing truly beneficial – and so if we had a boss like this we could consider them abusive, but yet it is what we do to ourselves and so it is high time that we began to appreciate ourselves and the qualities that we bring to the jobs we do rather than making it about the amount of things that get completed on the ‘To Do’ List.
Wow Henrietta what a revelation about creating our own lists, and not seeing it as abusive. Yet when another makes one, we see it as abusive. So then in that revelation, if we simply allow for us to simply be, then no amount of lists thrown at us by another will affect us, as we are in the appreciation of the offerings…
I love that feeling of having a list to do and yet letting yourself work through it in a way that is not from a priority list offered from the head but rather from a feeling of the body sharing what needs to be done next.
Michael, I love what you have shared here and it is something I too can relate to so well – it is a great example of how we can depend on something or give ourselves away/dis-empower ourselves if we do not use the tool (lists) responsibly: “I could not let go of my beloved lists instantly and so turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists – this took enormous pressure out of my life. These new lists now help me remember things that do need to be done, but I am not at their mercy anymore.”
Being with our body, and being present with what we do supports a flow, ‘just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.’
Appreciating the connection or essences that you are sharing Michael, is also a great step in holding onto our stillness, in everything we do.
Thank you Michael for your wonderful blog and I very much be inspired by your ‘might be done’ lists. What a wonderful thing to have just to remember things that needs to be done without the pressure to do it in a certain time. That feels indeed very freeing for me too!
Taking any external pressure off our day makes life flow so the natural order can be lived as you have shared Michael.
And how lovely life feels with a flow, ‘what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them’.
To come to a place where “I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life” means I am no longer trying to plan ahead or trying to make things go the way I want, but simply allowing each moment to be the only one I have. What a different way to live than when I would continually live moments in the past and possible moments in the future and then wonder why the present just wasn’t happening the way I wanted it to.
Well said Ingrid – and this letting go of control is not about not having a willingness to do the jobs needed, but rather about getting them done in a rhythm that supports all.
“I would never meet my expectations.” When we put this pressure on ourselves it is like having a boss who is never appreciative of our work whatever we do.
The ease of your morning rhythm is beautiful, it inspires me to look at ways in which I can bring more rituals into my morning routine.
I was always a great one for lists, if it needed to be done it was on the list, then I started realising that I needed to trust myself, and maybe the lists were in fact making me feel less confident, so I now only list things that are really urgent like a prompt list and give it a quick glance over to see if I missed anything, the lovely thing is my soul steers me in the right direction without me having to think about what I need to do.
‘Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing’, yes it is because it means our bodies can relax and breathe gently once again.
I love that; might be done list, instantly it feels the time pressure is off and we can get the things we need to get done in a flow instead of a drive.
“Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to find and walk this way back to my stillness again.” Serge is leaving such an incredible legacy of work, much of which is being successfully lived in the Universal Medicine student body, by myself included. It’s challenging to appreciate in full all that Serge has offered humanity solely because of the breadth and depth of his work, but wow, we have been given so much.
True Michael, ‘Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing.’ I am becoming aware how the factor ‘time’ in my life can be such a huge pressure like someone with a whip is ready to hit me in order to get me going and I know I am the only one who can make the choice to live the simplicity of what lives in me.
I love what you share here Michael ‘‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists’, this certainly takes the drive out of trying to achieve an impossible list, that disconnects me from my body and makes me feel anxious.
Changing your ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists is such a simple yet fundamental change of approach which I can feel being quite transformational.
I love the simplicity with which you describe how you have managed to let go of the pressures of what you have to do and instead to re-connect to your inner-knowing and can feel through your expression the heartfelt truth of this for you. Very inspiring, thank you for sharing.
It’s so much more satisfying finishing the day knowing and feeling the completion of having honoured your inner knowings of what is needed to be done rather than complete if the day with a finished check list of things you had to do.
Simply because you will feel left, alone and empty with the last one and filled, together and full in the first one.
What we wake up to, is our choice… every day.
We try coming up with a plan, but there is a Plan far greater than that that governs and holds everything within in perfect harmony.
I love moments like these Michael – moments that are more consistent in my daily rhythm in life.So much simpler and harmonious than striving and hardened drive for perfection, that is to be caught up in the biggest lie and pathway to exhaustion and always needing to better oneself and life.
“Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed”.
A powerful and inspiring blog Michael – what a profound healing to let go of the pressure of all the ‘to do’ lists and re-connect back to oneself and remember how to simply ‘Be’ in harmony and truth.
“This has been one of the most profound changes in my life. I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again”.
Stillness allows us to feel space and the grandness of who we are – it is crazy that we fight this very natural way of being.
But understandable that when we fight our stillness, problems exist.
I love feeling stillness, we have so much to thank Serge Benhayon for, ‘Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to find and walk this way back to my stillness again.’
The tick box mentality of our to do lists can indeed keep us in the drive of doing and this will always be at the expense of the quality of what we do.
Our quality is always so important.
I had a day that did not include my list or at my work it’s called my ticket system. It flowed and I was able to enjoy each task breaking it down maintaining the same quality with each. It was my most glorious day to date! I actually achieved more than I usually do and completed it like no other. Aroha!
A very confirming experience to not be dictated by lists but instead to be guided in allowing yourself to do what is needed and flowing through all that with ease and some.
Beautiful Michael” . . .just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.” . . is the antidote to stressing out.
‘I would never meet my expectations.’ Living with (high) expectations of ourselves is exhausting and keeps away the joy that wants to come out to live more in rhythm what is already there on the inside.
There is a sentence – “I would never meet my expectations” that brought me to a stop here. It feels so similar to the ideal in my head of trying to keep other people happy.. an outside marker I have no control over and so there is a constant feeling of struggle, and no hope of achieving it. This idea of might be done lists is pretty gorgeous leaving the way open for how we feel, the rhythm of the day, and other things that inevitably pop up here and there.
Love how you’ve shifted from the mandatory ‘to-do’ list pressure to ‘might be done’ list.. Iists have their place, but not when they own you and dictate the course of your day and life. Great call to look at our relationship with lists, with work, with expectations that we put upon ourselves: often we find that we are our own harshest taskmaster, putting enormous pressure on ourselves and our bodies to do things according to a whole set of ‘shoulds’ and ‘must dos’ that sometimes we’re not even aware of. When we let go of those pictures of how we think we, or life should be, and allow ourselves to surrender to the flow of life, it feels much easier, less stressful and bigger – there is space for more.
I loved what you have shared Michael, just reading your gorgeous blog has brought to me a deeper sense of my own stillness, thank you.
Yes, Michael allowed himself to be held by the beauty of his own being, instead of going into the drive of achieving. We are each constantly at these crossroads with the choice of being with our love and trust our inner knowing and feelings, or leave it all to join the chaos – a chaos which is now quite normal, if not expected.
“I would never meet my expectations.” Expectations keep us on the treadmill of trying to get somewhere or achieve a goal and are exhausting. When we live in rhythm with our inner stillness we find the space to be all of who we naturally are.
I feel the flow in how you live Michael and how delicious that is, to live in rhythm with our bodies, living life rather than mastering it .. so well put.
We could even say… living life without fighting it or fighting who we naturally are within it.
It is inspiring to feel from within, that there is a whole other way of being, that when connected to feels effortless, natural and free in contrast to the push and drive of trying to achieve a sense of recognition or acceptance though what we do or what we think we should be doing. When we are with our Soul, we are everything we need to be.
Without stillness, humanity is lost… Stillness is the doorway within, and it is within we find our true home.
‘might be done’ lists take the pressure of and will bring more of our quality in the things we choose to do but what I do have to be aware of is that I not delay the things I find difficult and want to avoid.
And quality is so much more important than quantity.
The absolute strength and power in staying with ourselves as we wake and begin the day is something that I am beginning to discover. It is easy to let the mind wonder into the day or get caught into deciphering a a feeling, sense or dream on waking. When staying present, with whatever we are feeling aware of brings understanding and the greatest joy of learning to love everything that our body brings to us. Or day and the things that await are then a pleasure to be in and with.
So True Leigh, as Michael has also in a way presented that giving our self space is super important as it takes the push and drive out of our day.
Gorgeous that life is actually so simple – it all starts with acknowledging what we feel and act on it. This is what The Way of The Livingness and all the teachings by Serge Benhayon are about. Perfectly imperfectly so.
I am learning that we may do a lot of the same things we have always done but as our attachment to these things dissolves we are free to make true choices…hence our relationship with all the ‘doing’ becomes completely different and truly empowering.
We do not need to do lists simply because our body knows what to do when.. Yet we can use it as a simple practical reminder though.. But we are offered a deeper way of listening to ourselves — that is living from our knowingness. That has nothing to do with control or wishful thinking. It is the most beautiful way though, based on allowing ourselves the space to live by our absolute knowing of who we are and what we need to do — no to do list can beat that!
I love how you are allowing your body to impulse you rather than just come from your head, ‘I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.’
Being in the flow and allowing our inner wisdom to impulse us, ‘following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them: just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.’
It has taken a huge part of my life, a life that was full of struggle and the constant striving for perfection, to come to a place where I know that “all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed”. To understand this has been the most wonderful feeling of liberation from so many ideals and beliefs that did nothing but hold me back from living the most amazing me.
“But what I realized recently is that this perfection is nothing more then protection and an energy that I choose to confirm that I am not enough! ” I love how you stop in that moment and come back to who you are and remember your strength and what you bring.
Dropping control while maintaining flow is most certainly an art and something that is very different from how our present world currently runs. When we control we limit the flow of what is possible – and what I find is that sometimes the flow doesn’t make sense until a little down the track and then I can look back and say oohhhhh… now I get why I needed to do that then. It’s all pretty magical really.
The list of to do’s and how they can pressure and identify you as either a success or a failure and it’s not about shortening the list or naming it something else but about truly connecting to the flow of life and from there moment by moment feel what is next to do. It’s not about smashing something out or getting it done as this has no regard to the ‘how’, the energy of what you do when you do it. When the dedication is changed to the how, the quality and not the what then your view of what you see is changed.
That’s the key right there – creating targets we are never going to achieve, so we set ourselves up to fail from the outset. I think I need a reminder pinned up on my fridge door, because I can still start my day with very unrealistic expectations of myself. Not today, since your blog was my reminder.
I have let go of the do to lists but realised the other day how I still wake up and do not allow time for just me being with me, instead I get of bed in the ‘what have I got to do today’ energy. This morning I gave myself space to just be with me before doing anything and it feels very loving to do.
‘I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.’ Being in the flow of life and surrendering to its movement rather than trying to control all the outcomes feels so true. Thank you for sharing your appreciation Michael of your life and your gratitude to Serge Benhayon which I echo.
It’s like we become our own dictator when we write a ‘to do’ list and set ourselves up to fail every time. Feeling into what is next and going with that is much simpler and takes the stress out of life when I am connected to my body as soon as I go into my mind I get lost in the maze of thoughts that tell me that I will forget something if I don’t write it down! So having a ‘might be done’ list feels a great bridge to letting go of having lists completely.
The lists and the time gets me! On days when I experiment with just going with the flow, it works, it really does…but then often something get’s in the way and I go back to building list upon list and racing against time. It will take practice and acknowledgment that the other way works so much better.
There is such a graceful sense of stillness to your words here Michael… that yes, we can ‘do’ what is there to be done, but that it is this foundation found, that allows us to move and act in a way that is sustained and sustainable. A way where we do not lose ourselves in what lays ahead, nor get caught in the miasma of not being enough (a lack of self-worth) here and now, due to not having met all of the inner and outer expectations we’ve adopted.
Stillness and the knowing of oneself are the keys to true and grace-full action. Thank-you.
We do love to stress ourselves out with our lists and created tasks..all of it a distraction from living in harmony with ourselves and the greater order of the universe. When we relinquish the control and stop trying to make life fit into the picture we’ve created of how it should be, there is a natural flow and rhythm to life that we can either resist or surrender to.
As soon as I write the ‘to do ‘ list I can feel the nervous tension in my body and the need to get it completed to feel better about myself – how crazy is it? I love the idea of the ‘might be done’ list as takes away any struggle allowing for a greater flow and surrender that is simple and more supportive.
I love the absoluteness of this blog and how it shows that the ultimate value of the day is not what is achieved or not achieved but the quality held in our body.
There is a flow, a natural order to everything – this is evident in natures reflection of seasonal changes and the moons cycles. Allowing a natural flow to be our governing source is saying YES to having a relationship with the universe, a relationship with more than time and our human aspects.
Living life by feeling what is is what is needed in respect to our bodies is the only way forth in our evolution, where we can access our divine wisdom within that allows the natural flow of life and let go of the shoulds and shouldn’t’s that come from our heads which only create complications and doubt taking us away from our innate truth.
I so love this Michael! I’ve loved all your blogs actually, as you embody and live a simplicity that is palpable. Being so often at the mercy of a mind that wants to ‘get it all done’ I feel heartened by your beautiful description of your new approach to your livingness. A deep thank you.
I have spent years in a pattern of setting myself targets to reach that I rarely did. These days I am appreciating that there is a natural flow I can work to. Yes there are always going to be priorities and important things that need addressing, but having an unrealistic to-do list sets me up to fail and puts me in a cycle of anxiousness that is a useless waste of my energy and time. The ‘might be done’ list is a great renaming.
Trying to be right, I have reduced the joy and appreciation of life. There is something that far surpasses our concept of rights and wrongs. Deepening our connection to the inner-most enriches our life, and it is very beautiful to feel that from your sharing.
I had been a little bit of a muddle for a while before I began to read your beautiful blog Michael, but it didn’t take too long before I felt my whole body begin to relax into the stillness that I could feel from the sharing of your morning; a wonderful example of how a simple choice can make such a huge change in a body that is feeling out of balance.
The feeling you now embrace in your body is absolutely palpable through your words… this was a pleasure to read and a gorgeous reminder that we are all capable of letting go of what is not needed and just surrender to the stillness within and allow ourselves to be with the flow of life.
It is crazy how we can let ‘to do’ lists shape our lives. I literally used to work my life around these lists, now I look at what needs to be done and let go of the things that aren’t urgent. This is still a process for me and a learning especially with just letting myself be, which was beautifully revealed to me the other day when I ran myself a bath and instead of just being was thinking of people I needed to contact and things I needed to do.
I’m finding how simple appreciation is to implement. I simply know that I am doing all I can while choosing to be me and respond to life to the best of my ability. That I am enough without having to prove, do, say or be seen by anyone else. This allows so much space for life to unfold without control.
Transforming a to do list to a might be done list – I love it.
I am learning the quality of being is first and foremost before any doing is done. Without that first, our true quality, anything that is done will not serve anyone or anything in truth.
A powerful reminder Annie, to bring our quality to everything we do in life.
Love the ‘might be done’ lists. It is so easy to create an unnecessary pressure on ourselves by an insurmountable list of things to be completed then choose to be in overwhelm about it – and in that overwhelm diminish significantly what may otherwise be accomplished, and more importantly the quality in which it is done.. It is possible to let go of the pressure and overwhelm – choosing instead to live and move the day in absolute presence and connection and from that quality we will know all that needs to be done, and no minute is wasted, and all that is done is in the fullness and quality of our true essence.
I’m inspired to test this approach Doug and see what happens.. I’ve recently switched at work from using my inbox as my to-do list, never deleting anything incase I need to remember it, to now committing to clearing my inbox each night and trusting that whatever needs to be dealt with or followed up on will come into my awareness or will come back to me.. it’s amazing how things have already shifted.
I loved reading about your lists, as I too have had a similar experience of long lists that all need to be ticked off before the end of the day, now I write a couple of headers that I use as a simple reminder and I often find my body already knows what to do next rather than me dictating and forcing my body to do something it doesn’t want to do, there is then a beautiful flow to it all.
“I would never meet my expectations” when we are driven by all we think we have to do we are always playing catch-up. When I let go of thinking about ‘all the things I have to do’ I find there is more space to just meet each task as it presents itself and I too have time and space to appreciate the wonders of the natural world around me.
I love the sense of simplicity that comes with being present with what we’re doing and not letting our mind run off or override what or how we feel to do things.
‘I would never meet my expectations’… its like we trick ourselves by giving ourselves an impossible list and then feeling like a failure when we don’t get it all done. However, I’ve observed over the years that I am still here, that everything that needed to be done has been, and all that pressure was unnecessary. We know deep down what needs to be done, and there is a flow we can connect with rather than being worried we might forget things.
It was so beautiful to come back to your gorgeous blog today Michael as I have a list or two sitting next to me to be looked at very soon, and what you have written is a gentle reminder to approach what is waiting to be completed in a very different way; I can feel that changing them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists, takes off so much pressure as I trust what needs to be done first, and bringing back the enjoyment of each thing that I do.
Living from our inner impulse ensures you always get what you need, and have ample time to complete what has to be completed.
When we rushed our bodies are in a constant state of pressure and possibly anxiety. Pressure may produce diamonds but in many other situations, it produces rumble.
And again I find myself back here as if it is the first time I have read this blog! I have a been having what seems like big days today with long lists of things that need to be done, my time sitting in the garden reading seems like an age ago, but in fact it was just a few turns around the sun ago. Today I choose to turn my lists “from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists”
This is such a great blog to read. I am enjoying sitting out reading in the garden and just aware that I should be doing so many other things. Instead I am enjoying the wind in the trees, the smell of the warm air and the choice to not go into doing but appreciating the stillness that is me before I do anything!
Ah yes, love this blog, i can feel the stillness it has been written in and the surrender to trusting that we are well cared for and living with a loving rhythm actually supports all that needs to be done.
Thank you for sharing Michael – Sounds like you live in a very nice neighbourhood!
Knowing feels timeless, without rationale, logic or reason. It does not feel like something I push towards but as you say, it flows. Perhaps knowing connects us to a grander list, or more precisely, an order, and it’s following this grand order with our knowing that creates the magical and very still flow.
I find the more I appreciate myself and am real about who I am instead of making myself less, the more is my inner knowing coming out. When I have expectations about what to do and how much, every day ends in failure and is a justification to feel less again.
A deeply beautiful reflection and reminder that whenever we are connected to the impulse of our Soul, we are moved by a superlative freedom of the sacredness of all that we are. No lists needed as the light of our Fiery way is our eternal guide to knowing what comes next.
Beautifully said Carola – connection is our first point of call, from there, everything else is taken care of. In other words, the path is laid out before us but we can only feel that guide if we are not driven or reduced by time and control over life.
Understanding that we have taken on and allowed to be embedded in us so many patterns and practices that actually bring on and maintain tension and that it is possible to let go of these old patterns is extremely liberating, and the start of the part of reconnection.
I also love how you describe your morning – you paint a picture and in doing so I can really feel how much you appreciate that time and space.
Michael, I found your article to be really helpful as I can often hold myself hostage to a list – and the undercurrent of pressure or anxiety I feel until the task is finally completed. One of those tasks that was on the to do list (a permanent one I had in my head) was to get my UK license. Only after I passed the test 8 years!! after I put it on my list did I realise how that small undercurrent of ‘to do’ had been draining me. But as you point out there is another way to live – one in which I can choose not to be held hostage by a list and thus, by myself!
There is such a difference when we live life with a deep knowingness and appreciation of who we are, as it is only until then we realise that nothing matters other than to cherish that which is already within us.
It’s so true Michael, when we live with the pressure of our to do lists haunting and shadowing our every move it is like trying to play catch up with the impossible.
I love it . . . turning the ‘to do list’ into a ‘might be done list’. I agree Michael . . . Why I love this is because I feel that everything needs to be approached with a sense of humour. We have to learn how to laugh at ourselves so we can truly release the self imposed shackles and return to being our self in full.
When we live each moment fully we can appreciate it, if we consider all the things we have to do then quickly that gets overwhelmed and we lose that connection to what is happening right now.
Sounds like Possibles and Probables or should I say a possible list to do or a probable list to do! Most days I have a wide range of things to and it requires me to feel what to do for my own comfort for that day so that the tasks I approach on any day feel as though it will work out.
I remember all the different versions of “to do” lists, they never worked unless you consider success as feeling bad about yourself!
Michael, this is such a deep profoundness in what you offer here ‘I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.’ and I feel how different it is to live this way and how often I can still be ruled by all those lists you speak of. Your line stopped me and showed that it’s not about looking out but actually in and working in deep connection with that essence in me and my body, and your blog asks the question how do we live in a way that honours that, but of course listening to the body.
Good morning, Michael. What a gorgeous read this is. And a perfect timing too – as I felt the horribleness of abandoning my essence in favour of some external pressure and completely got distracted by it just before going to bed – which ended up being past midnight, and awoke feeling the residue of it as the tension in my upper arms, but consciously choosing to move in a way that would bring me back to myself.
Even in the midst of a busy and bustling city an inner connection brings a stillness that supports all I need to do each day.
Once we discover our inner world of connected, even interconnected , presence, then it brings a perspective to everything in our lives
Reading your blog I felt my body let go of tension it was holding. I love you changing the ‘to do list’ to ‘might be done’. I have realised more over the week from myself and speaking with others that we are the ones that prodomintly put pressure on ourselves!!!!! Maybe we should be our own best friend and turn the self pressure button down and self love button up 😀✨🐬💕 I concur with what you have said here about Serge Benhayon ‘Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to find and walk this way back to my stillness again.’ He is a true gentle man that shows and reflects to humanity the path of return back to the love we all innately are.
Thanks Michael, this is a timely reminder that the moment we stop living in the knowing that we bring everything that is needed to be, be in and contribute to our world, we are doing a great disservice to Humanity. There is no room for doubt – there is no doubt. This is a gentle, loving message prompting us to fully claim who we are.
Michael it’s a beautiful blog expressing how you place yourself, your stillness, and the magic and beauty of life before the usual pressures we all so easily succumb to with our long lists of daily chores and work tasks. I prefer your take on to-do lists to now become ‘might be done’ lists! The myopic focus of to-do lists does not allow us to be open to the wonder and grandeur of ourselves and life. Very inspiring.
Michael this was the perfect blog for me to read this evening as I have been really enjoying me and what I have been doing yet I have had a niggling feeling that I have not got done what I wanted to get done and my to do list sits there remained uncrossed. Your blog has put this into perspective and I realise I do not have to be at the mercy of my to do lists.
My lists are imagined and written down. Slowly I am realising the stitch-up it all is, since as you have shared Michael, the expectations are never met. It’s impossible, so I set my self up to fail on a daily basis. How crazy is that? ‘Flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them,’ sound like the way forward, and I can feel that in the way you have written this blog. Thank you for sharing this with us.
‘Something in me tries to suggest that I am wrong as I have not done what I had thought needed to be done this morning.’ I still get caught with his one Michael, so its great for me to read your blog again today. I allow my list of things to do to be in charge of me rather that the natural rhythm my body wishes to flow in. I fear I wont get everything done if I allow that natural rhythm and that somehow, things will fall apart.
Who would have thought there is a way to live that is mostly free of stress and is joy-full and rejuvenating every day, our body always naturally leans towards what is true for it.. all we have to do is listen.
Rhythmically living each moment… is mastering life.
And then the subtle shift from a ‘to do’ list to a ‘might be done’ is seismic. It takes the dictator out of this thing we created outside of ourselves and turns it into a supportive instrument we can refer to (but will not be bossed by).
“I would never meet my expectations” – that was a show stopper for me. We are our own harshest critic, and that to do list can be a punishing task master!
“I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.” This line is a standout for me today as it helps me to identify the “I don’t know what to do” lie that I use to sabotage myself. If I try to do anything that is not true for me my body soon lets me know I am on the wrong track so the truth is that I do know what to do and how to do it if I simply connect to my body and let go of my pictures, ideals and beliefs.
I love considering how our bodies are made up of pieces of the universe, of stardust, and so through our body we can be connected with the universe, the whole and know what to do next and how to do it in a way that supports us all! Something that the mind alone cannot do but in line with the body we are connected again…
I found this particularly inspiring because we can all go with how we feel and put the mind’s view to one side, but it’s only through building the trust in and love for ourselves that you mention that can truly make the difference between being chained to our to-do list or going with the knowing.
Michael you present a situation that so many of us have been faced with or still face – the urgency behind doing a list or making a plan to get us through the day and keep us on track. We’ve used to do lists as a means of security and structure – but this, as I have found, is a substitution for us simply connecting back to ourselves, to our essence, and living from the point where we know what is going on and there is no need for a list because we can let our bodies guide us instead of our heads. I am also so thankful to Universal Medicine for presenting to me the possibility of what our bodies can offer us.
What a beautiful reminder reading your blog Michael. After I woke this morning I started running through all the things I wanted to do. This just kept my mind occupied and didn’t allow me to feel. As I started reading your blog I was able to come back to the stillness and be with my body. Now I am feeling what is needed in each moment and now I can be in this stillness throughout my day. Thank you.
I can definitely relate to a life of constant list making and feeling like I wasn’t ever getting ahead, this feeling of always never truly completing anything, because the list would always just restart again and again. There is such power in connecting with our inner knowing, feeling what is needed in any given moment. This is definitely a way of living I can feel is so much more supportive than the drive and pressure of list making.
My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them: This is what I needed to be reminded of at this moment Michael. Flowing with the days instead of trying to catch up with them, is like a breath of fresh air, and will impulse how I move after that. It is super simple but very powerful, and brings true quality.
“Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to find and walk this way back to my stillness again.” There is nothing more beautiful than being in our stillness and sharing and expressing this in the world. If we want to make a difference in the world it is living in our stillness. It is my responsibility and my purpose in life to live in stillness as Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine support me too to surrender to the what is and make this possible in a world that thrives on stimulation.
Sometimes, I find myself thinking I need to do things every day to support myself yet the pressure I can put on myself to do them is more harming than when I am actually doing them and what is truly on offer because I’m simply not being present with my body. I am learning to listen more to my body and doing what I feel to. This may be going for a walk when I do not usually go or taking a nap in the morning instead of the afternoon, but what matters is not ticking the boxes and achieving what I set out to do but feeling what will truly support my body in that moment.
Lists can be used as marvelous ways to guarantee that we are in constant anxiety and motion trying to get things done. Instead of sitting and feeling there is nothing to be done but so much we want to do.
“Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing. Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” Beautiful indeed Michael, thank you.
Yes I agree Jill, this is such a beautiful sentence, a gentle reminder that when I do not feel the trust within me that every thing is being taken care of including me, I have lost the connection to myself. All I have to do then is to make a choice to surrender and let go no matter how difficult this may be for this is the greatest gift I can give myself and another.
Yes Michael our greatest wisdom is held within, and the most effective way to tap into it is to have a stable routine and rhythm and to make self caring choices in regard to food and exercise.
Beautiful to read and feel the grace in the truth you share Michael. It is true and available to us all – we are already complete and simply need to bring this in all that we attend to in our day with the priority being what feels true for us in our body at the time. No other external influence or imposition offers or matches the inner wisdom and knowing we are and have.
it’s easy to get stuck in the trap of thinking we are not ok or not up to scratch because we have not finished our task list – only worthy when the to-do’s have been done… but is a constantly draining way to live and effectively dis-empowering ourselves – then we fall prey to attack from whatever life wants to throw at us. Remembering from the beginning, that we are whole and complete and glorious before we take very first step of the day would bring a whole new way of being with ourselves and with everything the day brings, more able to stay steady and true to ourselves, and no longer subjugated to the whims of a capricious world.
Well said Annie, I know that trap of feeling worthy when finished the tasks that are on the list only too well. This never ending cycle of pushing and driving to complete the list so I get to feel the reward afterwards is certainly an exhausting and a never ending series of ups and downs during the course of one’s life. I appreciate so much meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for showing me another way; a foundation that is based upon my relationship with myself first and foremost and then going out into the world.
This behaviour of only feeling worthy once accomplished something I am sure relates to us all in one way or another. It certainly has been a big one for me and when I fall it takes a dedication to myself to bring myself out of it and back to myself especially as I commit more deeply to life.
“Remembering from the beginning, that we are whole and complete and glorious before we take very first step of the day would bring a whole new way of being with ourselves and with everything the day brings”
I love this line Annie, It feels like when life is lived in this way every moment is new and fresh.
‘Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing. Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.’ Great to be reading this right now just when I am letting myself be controlled by this feeling that I am failing in my relationships, once again. Difficult to connect back to love at such moments until I realize that letting love back in is the only way out.
Another great read Michael. I too have changed my to do lists to things to be done when the timing feels right. Quite often in the past I would feel guilty and like I had put something off only to realise if I had of done it when I had decide it needed to be done, it would not have worked and leaving it until the time I got around to it was actually the perfect timing.
Yes Michael we have all of the support we need it is always right there within us in every moment. The divine key to life is confirming that love and support we hold for ourselves. Everything else unfolds effortlessly from there.
Great example how sneaky thoughts can be, how even in a moment of stillness and connection we can choose thoughts that degrade us, and it is a fantastic example in this article of why a supportive and consistent rhythm in life is so beneficial….when these doubts creep in, the rhythm, our foundation supports us and we are able to feel the truth what is arises.
Having consistency in our lives through a steady rhythm supports being more consciously present in all that we do, too. The more I connect to my body the more present and aware I am of any unloving thoughts that come in – and the choice to say no to them. Listening to our inner knowing only comes when we create stillness and spaciousness in our lives by choosing to live that way with our body, first. Esoteric yoga and the gentle breath meditation, daily, has been a huge support in this.
Your description of early morning is beautiful, I feel it offers, the stillness and I get a real sense of preparing for the day and connection with my body.
Gorgeous Michael I can very much relate to your blog as through Universal Medicine I found a whole other way and rhythm to live in and by. The more I surrender to the Livingness – http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/livingness.html of this way – the more I actually do in a non-doing way such that I currently have the equivalent of four full time jobs and work eight days a week which appears crazy!!!
Sometimes I think that what is before me to be done is impossible, but then I have a knowing that we are never asked to do the impossible. Therefore, if I feel something is impossible or there is too much, either I am doing something that does not need to be done or is not for me to do, or I need to expand, let go within and find more space.
I love what you say here, Nicola, and a poignant one for me. Feeling overwhelmed as though it is not possible to attend to the task before me – whether it’s too difficult, too much or I just do not feel like doing it – whatever that is, they are all saying the same thing: more space needed – and for me most probably first, from within, by letting go.
I agree Fumiyo. I used to experience overwhelm quite often but one day in a session Curtis Benhayon presented that overwhelm is an emotion. As soon as Curtis said that I could feel the truth and also experienced that if it was an emotion it was actually something I was creating and I had a choice not to do that. Since that day I have not fully got over overwhelm, but I go into it a great deal less and it has lost its illusionary hold over me.
I too love what Nicola says here. I too sometimes get anxious and overwhelmed by what is in front of me. It can be from a number of simple things that is being asked of me and I don’t feel I have enough time to do them in, to something I have not done before but pausing and becoming aware of my breath and looking at the situation and asking myself ‘do I need to do this right now?’ This is certainly supporting me to overcome the overwhelming feeling that I can sometimes allow.
Thank you Nicola for the reminder that overwhelm is an emotion and therefore something I have created. This emotion I have allowed in so many times and in many areas of my life, in fact I have used overwhelm as an excuse to not to commit to life! I could feel this awareness when I had a pool session with Simone Benhayon. Simone confirmed it and ever since my relationship with overwhelm has changed as it doesn’t have the power over me like it used to.
These comments on overwhelm have helped me to see it in a new light this morning – as an emotion we go into so as not to commit to life, and to delay things -including our own evolution. If we’re feeling overwhelmed, first of all we’ve made the choice to allow it into our bodies – and then it plays out in our lives in terms of the actual amount of space we have to do things. What I’m finding is that the more I connect to and live from feeling my body and feeling what to do next, the more I maintain that sense of spaciousness within me -and from there, naturally, the space is there to do whatever is needed next.
Yes indeed, our bodies are certainly wise as are we when we listen to them.
Equally whilst on the outside I genuinely do what appears to myself and others to be an impossible amount, at the same time I have a growing awareness that there is absolutely nothing to do or nothing that need to be done. It is not about the doing but my whole quality of being, of expression and always first and foremost about what energy am I expressing, and everything else comes out of that.
Furthermore, in order to develop the quality of energy I have to bring an equal care and attention to EVERYTHING I do. I cannot compartmentalise my life. My time with myself in the bathroom in the morning is as important as the big business deal, which is as important as my relationship, which is as important as taking out the rubbish and so forth.
I can feel how important it is that when we are living from our essence that we are living this with everyone in all situations. Sometimes I can be living a certain quality at home then I allow it to change when I get to work. Im able to see this more and more as my body lets me know when my quality changes.
I agree Christopher, Serge Benhayon presented very clearly at the recent Lennox Head 2016 retreat (and many times previously) how there is no on and off switch. How we are and live is a reflection of our 24/7 Livingness.
And finally to complete my abundance of comments this morning, the more I am in action the more I need to deepen my stillness as described here: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-stillness.html.
It is like how the in breath follows the out breath. There is a rhythm to it. If I find myself getting caught in the spin of life or in the energy of busy then it is always a message for me to deepen my presence and my connection to my body. An example might be my walk from my office to the photocopier. I will feel my hand on the door handle and enjoy each moment of the walk to the machine feeling my connection to my body. In fact, I love those moment of walking anywhere or doing any simple movement such as making a cup of tea – each of these is like having a holiday for me!
Absolutely Lovely Michael. We have everything inside us that we will ever need, and it’s the attachment to the outer world and what goes on that is killing us! It’s so amazing to let go of expectations, pressures, deadlines and just live from the natural knowing inside. Life is a lot more fun and I seem to take up more opportunities to evolve and expand!
So true and profound, this is what is occurring in the material, emotional, status driven existence that has been created “We have everything inside us that we will ever need, and it’s the attachment to the outer world and what goes on that is killing us!” Coming back to our inner heart is the way to remedy our ills.
And after all life can be so much fun!!! It is a simple choice.
One thing I do know from my own experience, Michael, is the ability I have to put pressure on myself! Not from to do lists but often procrastination. Often I have need of making an appointment for myself and I am great at putting it off until I realise I can’t get away without making it. Yet at other times I feel to look after myself with an urgency or need. To be more connected to my own needs is essential and something I am aware I need to honour at all times.
It seems so simple ‘just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.’ but how much we neglect this simple principle.. If we are not present we can not be fully aware of and therefore taking responsibility for the quality we bring to that moment.. so then what is the quality in what we do. Simple yet definitly takes some practice to learn the tricks that we employ to sabotage this connection and to let them go.
Thank you Annie, I am a bit on struggle street this morning and reading this blog and your comment is supporting me to just being present right here, right now reading this blog and commenting on it. My mind – and all the tricks – want to sabotage this simple moment to be with me and my body and writing this comment. It is a loving discipline to be present.
The spin of expectation and drive are guaranteed to keep us from connection to ourselves and to our natural rhythm. This is such a beautiful reminder that when we allow ourselves to honour that rhythm we are confirming our connection to the all that is, and by appreciating and confirming that connection we allow it to deepen and expand.. In this is the space where we know ever more who we truly are and what we can bring to each moment.
It always surprises me when I slow my mind down and just be with what ever task is at hand how much space is created. How can slowing things down create more time and space? This is contradictory to everything we learn growing up, yet it is a proven fact in my life.
Absolutely Annie -drive, rush and constant motion – all of these sever our connection to ourselves and our inner knowing.
wow Michael, this is so great to read, and understand how we destroy ourselves with expectations and pressures of what we need to get done in our day – that is setting us up to fail, then the self-criticism then takes over, and we get lost in the cycle judgement and sense of failure. This spin is just designed to keep us away from the connection to ourselves, because when we have that connection, we bring the true quality of ourselves to all that we do, and what gets done is enough.
Oh those lists, I also have lists, post-it notes, several of them, and tasks on my calendar too. After reading your beautiful blog I will look at them as “might be done”-lists instead of feeling the pressure of “having to do”.
And ~ Thank you for the inspiration and reminder that: “all that I have to do is be me”.
The suggestion from your husband made me smile, Shirley-Ann. I love your comments, they are so real, straightforward, genuine and often with examples to relate to. Thank you.
Thank You Michael, for this blog, I find inspiration in what you write. It is beautiful to feel all of me in the moment and not in my head thinking about the day or week, past or future. Just being here present, allows me to connect to my soul.
What a blog. I also reduced my to-do lists and focuss more and more on what is next and build trust to this inner knowing. To be free of this push…rush…stress…this is really freing and inspiring to deepen my understanding to live this freedom everyday.
Your tenderness is felt through your words here Michael. The stillness that you were in when you greeted the day offers the impulse for movement – this feels most natural.
Michael this is so beautiful, I know when I allow myself to just do things as they come up, I can feel a natural flow, But when I go into the to do list everything I TRY TO DO feels disjointed.
I feel very similar right now to what you describe at the beginning of your piece, beginning my day feeling warm and yummy, and noticing how easy the ‘to do’ list can come in, it brings with it a little tightness to my body and anxiety about what is ahead. I’m noticing that discomfort more and more now and not letting it take over, just staying with the yummy feeling and building trust that I can deal with what ever is ahead of me very simply if I stay with me now…
“My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them: just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.” For me this has been the most amazing changes in my life, trusting myself and knowing I have all that I need to know within me, allowing that knowing to guide me through my day, allowing me to stay present and connected in each moment. I am no longer getting caught in the having to do or be, or what next project I need to be doing. I have been able to create a natural rhythm, that allows the trust and inner knowing to flow.
Awesome writing Michael, thank you
Your amazing blog came right in time Michael! You wrote: “I would override what I felt would be good to do in favour of what was next on my lists.” I know this very well as I am a person who has such a list in the mind too. Therefore your beautiful words helped to remind me not to follow this list as I usually do – wonderful.
I agree Esteraltmiks, and not just lists, but overriding what we feel when we are tired or overworked, because we think we need to be there for others, but that is illusion and it backfires as being abusive to ourselves is actually harming others. No-one can learn what love is if we destroy ourselves in martyrdom, what is needed is a true reflection of love and that begins with honouring what we are feeling at all times.
Annie I like what you have shared in your comment – “No-one can learn what love is if we destroy ourselves in martyrdom . . . ” Martyrdom was how to deal with life – that was something I had learned in my upbringing. I swear myself to never do the same thing but I was not aware how subtle this kind of being is. It is true – a true reflection of love was helping me to allow myself to begin with honoring what I was really feeling and that helped me to regard myself more and so my health got better and better.
I agree Annie; there is no room for martyrdom, as it does not serve anyone. In fact it is very destructive. The more we honour ourselves the more we reflect what love is.
“I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.” These words feel like you are in a dance with life Michael, dancing in a harmonious relationship with all. Connection with our stillness takes tension right out of the equation so we are left with knowing we are in the right place.
Also, living rhythmically, is about our movements and the quality of these movements. When we are in the conscious presence of each physical move we make, bringing a gentleness and surrender, it is easy to return to that which our body and being knows as true.
Michael, the still quality you feel in your beingness is palpable in your words as I read them bringing my own body in connection with the same stillness within. Isn’t it beautiful to feel how we can support each other by simply reconnecting with this natural quality in our body.
Again this morning I stopped and could feel deeply in my body as I read this beautiful line again. “What just dawned on me is that I am rhythmically living each moment – living instead of trying to master life”. If I could be as still as when I was reading this for an entire day – how amazing would that be. Work in progress cos I certainly know and appreciate what it feels like for those amazing moments I do. Thank you Michael.
Being reminded of the stillness, that is always inside me, no matter how much stress I allow in, is like a birthday gift. The stillness gives birth to me every day I choose so.
If I try to think about the ‘to do list’ in my head, I am instantly off balance, sending my body into what I call shock these days. It switches on the nervous system which speeds up everything…typical fight or flight response when there is no need at all for flight or fighting!
What you’re sharing here Michael is beautiful. I can feel the relief and ease in the way you are now. I’ve never had a list or a list in my head of things to do. But nevertheless was always in stress. There’s such a profound difference in truly being with me, my body and life around me. I still often tend to do life rather than being with it. As you’re beautifully describe as “rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life”. The only way to really enjoy life, be with life. My pattern of not being with life has been huge. For a while I tried to disengage from life – which was even worse… No aliveness at all. Now I’m back in living life and to the best of my ability be with it, observe it, rather than getting lost in it.
I can feel how much in the past I lived by lists and just how much momentum I was in always trying to get everything done. Quality would often go out of the window in the process as I lost my own rhythm. I don’t tend to use lists much now but I loved reading of your ‘might be done’ lists which sounds much more fun and I shall be trying this out.
Thank you Michael – I felt time open up for me as I read your blog. Beautiful!
A lovely blog Michael, and this is such a great reminder, ‘what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them: just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.’ Wonderful.
I know this very well Michael – following written or in my head imagined lists. But when I allow this and am driven by this energy I might ignore and overwrite what I am truly feeling in my body. More and more I can let go of this, allow myself and trust to follow what I am feeling to do. I then can enjoy what I am doing as there is no drive/push, no „I have to do this and do that“ but simply me being me and doing what needs to be done. For me it is a matter of trust: to trust in what I am feeling, to trust that what I am doing is what needs to be done in that moment.
Trust in ourselves is the foundation to totally rely on what we feel needs to be done. This trust can only grow from a deep love and appreciation for ourselves.
I notice that when I live from my inner knowing, I just express what there is to express. No thinking for others which is such a deep pattern but to just say what comes up, whether it is a text, email or saying something. The mind kicks in, like oh you can’t do this or say this, that is weird, that is not normal, what will he/she think of it. I more and more let that be and just follow my inner knowing. It creates a beautiful opening up with people ( :
Yes Mariette and it is such a joy and surprise to experience that saying what comes up and what our mind tries to stop us from saying, is what can disentangle the most complicated situations. Nothing has more power than truth and never are we more powerful than when we express our truth freely, without holding back and without any expectation at all – but full of love and understanding.
To express without any expectation at all, I love that Michael. Then the response that we get does not matter, as what we express is not ours so what comes back to us, there is no need to take it personal.
‘No thinking for others which is such a deep pattern but to just say what comes up,’ Great reminder Mariette to trust that whatever comes up is significant.
I love this blog and all it is sharing and is a continual inspiration to remember this wisdom in my everyday life. Simply letting go and allowing myself to feel and connect and all is so often revealed beautifully whatever that may be. Thank you Michael.
‘Simply letting go and allowing myself to feel and connect and all is so often revealed beautifully whatever that may be’ – indeed Tricia, it is that simple and in this simplicity lies immense beauty.
Beautifully said tricianicholson, I feel it is about being honest of the way we treat our bodies and giving ourselves permission to stop and let go of the motion in our bodies and simply connect to our bodies that reveal the love within us all.
” I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.” So beautiful Michael. When we live this way we are naturally masters in a true way. I keep coming back to this blog, my inner knowing seems to know that this knowing is something I need to know and remember today.
and the thing is that most people do not realize how much pressure they are putting on themselves… Let alone the pressure that is coming from all around as well. Stillness is essential to the well-being of humanity
The medicinal power of Stillness… One day it may well be a doctor’s prescription. “One dose of Stillness, once a day for 5 days”.
“Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed”. This brings a calmness to my body reading this. I can release my list and let go. I still fight a tension in my body if I know it supports me in my rhythm to complete certain things in the morning. The perfection thing gets me still sometimes. It comes back to valuing that support that is there.
Reading this and been captivated by what sounds like amazing surroundings – strikes me how I can put so much energy into making my external spaces look great but often this is at an expense to my body, so then what have I actually achieved if I am left exhausted and sore but it looks beautiful?
“Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed” Thank you so much Michael, for this reminder. I am inspired by the stillness and flow I can feel from you, and that supports me finding the flow in me too. It is a process for me to trust what is in me and that all will be cared for. I am slowly building the confidence in what I feel, as I feel more of me, and feel the loveliness I am and have for myself.
As I opened the door and looked outside this morning at the bright starry sky with the frozen frosty ground the stillness was palpable. Then returning to my laptop your blog came up Michael smiling as I read your words. “I am rhythmically living each moment – living instead of trying to master life”. All my to do lists for the day literally just melted away as I really appreciated natures finest. Now, to live that stillness throughout my day how amazing would that be.
Stillness is a mirror of life lived from nature’s rhythm’s. It gives us space and allows a deep connection to ourselves. Michael thank you for sharing your words as they are a beautiful reflection of stillness at work.
The more I listen to my inner knowing the more I am letting go of lists more and more. Once upon a time I would have a list of things to do in a weekend that it would take the strength of two men a week to do. That’s how unrealistic I was but it really gave me a reason to beat myself up for not getting it all completed. These days my self-loathing has lost its power over me as I have claimed myself as a woman and are far more loving with myself. For the most part I have been able to let go of my list of things to do instead feel into what I do and how I go about it far more. This is something I am very aware of and still working on but the difference I feel in my body when I actually listen and respect the messages it is sending me is amazing with my energy levels so much higher and everything just gets done without the struggle it was when I put the list before my connection with my body.
‘My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them’ This feels like being in harmony with oneself, where there is no push or drive but an allowing of something greater to unfold.
As the saying goes ‘Short & sweet’, i loved this Michael, you have made some very profound statements here that in fact can be life changing. A reminder for me, that the real support is as you state, ‘My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have..’ We can often believe that were supporting ourselves by getting things done, but if we leave ourselves out of the equation, meaning our connection within..then we are only seeking relief to get rid of the pressure to only find a perpetual cycle of pressure, do, pressure, do.
“Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed”. All is felt in your words Michael and a beautiful reminder of the simplicity and beauty of being ourselves.
It is such a pleasure to come back and read your blog again. Presence is an incredible and wonderful present to give yourself.
Such a beautiful expression, Michael: your words have a lovely sense of warmth and stillness. I love that you share, “…in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.” Gorgeous.
I just want to share that as I let go of using my mind for controlling my output I have at times found it quite scary as I don’t think and remember in the same way as before, this can feel a bit like ‘losing your mind’, we are so used to running from our head that to start to live from the body is although natural albeit quite disconcerting. I look forward to the day that I have embraced this in full and have a relationship with life that is unfolding and not one where I am trying to maintain control.
The simplest and sometimes really playful things bring me back to my body when I am ‘head-indulging’. A check in and ‘chat’ with the space behind my left knee cap for example. Once there, the dialogue with my body can start and the more I do this the more I establish this as my default, rather than being at the mercy of the endless wanderings of my head. I observe more and more that my body carries a wisdom my head can only wish for. Once my body is established as my ally and guide in any given moment, then my mind can be an integral part of the team.
I used to completely rely on my ‘to do list’ it was my rudder through the choppy waters and my gauge of my worth. Lots of ticks = a good day…
The only thing I consider worth having on my to do list these days is ‘be attentive and present in all that I do’ – the spaciousness and ease this offers is properly amazing.
I love that to do list: ‘be attentive and present in all that I do’ – basically making my focus to just be with myself can dissolve a lot of pressure of having to get things done.
An exquisite feeling of stillness and a deep and physically palpable rhythm come from your writing, thank you very much and please write more.
I agree Gabriele.
This is a beautiful blog Michael. Thank you for writing it.
Beautiful Michael, this is hugely healing to read again. Allowing myself to ‘live’ as opposed to ‘be mastering life’ has essentially the shift I have made recently too. Realising how ideals and beliefs of how I should be living or doing things have been governing my life, as opposed to the natural rhythm that is just there when I connect to it. It is beautiful to share in this process together, so thank you for sharing once again.
I love this article – it is one of those that makes me giggle with knowing as I recognise myself and be inspired by what is shared and the opportunity for change. Thank you
I love these moments when I see my own patterns portrait and have to start to giggle, as seeing the patterns portrayed in such a way shows so very clearly the absurdity in them – which simplifies letting them go immensely.
“What just dawned on me is that I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life”. I have found that there is way that I walk that allows me to feel the rhythm of my stillness. It’s not about just going for a walk to make this happen (that’s the trying to master life), it doesn’t work that way, but it is in every step I take, be it two steps or a ten minute walk, every step matters. With a conscious effort to be steady and to literally feel my body while I move, it naturally finds its own rhythm where I can be with and move with stillness. The momentum of a body takes time to find its own rhythmic pace and how we run the body determines if the stillness remains or fades away.
I love turning the ‘to do list’ into a ‘might be done’ list. I do choose a spherical way to be with and work on the things that need to be done, still I often allow a voice in my head to tell me that I have not done the things that needed to be done first. Time for even more surrendering to life and living from my stillness and knowingness.
What an amazingly beautiful blog Michael, thank you.
‘Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing’ …. I am really enjoying allowing myself the space to feel into what I’m impulsed to do, rather than having a long list and choosing the thing I want to do ‘most’ off the list – this is how I have operated for a very long time and there are always things on my list that I really don’t want to do, that I keep putting off, if that’s the case, what am I bringing to those tasks when I DO start them, if that is how I already feel about them before I even start. Letting go of the control, the structure, whilst scary, is indeed very beautiful, supportive, honouring and liberating.
“Still, something in me tries to suggest that I am wrong as I have not done what I had thought needed to be done this morning.” I have noted this is something in me as well on many occasions. When this feeling comes, I am becoming more aware of it and am now making the choice to check in and feel if there really something wrong – often there isn’t. Then it is about making the choice to let go of that feeling and enjoy the glory and beauty of feeling whole and complete.
Love it, Donna – checking in to see if there IS something wrong and there usually isn’t anything wrong….very exposing of the mind games I know I play at times – I’ll be giving that a go next time – thank you!
Reading your blog Michael I can see what I have been doing for some time and how to let go of the control and let life flow. I have been planning a short trip away and the focus has been on the organising of the Bus Trip or maybe Train? I have made it hard work, so now I realise that I need to let go and trust that I have made the right decisions, and if not I will deal with it in the moment. Thank you Michael.
Trusting in making the right decision is taking so much tension out of our lives. It is stunning to realize how much time we have spent with wavering between decisions before.
“I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.” Thank you Michael, beautiful words, I too am developing more trust in the fact that i do know, and when I do this my life has a flow and a joyful way of being.
Michael, I keep returning to this blog as I settle and drop into my body and feel stillness when I read it. With so many competing priorities that often comes with a feeling of failure of not getting them done. To stay with you and to feel what is needed next is a loving work in progress but one definately worth doing.
I have had clear examples of living purely from impulse, or feelings rather than following mental lists and this way was so amazing, I can barely put it into words. I got through a potentially very very difficult week because I chose to live all week from my ‘inner knowing’ and it was very profound. I would like this to be my normal 🙂
This sounds wonderful Suzanne, it feels very light and simple and yes, this could be our normal. It is just that our mind wants to take over and control things. What I notice is that when I don’t think about what I have to do but just feel what is needed in the moment, I get exactly done in the day what is needed.
Inspiring, Suzanne. And once you have lived a week like that we cannot pretend that it is not possible to extend it endlessly – as you say, making it our normal. Some of my ‘work’, therefore, is to bust through any thought patterns that say otherwise.
A timely piece of writing for me to read this morning, thank you Michael.
As soon as I start thinking about a to do list my heart rate speeds up, which is really telling of how easily I can slip into anxiety about getting things done, lists can be supportive, but what pressure am I choosing to inflict on myself. It makes more sense now that I have noticed this, by the time I have reached feeling overwhelmed I have missed a few key signals from my body.
I agree with you nicolesjardin, that lists can be supportive, but it’s all about how we use them. I like the “might get done” lists from Michael, they seem to inflict less pressure. Being aware of our body, like your example, is a good start to take stock of how much power the list has on us or if it is the other way around.
So true Nathalie, I get overwhelmed when it feels like I am trying to squeeze and squash things into my day. Rather than staying present with myself and then it feels as if the tasks come to me and there is plenty of time to get things done.
Living from our inner knowledge and impulse creates an existance of tranquility
This resonated with me – “I have developed so much more trust in me and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.” Yes, it is just that trust and allowing to live it accordance to this. Sometimes I am very easy with it, and sometimes I am still wanting to fulfil expectations that I have for myself to fit in the system. It is all in process so it can be looked at from every angle in my own rhythm, no time pressure allowed, it takes as long as it needs, who knows how many layers of miss-trust I have created in this life time only, and of course all the past lives.
It is very special to read about a person letting go of the pressures to achieve, and that being who you are is more than enough. And how this does not mean that nothing ever gets done, because you are too busy sitting around ‘just being’ but in fact this means that there is a proficiency to your activities, a not wasting time that comes along because everything you do is what is needed and never is it not – because it is you doing it.
‘knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.’ This message really resonated with me, and something I will take with me into my day. It so easy to have high expectations to get things done, and I love the ‘might get done list” as it takes away the attachment and it allows the body to be impulsed instead of the ‘doingness’.
‘what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them’ …. this is gorgeous, Michael …… feeling the flow of life, allowing the magic of life to constellate around you and being open to appreciating what is there for you in each and every moment … divine.
Michael, your blog is a joy to read and a great way to start the day as I am reminded that all I need to do is to be present to the best of my ability with the quality of gentleness present within us all.Thank you.
“I could not let go of my beloved lists instantly and so turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists – this took enormous pressure out of my life. These new lists now help me remember things that do need to be done, but I am not at their mercy anymore”. I love this Michael, there is always alot to do. So many times when I have gone to my list before what I felt to do, it actually becomes a self-destructive way of living. Nothing flows and now I have let something in from outside of me, and in the end nothing is achieved in essence. Very remarkable really. ‘Might be done’ list is super-supportive. Thank-you Michael for the reminder.
Connecting to the fact that we are enough as we are each day, and enjoying this, and sharing this joy naturally with those we meet.. now thats living.
Turning ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists is brilliant. I love it Michael. This made me laugh as it is so simple we just have to change the focus from control to feeling into things.
Exactly Kathleen, changing our focus this way gives us back our power and we will know how to live instead of constantly being at the mercy of the anxiousness we create and constantly feed, when we are heading for goals and ticking boxes instead of feeling what is really needed to be done.
Yes Michael and the most beautiful thing about approaching life in this way is we have so much more energy as we are not constantly draining and taxing ourselves with all that anxious thought. Anxiety plays havoc with our nervous system interrupting our natural rhythm and flow in life.
Kathleen I had not seen writing lists as controlling before, I had seen them as part of life and what is needed to be done but from your comment I can feel how much I use them to control what will happen which is lunacy as we have no control of what will be presented to us in any given day. Feeling into what is required makes so much more sense.
Well said, Kathleen – that slight change in wording does support the move from control to feeling – I’m in with that change.
Michael on re-reading your blog I’m feeling how by choosing to bring more love and self-care to your life you have removed a behaviour that was causing you stress and anxiety, keeping you from feeling your own glorious stillness and hence knowing absolutely that you can trust the flow from this space, that all will be known when needed. So for me I see the behaviours that keep me in anxiety and from the stillness. You inspire me to allow more self-care and tenderness and to make more supportive choices from that loving space.
I love this change from ‘to do lists’ to ‘might be done lists’. I do still get caught up in feeling the pressure of my own expectations of trying to get things done on time. There is a sense here when I do this of trying to go it alone without just surrendering to my inner knowing and my soul that already has it in hand.
Thanks Michael, a beautiful blog illustrating a rare thing to break the pattern of doing and learn to trust our innate sense of what is true in the moment. Your connection to stillness is very palpable and the completeness you feel in those moments very tangible. This is indeed a rare thing to stay with this stillness, regardless of a ‘to-do list’ that seems inevitable for most, whether mental or actual.
Michael, thank you for your wonderful reminder about living within a rhythm or cycle. As humans we think we have the capability to operate outside or above the ever pulsating universal cycle, which continues unabated and will stop for no human. I feel the world would be so much more harmonious if we all aligned to these cycles and lived in and through them not against them.
Thank you again Michael, beautiful writing.
‘As humans we think we have the capability to operate outside or above the ever pulsating universal cycle, which continues unabated and will stop for no human.’ ….Absolutely Matt Nolan, well said …. such arrogance, yet we allow ourselves to continue with the false notion that we know ‘best’ despite all the signs showing us otherwize …. such folly and at our own expense.
How often do we leave ourselves disconnected from that which we feel so innately within in order to get something done?
Indeed Adam, and short change ourselves of our gorgeous and amazing light all for that end result.
Adam that is a great question and makes me realise how often I disconnect to get things done. Holding that connection whilst doing is the key to maintaining that feeling of yumminess.
Far too easily, Adam. The task at hand can become more important than our connection to ourselves due to any number of justifications, “it’s my job, it’s who I am, it’s just the way it is done, etc. etc. etc.” But do we ever stop to ask the question behind those assumptions, “what is my purpose here? Who am I being, myself or a picture of who I think I am? How can I do this differently?”
I have done this and it feels like my head has taken charge and is reeling in front, dragging my body along, and now if this should happen at all, I chose to reconnect. Stillness supports all areas of my life, tasks are completed, productivity occurs and love is shared. To choose to ‘disconnect’ intentionally sabotages our place in the natural order of things, the pulling of my body from my driven head (mind) resists the natural flow. I can feel I am more in line with the natural flow of life and so all is more at ease, truthful and purposeful.
Michael I can relate 100% to what you have written here, and I know many many others would feel the same. I too am sitting here with a candle burning and have at several points almost been ‘overwhelmed’ with everything I need to do. Bringing it back to the simplicity of making sure my body is honoured in every moment has been fundamental, and something I am definitely working to deepen. The tasks will get done, and so often there are things that can be left or are not as ‘big’ as I have made them to be. So beautiful, thank you Michael for sharing.
Very true Amelia, once we stop and listen to our bodies, we can feel again what really needs to be attended to immediately and which task can wait a little longer. It is stunning how much time we just spend worrying about how to get everything done when we rely on our mind instead of relying on our body.
‘The tasks will get done, and so often there are things that can be left or are not as ‘big’ as I have made them to be’ …. making things seems ‘bigger’ than they are is a classic trick our minds can play on us, which in turn starts to build a feeling of overwhelm the longer we avoid doing them …. just another form of control. I’m also feeling that avoidance is also a form of control, as when I choose to put things off, it creates a tension in my body, which continues to build until I choose to complete the task at hand. So much simpler and deeply supportive to surrender to the wisdom of my body and to be impulsed from there.
Thank you Alison for deepening my awareness about avoiding tasks which can become so ‘big’ that it causes a feeling of overwhelm. I feel the same that it is another form of control, I have never looked at it like this but it definitely gives my body tension and it is something that is constantly in the back of my mind. It crushes my rhythms because I did not follow the impulses of my body but choose to control by saying not now, not now, not now and before I know it is as a burden on my shoulders.
There is something in this phrase about being me to the best of my ability that is very confirming – yes of course being me is absolutely the foundation for a true life. Yet also there is a challenge in the words, to the best of my ability. What are the ingredients? Awe, wonder, open mindedness combined with honesty, clarity and sensitivity? It feels also something important in being able to let go of old behaviours and habits and embrace constant change. And all these abilities naturally come from the simplicity of being in our inner hearts and this can be felt in Michael’s sharing. So from that place this wonderful meaty phrase comes: “… all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability…”. I feel the cheekiness yet love of it.
Divinely spoken Michael, a walk I can feel that supports all, the delicacy with which I can feel you hold yourself in is heavenly to connect to thank you, for your grace is deeply appreciated.
“Still, something in me tries to suggest that I am wrong as I have not done what I had thought needed to be done this morning. Yet I feel perfectly at ease and I know that everything is right just as it is.” I too am familiar with this inner battle of the dark force against the light. Connecting and listening to the body is my guide to the letting the light shine.
I can also really relate to this ‘un-ease’ in the body, that there are things I ‘should’ be doing, the more open I allow myself to be, I can now recognise it for the control that it is. My head is trying to control what I do, which is so limiting …. it keeps me in the ‘channel’ of the mind. The more I allow myself to breathe and come back to my body, I can feel myself again and enjoy the spaciousness and flow of life around me.
Michael, you have presented us with something so important and relevant to us all that no matter how intense or challenging life might present itself instead of relying on the “to do list” and feel overwhelm by what needs to be done what is required is simply our commitment to each moment, to connect to the stillness within ourselves and live that quality to the best of our ability and the more we live that the more flow to life there is and feeling of trust that everything is already there for us; we just need to get out of the way. Thank you
Well expressed Fransico Clara – commitment, connection, stillness, quality of action with presence and awareness is the true way to flow with life.
“the more we live that the more flow to life there is and feeling of trust that everything is already there for us; we just need to get out of the way”.
And with trust and surrendering we are able to feel what is really needed to be done next instead of just ticking boxes on our to do lists – that means: by having no to do lists, we are not only less stressed at work, but also much more efficient.
That commitment to ourselves in each moment will see us through much more than any list of completed tasks ever could.
Michael reading this has had a profound effect on me – ‘I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.’ By allowing the flow we actually develop the trust that allows us to let go of our controlling ways and trust even more deeply. That’s very relevant for more right now.
I’ll keep coming back to this blog Michael, it’s full to the brim if the stillness you’ve claimed. The rhythm of the universe speaks through every word on the page and inspires me to deepen my own rhythm, my own claiming of being me.
Yes I feel that way too Katerina, a gorgeous reminder of the stillness available when we choose to honour our deeper feelings, and not the outer demands and expectations to get things done.
I’m with you Katerina. It is an extraordinary blog ‘full to the brim of the stillness’ claimed by Michael. Truly inspirational in its quality.
I agree and as I read Michaels blog at the start of my day I am reminded to appreciate the stillness I can feel and the gradual start of world waking up. I love this time of the day.
Yes, it is wonderful to feel the stillness.
This is awesome Michael. “turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists ” this is a great insight for people who feel pressured and rushed to do everything. Knowing that what you are worth doesn’t come down to what you do would be a blessing. Being able to feel the stillness and ease inside.
Michael, you can really feel your surrender to your day and allowing your body to guide you in what needs to be done, and I love the idea of a might be done list instead of a to do list. I’m definitely taking that on board
I recognise that some of my anxiety comes from the age-old belief that I am not enough, that I must do more and that leads to a false drive, a constant push, whereas learning simply to be and focusing on the quality of my being shows what is truly important and then I know what to do next.
This is great Carmel. So often I too get caught in the ‘I’m not enough’ trap. That I have to do something more or something spectacular. But I am starting to understand more and more that all I have to do is be me in full in whatever I am doing.
The penny is just starting to drop with me Andrew but the shift from it not going anywhere to starting to drop is pretty huge! I look forward to what unfolds as it drops further.
Well said Carmen, commitment to focusing on the quality of our being paves the way of what is true and needed in each moment.
yes Carmel, in the connection with our body we naturally “know what to do next” instead of the mind getting in the way wanting to control something for an outcome or result.
We already know all that we need to know, this is the truth. Once we stop with our distractions of our choice, and begin to live simply, nourishing every area of our life including our heavenly body, this knowing or wisdom begins to express itself without pushing or trying, because it is who we are.
“This has been one of the most profound changes in my life. I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.” I couldn’t agree more Michael trusting that I know all there is to know has taken away a lot of the pressure and tension of trying to get things right and has allowed a flow and rhythm in my life that was missing before. When the tension does creep back in I am able to catch it much sooner and not let it take the hold it once had.
This blog is just one big breath of fresh air, I can feel my body surrender just by seeing a few key words; not trying, no pressure and no perfection… ahhh – now that’s a way to live, just being who we are to the best of our abilities and in harmony with the all we are part of.
and no expectations, that’s what me giving the pressure, the trying and the demand to be perfect.
The pressure, the striving and the demands we place on ourselves could be otherwise known as the perfection syndrome. This never feels good as the striving towards the impossible creates such a tension and stress in our bodies.
Yes Rachel ‘no pressure and no perfection… ahhh’ i know exactly what you mean. We’ve been living like this as the only way we’ve known, but as we bring in ‘us from within’ by connecting to our bodies, rather than ‘us’ governed by out there’ very different qualities of living – either stress or harmony!
Michael, this blog beautifully exposes a seemingly ‘harmless’ approach to life that many wouldn’t bat an eye lid at – having lists, getting them done and thinking ahead. Yet as you’ve felt and in my experience too, this way of living day to day with need to tick boxes just crushes our natural sense of rhythm and flow. Leave it up to the body and get the head out of the way I say – and our rhythms absolutely support that; bed times, foods, rituals etc.
I agree Rachael – thinking and being stuck in head brings mastery of ticking boxes and striving for perfection and this ‘crushes our natural sense of rhythm and flow’ that comes from being present with the body.
“Leave it up to the body and get the head out of the way I say – and our rhythms absolutely support that; bed times, foods, rituals etc”.
This is so true Rachael. Being at the mercy of a list does indeed interrupt our true and natural rhythm and flow. I love how Michael had made his lists into ‘might be done’ lists, and by doing so has allowed him to feel what needs to be done from his body rather than doing what is being dicated by the lists. “These new lists now help me remember things that do need to be done, but I am not at their mercy anymore.” This is as it should be.
I am very much only learning this and loved reading this blog for the inspiration of what is possible.
What a beautiful way to express the understanding you now have Rachael – “this way of living day to day with need to tick boxes just crushes our natural sense of rhythm and flow.” It might make no sense on the face of it but as soon as we connect to the natural flow in our bodies, it’s then possible to feel how this is interrupted when we impose a ‘must be done’ label to things.
Absolutely Lucy, when we impose a must do label with things, we have switched off our natural rhythm and gone into autopilot where there is no rhythm or love.
It was lovely to read this Michael, and feel the warmth and stillness oozing from you, as what comes across very clearly is just how content you are ‘being’ you. And lovely reminder to start my day just being me….
That is so true jacqmcfadden04 Michaels words are warm and full of a stillness and they are a wonderful and joyful reminder for me too.
“My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, and by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them..” – I agree Michael, the knowing that comes from my body of what is needed next, always feels in tune with everything rather than trying to force a certain picture of how I think things should be going. I’m learning more and more to connect with and live from this knowing..
I already know everything I need to know because when we are present and with ourselves, it is our connection with ourselves that gives us all the knowing.
So simple and true Mariette! Being still, acknowledging our presence, feeling our heart and our body, then taking a breath… it’s all we need to do to feel how intelligent we are. We have already chosen our mighty intelligence before this anyway as it is connecting with this that gives us our presence.
I remember Serge Benhayon saying you are already enough and so you do not have to be anything, but there is so much to be done. I understood what he was saying even though it may have been perceived as a contradiction. He is saying we are already enough just as we are so we do not need to go out and do and be anything but ourselves, yet there is so much that needs to be done. As you say, it is about doing things rhythmically and not from a doing.
Great blog and something many can relate to. The things to do list is a trap that is endless and relentless and something that can attribute to exhaustion and feelings of failure and inadequacy. I changed my ‘to do list’ name to ‘my incrementals list’. A friend and I made small goals and incrementally chipped away at them over time and didn’t put pressure on ourselves to finish them by any point. The idea was to make progress when we felt to work on something but have this set at a realistic time. This motivated many projects and saw to the completion of things that had not been done in years. It was a great feeling to accomplish those tasks but in a fun and progressive way that placed no pressure on us. We were originally trying to do them all at once and getting nothing done at all. Removing the pressure of all that needs to be done by a certain time can be very supportive to one’s life and doesn’t set you up for feeling like you are forever a slave to your things to do list.
Being able to enjoy our own presence feels amazing – and it’s so easily found when we take the pressure off ourselves and accept we are already a master of everything.
“Being able to enjoy our own presence feels amazing – and it’s so easily found when we take the pressure off ourselves and accept we are already a master of everything.” Absolutely when we let go of the pressure and accept we are already masters we no longer get caught in the doing , we can enjoy the being and our own presence.
Yeah absolutely – the pressure of trying to be perfect, or show the world a picture that is perfect and that nothing is ever wrong is exhausting, it’s so much simpler and easier to just be honest and accept we are already masters, and we just have a little to relearn!
What a profound blog. You write about an essential ‘turn-around’ approach to life. Instead of running behind life with endless to-do lists and trying to catch up with it, you present another way. The one of being and flowing with life within a rhythm that supports our body. And within that rhythm things get done in its own time. Great reminder for me, as I just woke up. My to-do list becomes a ‘might be doing this today’ list 🙂
Well said Caroline for if we don’t get todays to do list done we can sometimes feel like a failure at the end of the day so much so and the next day may even feel it will already be burdened. Something I have just realised though is that when I create my to do lists I don’t actually have an awareness of how much time it will take to do a task – so more often than not my list is overloaded of things to do. How can I possibly think this not put me into immediate overwhelm?
Marika I too have developed a much healthier relationship with my to do list. It is a reminder of the tasks that need to be attended to but the timing unfolds with its own rhythm and flow. I relax when I write things on my list as I know it is accounted for, and will be done. Keeping things in my head is very stressful and will surely invade my sleep time.
I can really relate to this Michael, ‘I would override what I felt would be good to do in favour of what was next on my lists.’ I have been noticing that recently I have felt to go for a walk or sit and have a cup of tea, but I override these feelings because i have a list of jobs to do and so I have noticed that my list has been taking priority over my self care and nurturing and i can feel how I am then pushing my body to complete the things on my list and because the list is never ending it is easy not to take moments in my day to stop and rest, so my learning is to go with what I feel and take moments to care for, support and nurture myself in the day.
A great insight here rebeccawingrave – exposing how easy it is to let the pressure of ‘to do lists’ override conscious presence and feel what our body is calling for moment by moment.
“my list has been taking priority over my self care and nurturing and I can feel how I am then pushing my body to complete the things on my list and because the list is never ending it is easy not to take moments in my day to stop and rest, so my learning is to go with what I feel and take moments to care for, support and nurture myself in the day”.
I agree Rebecca, the to do list is never ending, so how important that we keep conscious presence and take moments to stop and honour our bodies.
‘…and so turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists – this took enormous pressure out of my life.’ Awesome, thank you Michael. I also have lists both at work and at home but always have the feeling that I will never clear my lists as hard as I might try. Reading your words I could instantly feel the pressure of expectation I have been putting myself under in this way and the release of this in having ‘might be done’ lists instead rather than carrying the burden of a long list of tasks which I cannot see how to complete in their entirety. This blog also inspires me to let go further and connect more deeply to feeling the communication from my body as to what is required in any given moment. Thank you.
‘I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again’ … it comes back to trust in ourselves, in our bodies and giving ourselves permission to be and to ‘let things be’. Whilst we are governed by our lists, we are asserting our control, which, in turn, disrupts the natural flow of life. I feel it’s ok to use aids to remind me of things, as long as I’m not governed by them, which I’m not as I tend to loose them and never look at them again!
I agree, Michael. That (often self-imposed) pressure to get things done is one that can be crippling for our self-worth. It sets us up for instant failure because we are faced with a never-ending stream of things that must be done. There will always be work that needs doing. We are fed a fantasy of retirement or becoming instantly rich so we never have to do anything we don’t want to again, but even then there is still work to be done. If we can build a relationship with this fact of life, we will live much easier.
Good point Naren we are sold fantasies, I remember a long time ago my boyfriend at the time said he lives his life so if he won lotto it would just make what he is doing easier it wouldn’t change his life. I remember thinking this was a very good way to go about life to live it as you would if you had won lottery not for a holiday but to do what you have a calling for. Retirement is now becoming further away for most, our body may need to be honoured but the evolution is still to serve and work.
That is an awesome way to look at life, Vanessa. I’m going to take that one with me to the world.
I like this very much Naren and Vanessa. Living this way we are not looking to the world to give us anything. This takes expectation out of the equation which leads on to disappointment being taken out of the equation and so on. Seems to me this is the recipe for a joyful and fulfilling life.
Yes, there is a huge list of expectations and social constructs that lead us to believe that life owes us something just for being. This can lead to people taking what is not theirs, or working like crazy to earn what they think they therefore deserve through that work, or becoming despondent if they are not given what they think they deserve. We are here to be love, as best we possibly can. It has been said by all of our great teachers through out our history, and continues to be said today. “Be love” is a very simple equation to life.
So very true Naren. All pressure for me has been self-imposed because I would do my utmost to live up to expectations, and the demands of what I perceived from life were just what I had created. I can see now how I had been allowing those demands and expectations of others to dominate me purely because I ‘needed’ to not let people down or feel I’ve failed anyone. How draining is that! The beauty of reading Michaels words for me is feeling the stillness and simplicity behind them, reminding me of the energy that is always there waiting when I come out of my head and drop the need to conform and control.
Yes Naren, the fantasy of becoming rich feeds from many hurts and fears, from the desire to shield ourselves from the hurt and bullying and domination of other people, and the wish to withdraw and shut out the world as a false illusion of protection, to indulge our lack of commitment – is to deny our connection to every single person on this earth. If we understood that this intention would only reinforce and more deeply bury the underlying hurts as well as reinforcing the same miserable existence onto the world’s suffering, we would realise that this is not the answer. If we chose instead to truly understand what is hurting, and see the truth of it, then retirement would be out of the equation and work would become a joy and the unreserved commitment to mankind for the rest of our life as we work to reconnect to the truth of the all and of who we truly are.
I feel that when I put pressures on myself to get things done or to achieve something it creates a stress in my body that inhibits the natural flow living. When I’m living from my essence there is a deep knowing in my body where there is simplicity and stillness in all that is done.
Beautifully said, Christopher. The pressure we put ourselves under to get things done can only come from one place: our mind. And to do so we must disconnect from our body’s never ending communication, override what it is saying and impose that pressure on it. Thus, the flow that is there to be felt through our body, can no longer be felt, and is instead replaced with that familiar feeling of stress.
But as you have said, in choosing to live from your essence, you are choosing to allow that pulse, that flow that comes from within to guide you to the next point of living, and then to the next and the next….
A big ditto from me Michael(s)! I love the feeling of a ‘might be done’ list. I too need to write lists for work and home just to help me remember, but the curse of the ‘to do’ list is insidious and gradually seeps it’s poison into all areas of my life.
It is a poison like you say Lucy, I find that in the mornings I can be all cozy in my bed, but the moment I open my eyes the to do list kicks in. But choosing to go into this autopilot mode of to do list is no different to choosing how or what I eat. I may not be putting a ‘to do’ list in my mouth but the way I live builds up to that moment of waking up and the list coming in. Reading this blog again highlights how ugly yet tempting and hooking those lists can be. The ‘might be done’ list feels much more loving and without the pressure of the to do list. Just as I can eat things to not feel the choices made, to avoid feeling the to-do list is no different.
Absolutely Leigh. What you say here is so important – we have a choice about everything, so whether it’s the thoughts we wake up to or the food we put in our mouths, none of it is beyond our control. We are completely responsible for all of it.
Me too Lucy, the ‘might be done list’ is like an offering or reminder rather than the tyranny of an external point of judgement of your worth should you fail to achieve the impossible ‘to do’ list.
Awesome comment Annie. Thank you.
Michael, I agree with what you have written entirely and can feel the pressure of expectation I put on myself to get everything done in a day and when I don’t it becomes an instant failure which would mean I am failing on a daily basis to get things done which feels like a form of self abuse. On a subtle level I am constantly telling myself that I am not good enough and I have ‘failed’ again. Today I am going to see what happens if I feel more deeply what is required rather than simply responding to whatever comes my way.
So true Michael “This blog also inspires me to let go further and connect more deeply to feeling the communication from my body as to what is required in any given moment.”
Life becomes simpler and more solid without being constantly whisked away by pressures and demands of life. Our bodies become like anchors!
Beautiful Karoline, and Michael, thank you for the reminder that it truly is simple, and it takes away the complexity and contradictory messages life is incessantly throwing at us. Honour more deeply the guidance our body brings and more can be communicated to us, this opens the door to deeper wisdom and insight, and the rock-like foundation our body can support us with will serve to anchor us ever more firmly in the truth of who we are, and to stand firm in the face of the onslaught of the attack towards us with all that we are not.
It is not about doing less. It is about doing what you do honouring your body and your being and not leaving you behind in the name of what has to be done.
“My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have”. This exactly like this. Having a body register of how everything moves when you are in stillness and the extent to which this nurtures you deeply opens the door to make it your every day normal. Without it, we know no different.
That is true Eduardo without it we know no different. I currently am working with classes and getting them to experiment with how they move their chairs, in gentleness or not, before no-one had said you are gentle you can move gently. They just were rough and loud this impacts every next movement.
Absolutely Eduardo ‘Without it, we know no different.’ With it, our whole life changes’
Great point Eduardo, without it , we know no different indeed.
Totally agree Eduardo, without it we have lost our true guide and are then at the mercy of so many energies that are merciless in their intent to control and dominate. So it makes no sense to have given away our compass, our very own GPS system that unceasingly guides us back to our true self the moment we choose to tune in.
In a sense you’ve given us the key to life Michael, knowing it’s in the stillness we can find the truth to life. It comes through in your writing – thank you for sharing.
Yes Matts – Stillness = knowing = surrender = to the depth within us = all knowing
That is true Matts I could feel the stillness as well and this was what had inspired me and gave me a deeper understanding of how powerful stillness really is.
I’d say that it’s when we get the particles in our body still enough, by our own choice, that we can get access to all the wisdom we are searching for. Could that be the answer to how in the past they were able to achieve feats that with our modern technology cannot get close to? Sure can, and is!
Listening to our body far out weighs our head.
I reckon
For shizzle.
for shizzle? Gonna look that up ahhhh for sure got it, I concur !
Shizzle is what happens when we follow our head instead of our body. We end up in a shizzle.
Totally, in fact if we make our body our whole mind, maybe we’d think differently.
” that everything is right just as it is. ” how often do we fight or resist what is happening around us thinking it needs to be another way, when everything we are being offered in every moment is to support us to return to God’s divine grace.
I know what you mean Gyl, it is so easy to fight what is being offered and presented to us rather than use it as an opportunity to learn and evolve from. We are not designed to be perfect so there is no point in trying to paint or keep the perfect picture!
So true Gyl and James. And those things that are seemingly imperfect are what makes us unique and often are part of unique qualities that we all have.
Indeed they are Michael and rather than shying away from them we should celebrate them as together we make the jigsaw complete.
That’s right James and Gyl, we all too often resist or deflect the gift of learning that is being offered to us, and yet accepting and embracing what is there to be felt and realised will deepen our understanding and allow us to let go of that which imprisons us – then we can step forward with even greater freedom.
Well said Annie, ‘we can step forward with even greater freedom’. We just have to embrace and understand that everything presented to us is an opportunity to learn, grow and evolve from. The more we do this the less reactive we are to life and the clearer things become.
And so less energy to surrender and work with what is actually going on than to fight it. I am working on a big project at the moment and keep feeling the ‘pressure’ of all the things that need to be done and keep forgetting that i just need to be me and trust that I know what needs to be done next and it is exactly right where it is.
I know the feeling Sarah, I can spend ages worrying about things and what needs to be done and then I just get stressed or I can just focus on what I am doing and suddenly it all seems to be done without all the stress and anxiousness. It is amazing the difference and also what can be done when we just get on and do it!
I agree James and Sarah, the mastery in life comes with learning to stand ever more firmly and solidly in the present moment holding our own true quality no matter what situation arises before us, and unswayed however by the intensity that the situation brings. This of course is without perfection as this world is not set up for perfection – In fact the mastery is really how quickly we can return to ourselves and our connection, and this freedom to be able to return comes from the foundation we can choose to build for ourselves in every moment.
Knowing their is no perfection in life is important as I know for me I can and have been my own worst critic. The more I see what is shown to me as an opportunity to learn from the more understanding I have for life and more accepting I am of myself.
Sarah you are spot on when you say it all boils down to trusting our own judgement and claiming the strength this brings.
I agree James, sometimes I strive for perfection when all that is needed is realness and honesty.
Me too Christopher. The more I allow myself to let go of any pictures or ideals I have about the way things should be or look like the more real and honest I have become.
Well said Gyl, that has been a challenge for me, to stop trying to control and make things be how I ‘believe’ they need to be’ rather than surrendering to the ‘…everything is right just as it is’. It does not mean to take a seat back and be irresponsible, it means living connected to me, to life and responsibly bringing my part to life, not trying to control life.
I can relate Karoline. I lived with a dear friend once who supported me in letting go of so much control I had with how I thought the house needed to be. The more I was loving with her and allowed her to express how she felt to be around the house the more I felt my control dissolving out of my system.
I agree Karoline, learning to let go of control brings to light the extent that we do actually try to control so much, so that life doesn’t trigger our hurts, but this only generates more anxiousness, frustration and nervous energy. Giving up the striving to control, while understanding equally the responsibility we each hold to bring all of ourselves to each moment to deliver what is needed, brings a tremendous freedom and joy as we can let go of the pictures and judgement and manipulation of ourselves and others. It brings life back to the simplicity and allows us to surrender more deeply and to be open to everyone to each moment and what it brings.
It is an ever evolving topic for me the learning to let go of control and identifying where it still plays a role in my daily living.
Beautiful Gyl, resisting by dismissing or reacting to what is presented sets up a block to the opening of awareness and understanding and evolution we are being offered. Embracing fully every moment as it is presented ‘when everything we are being offered in every moment is to support us to return to God’s divine grace’ will unfold the wisdom and grace that we have been offered, and in this appreciation we confirm ever more deeply the truth of who are and that we are returning to.
This has been huge for me, learning to accept and observe what is occurring and not resist it, but instead learning from it has altered my life deeply. Approaching it in this way has turned everything around.
“Living From My Inner Knowing” – the title makes me smile because my whole body knows this is the only way to truly live. It makes life so simple, with so much joy and ease.
Think I’ll give your list exercise a go Michael. Would do me good!
Michael, I love your change of the ‘to do’ lists to the ‘might be done lists’. I too have been allowing myself to be pressured by the never-ending lists. So I am going to aim at making the change you have made straight away. I love the analogy with the snail that you wrote about in another blog recently, and know my purpose is to be like the snail gliding through the meadow not being driven by what is on a dreaded list!
wow I am so going to practice this as my habit of going into overwhelm isn’t healthy.
‘ I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.’ This is so beautiful and expansive.
It is refreshing and confirming what you’ve expressed here. My body feels completely at home i.e. no tension, in living that way. I could read this article again and again. Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely beautiful Michael; thank you for the gentle reminder to be present in every moment, a very poignant lesson for me at this point in time. To be present to feel the inner wisdom that is always there in every moment.
Reading your blog, I could feel how much distraction we create in order to be out of order. Becoming present we can feel how there is an order to all we do and no need to try and control and create order as this will only create disorder in our being.
I agree kimweston2, Michael’s blog is full of space and simplicity; qualities we can live with when we’re in union with our bodies, if our heads and the constructs of perfection and striving and in connection to our inner knowing — that is, the universe. Then life unfolds with grace.
Ha, beautiful sharing Michael. The lists that support me not to forget what needs to be done but which do not put pressure on me to fulfill them at any cost.
Michael, your blog spoke to me loud and clear. This is something I have come up in my life daily, and moving away from the ‘to do’ list is extremely challenging for me. Reading your blog gave me a moment to feel the ease with which I could choose to move if I allowed and trusted the flow of life and my body.
Just trust – trust in the flow of life and my body – I am still working on trusting and letting go of ‘the push’, and ‘the trying’. When all I have to do is just trust myself!
It does sound so simple when reading all we need to do is trust, one can feel how far we have gone from our true loving way when a simple act of trusting our bodies has become so complicated.
I found this blog left me wondering about ‘timing’. We all have things that have to occur within certain time periods but how often and how much do we assume that things have to be done in the timing and order we would like rather than in a natural flow and universal order?
Michael this is a very timely blog to read and when we let go of the ‘to do’ or ‘should do’ lists and as you so beautiful said be you and allow what needs to be done to come to you in your rhythm then there is space to breath and be you in the process. Ahhhh so much of the shoulders falls away.
“just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind” – this would transform our lives to listen to our bodies in each moment.
“My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have”. So often we look to the outside for answers yet there is a deep knowing inside of us and sometimes we just need confirmation of this.
It is amazing to develop a trust and marker of how connecting to our inner we are then given incredible support.
Yes, Annie, there is such a deep surrender in allowing the answers to come from inside us, rather than thinking that we have to follow what the outside dictates.
“living, instead of trying to master life” – this for me, Michael, is one of the simple things I remember from the first presentation with Serge Benhayon, that I attended. He may have used different words, but I remember feeling the gift of connecting to the fact, that I am a master of life already. I don’t have to proof anything, don’t have to reach a goal. There are lots of things to do – in time – but not to become something that I am not already.
Thanks for this sharing Felix, I love it. It brought to mind how we spend so much time being what we are not because we already are.
Turning ‘the to do lists’ into ‘might be done lists’ This feels like a great piece of advice, for I can see how this takes the pressure off, thinking we have failed in some way when we don’t achieve what’s written on the list. A much more honouring way of being with oneself by doing what we feel to do at the time and not be ruled by the ‘have’ to do list.
“I would never meet my expectations.” This is a very simple truth and when truly appreciated and accepted supports breaking a cycle of trying. Trying has me doing things for many reasons but none of them because I’m truly connecting and appreciating who I am in gentle and loving ways.
Trying to get things done when we are not meant to is not supportive to what the body needs in that moment. It is great to feel into what is needed at the right time. Then the quality of what one is doing is amazing and not done in a momentum that harms the body.
Thank you Michael for sharing your old and new way. I have also felt doing my tasks from my mind in order of my list is functional but limiting even tiring. The freedom to live by what feels right at the time I seem to have the energy that I need and am more productive. You have described the power of stillness.
I’ve had the same experience Bernard, if I’m working against my natural rhythm I get exhausted as opposed to working by an impulse that allows me to feel energised.
Michael – I love how you went from ‘to do lists’ to ‘might be done lists’ – that is fabulous. Recently I have not felt to write any to do lists in the mornings, and I have been honouring this and just completing what is needed at the time, which has allowed me to get done everything that I needed to do anyway. And your blog is very confirming that we can allow ourselves to simply be in the moment, and trust that what will happen will happen. I am loving just reflecting at the end of the week and realising that there isn’t a need for a strict list, by simply allowing the flow of things and space, it makes life a rhythm not a check list.
Living in the past or the future, can be so very draining. ” flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them” feels like a much more supportive way to be.
Liberating Michael – a great example on how we are the creator of our own issues.
Michael, the fact that you wrote this blog in the knowing that you are enough has just provided me upon reading it with a true blessing, because you knowing that you are enough actually inspires that same feeling in me to know that I am enough. It just shows the power of what we reflect to one another.
Yes Elizabeth, it is our reflections that truly support one another….
This is such a deeply beautiful reminder Michael that when we choose to surrender to the truth of all that we are and trust this knowing with all that we do, we naturally bring this quality of our connection, our presence throughout our day with which we then live with true purpose.
Reading this blog, the natural rhythm of humanity and the imposed expectations and stresses of life exposed. You are living your natural way – something we all are to find our way back too. Thanks Michael.
Such a beautiful way to live Michael, and when we do, space and time expand because there is no pressure, and then it is amazing how much we actually “get done” because we stay in that present moment and do not look forward to any achievement, and have much more energy. The focus on the present means we do not waste time by getting distracted by things that do not support us to live in this loving way.
To let go of the dominance of the head and act on what we are feeling instead takes an enormous amount of trust and surrendering.
I agree Carolien, when I have surrendered to whatever I am dealing with in that moment, it becomes easier to trust that all the support is there, because it is in the surrendering that grace can enter.
Michael thank you for your sharing, I am sure I am not alone in recognising the feeling of overriding what I can feel from within to go with what my head is telling me. There is a very natural rhythm and flow to things and what I have found is when I honour this and adhere to it I do not only have no pressure but things are getting done so much easier and often faster.
“I am not at their mercy anymore.” Referring to lists and so much more – a force in life that seeks to engage us in not being enough. A whole way of life, in truth that states to us from a very early age, you are only worthy of this life if you stay in the motion of doing and achieving. What you offer Michael in your words is the essence of harmony and joy that life can become when we truly understand how to let go of the ideals and beliefs seeded in us and become one with a rhythm and flow that has no investment in a way of life that is causing so much devastation in the world.
” I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of mastering life.” I have found my rhythm is the foundation for my livingness, it puts in place the intention and purpose of my day.
I love the simplicity of your approach Michael from changing the ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists, and feeling how freeing and liberating that is.
I love this too Peter, it’s something I feel would make a great change for me on how I view my list.
I don’t really have lists that I write – but there is a fierce internal dialogue that seems overrun with ideas of what needs to be done. So even just changing the way I think about the to-do’s and introducing the fact that they may not get done feels not only relieving but also allows space for other tasks or projects and ideas to come through.
Michael I have woken up particularly early this morning to consistent rain, I was appreciating the sound on the roof and a feeling of the stillness and order of all things when I was impulsed to opened my IPad to come across your writing. I feel even in that I have been responding ” to rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of mastering life ” as my head is telling me I should be still asleeping. But there is no right or wrong just what I feel impulsed to do ” knowing everything is right just as it is.” Magical!
‘Might get done lists’ also allow space for ‘let´s see what else is going to happen today surprises’.
I love those ‘let´s see what else is going to happen today surprises’. Living free of the expectation of how a day or how our life should turn out creates an openness for all that might happen. Without the blinkers of ideals and beliefs how everything ought to be, we will be open to see all the gems and beauty that we encounter along our way.
And also allow ourselves to bring ourselves in full to life, not prepared or premeditated but ready for what and whom ever to be met.
Your words reminded me that I have been a little too much of a ‘let´s see what else is going to happen today surprises’ kind a girl. But although I can take my time I still worry about being late or disappointing someone. I find that since I have been more present I can make more conscious choices how long I have for a certain activity, visit or task and feel whether I really need to stay longer or that perhaps staying is comfort/self sabotage. It feels that going about it this way is more respectful to both me and the one I keep waiting. It is still a challenge but I am allowing myself the time to ‘get it right’.
Interesting that two so seemingly opposite behaviours like striving for achievement or perfection and being laissez faire or ‘let´s see…’ both hinder us to be who we are and take full responsibility.
Love it : ‘might be done’ lists !
It makes me smile instead of feeling overwhelmed.
“…and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” fits perfectly to such list. Life doesn´t need to be hard and we don´t need to be tough to be at our best, and anyway we are only at our best when all of us is considered equally.
Flowing in your day instead of trying to catch up with your day, I love that. Before we know it, we are constantly trying to catch up but then, what is there to catch up on, when we just chose to be in this present moment?
Your lovely blog is a great reminder to me at times when watching my diet and keeping my rhythm is becoming just another thing on my list. Not giving into comfort feels like swimming upstream sometimes, but truly listening to my body has many benefits for me. The most important ones being mental stability and an increased sense of self worth.
Michael, I loved your new title for the ‘to do’ list is ‘might be done’ – I can feel the difference this would make in allowing for the flow of following what feels right in the body to do next instead of slavishly ticking a box in the drive of getting things done.
Beautiful Michael. While reading your blog the feeling of you enjoying you was just gorgeous and an inspiration to always enjoy being with ourselves, just for who we are.
My favourite catch phrase is “one by one, it gets done.” And it does.
I have found that when I do things when it feels right, it is always the perfect time, because I am focused, not stressed. I love the idea of a ‘Might Do’ list of simple reminders that don’t have a deadline. Feeling what and when to do anything is great, but I also have to take care that what I’m feeling is true – for example, masking exhaustion with eating fruit and other sugary foods late in the day allows me to stay up later, because I don’t feel tired, but I get less done the next day after sleeping in later, so it’s a short term gain. So going to bed at 9pm is not a ‘must do’ rule but it sure makes a difference when I don’t.
As my own list goes off the page this was a fantastic time for me to read this blog, thank you Michael. I love how you changed it from a ‘to do list’ to ‘might be done lists’ this feels so much more loving and less pressured.
Feeling what we need to do rather than ‘do-ing’ from what the mind tells us is a habit I’m currently working with. When I listen to my body it really does know best. I overruled my feeling big-time this week, but what a learning I’ve had!
“Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to find and walk this way back to my stillness again” I love your honouring sign-off to Serge Benhayon, it allowed me to really feel that the rhythmic way of being (that you shared about in the blog), is our way back to living stillness in our day.
Michael, this is exquisite. Written in stillness and deep appreciation it inspires the same loving dedication to let go of the endless ways we can bash ourselves. With a pre-disposition of constantly thinking of the next thing I need to organise and do, I am very inspired. Thank you
Love that: “Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” Because, ‘being me’ means to feel the connection to God and all my brothers around me which lets me naturally feel what is needed next from me (my talents) to bring a step up for all of us. The beauty of brotherhood and love.
This is gorgeous Michael and as I read, I feel you, all of you in your stillness and that is all that is asked of us. Lists can take over. Yesterday, by letting my body lead, I completed something, not on the list, and did so with ease and enjoyment. Everything needed to complete the task flowed, one thing led seamlessly to the next. Beautiful.
Kehinde this is something I am learning too, to simply complete one task and allow it to lead to the next. In the past I would sometimes have so many ‘post it’s’ and ‘to do lists’, that I would have to write another ‘post it’ to remind myself to look at the ‘post it’s’…. How crazy is that.
Yes Eva, it’s easy to over complicate. There’s simplicity in completing one task at a time and feeling what is next, rather than try to pre-determine it.
“just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.” Today it seems to me that many people are living from the outside in; married to their phones, consumed by a constant stream of news & chat. What Michael is showing us is that living from the inside out brings a purity and soundness to our lives that surpasses all else.
Sitting with my self in the gloriousness of the moment feels so beautiful and it is so lovely to share this and all you write with us Michael thank you. By “just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.”is a gift also as is your sharing of the changes you have made ” I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.” I too am finding that with this realisation and the allowing of it, it brings the commitment and true purpose to our lives and the fullness with this in everything.
It feels so inspiring Michael to feel that what you speak about is truly the way you live. I too am in the process of unhooking myself from the lists knowing that I am enough, and that all I need to do will be done in time and in the grace of God. This is still a work in progress – but the moments when I let go are truly heavenly.
“Yet I feel perfectly at ease and I know that everything is right just as it is. What just dawned on me is that I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.” Living instead of trying to master life, I could so relate to this Michael, there is much in this sentence to ponder on. Throughout our lives we are praised for mastering life for getting it right and succeeding when in truth it is the complete opposite, we learn to live by the rhythm of each moment and life takes care it’s self.
I can so relate Michael, I used to love lists, they were like my life-line that structured my day. Today I hardly ever use lists, the only list I can think of is a shopping list and even that one is mostly not needed.
I find the more I let go to my body and surrender to the process you describe of feeling what is needed next, I also trust that my body will remember what is needed at exactly the time that it is needed.
However I do use i-calendar where I write down appointments and also tasks. What I love about that is that I can push items around and re-structure my week, everything is color coded, that way nothing gets lost but I have an overview of what am I postponing, how much time is spend for work, for projects, for self-love, etc. It gives me a good reflection of where I am at and how balanced my life is, but in a more spherical way.
This feels like a very loving approach to life, Judith.
Michael I love the shift in how you are approaching the practicality of what needs to be done, allowing yourself to feel what needs to be done next whilst taking responsibility for those things that have to be done at certain points within a rhythm that you know supports you. As someone who also has many lists its a great reminder to feel what to approach next.
Yes I agree David great point. ‘Responsibility’ is the key word here. As we are responsible for how we are and the quality we bring to all we do, as whatever we choose has effects on the all.
Beautifully said David – we all have to do things, that’s not going to change. But the way we do what is needed can change and come from a place far grander then the confines of our mind and mental capacity. I look forward to listening and being guided by my body more and more.
Thank you, Michael, your ‘might get done list’ certainly takes the pressure off, without negating what it is important to take care of. I will explore this in my day today and honour the inner sense of knowing what the next thing is that is needed.
“Just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind”, this is how I have been with myself for the last few months and it has supported me so much. Before, I used to get caught up in having a list I had to complete before I stepped out of bed, I was exhausted thinking about it before I started my day. Now I trust that my day is complete without that pressure of completing things to do. What I get done is what is needed for that day.
Oh those ‘to do’ lists! Obviously it’s important for things to get done…but we can choose how we respond to the list of things to do. Ultimately we need to make ourselves more important than the list, so we don’t get overwhelmed or allow ourselves to be controlled by it.
Beautiful and inspiring to read you blog Michael : “Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” This is a beautiful reminder for the day ahead!
Reading your blog Michael I have understood that I give the things I need to do priority and that feels awful and doesn’t work as there will be always more to do and to get lost and exhausted in simply doing.
“Now there still is a constant rhythm in my life, like going to bed early and getting up early and some of the basic structures of my day, but this rhythm is only followed because I can feel how much it supports me.” This is such an important point you make, Michael. One can so easily get into a rhythm that becomes a habit that does not support one but instead can actually be harmful and limiting. One has to keep discerning by feeling whether the rhythm is supportive or not and then, if necessary, adjust the rhythm accordingly. The key is to keep feeling
This is a gorgeous blog Michael. It is inspiring to read and know that we can all choose to connect to stillness and live in a way that eliminates stress, leaving out putting pressure and expectations on ourselves and others.
There is always something to do, and if we value ourselves by what we get complete, we are always destined to exhaust ourselves in the never ending disappointment of our expectations.
Absolutely Adam, there is responsibility in accepting that the to do list never ends.
So if we don´t expect or hope or wish it to end (the list) but are accepting of ‘life’ the rhythm we choose to be in and with life will be completely different as it is not about getting done with it but the quality we are in while doing what needs to be done.
Bull’s eye Alex, “it is not about getting done with it but the quality we are in while doing what needs to be done.” I can feel a fridge magnet coming on!
Spot on Adam, that is where we get caught up – I certainly do, when I try to ‘get things done’, to be finished… for what? To cruise, to relax, to have ‘me’ time, to collect my reward? We need to accept at some point that there is no finish line and as you say there is always something to do, there is sooo much to do.
“There is always something to do” – deeply realizing this, not being afraid of it and at the same time feeling from our inner wisdom step by step what needs to be done in each and every moment. There is endless work to do and yet no planning needed at all.
Spot on, Adam, there is always something to be done. Understanding the fact there will never be a completion point in our things to do, allows a greater sense of detachment and stillness amidst our necessary activities.
I love that Josephine “…stillness amidst our necessary activities.” It is the stillness that makes all the difference and that can be so beautifully felt in Michael’s sharing.
Self imposed expectations are exhausting, so different to working with the impulses we receive. One thing I have noticed when I am working with impulse is to listen to the instructions being delivered moment by moment, they are clear and highlight even self care, preempting the pitfalls or danger. I was in the garden trimming a plant and loud and clear came the instruction to put on my gloves, I ignored it as it was a very soft fleshy plant but I didn’t notice the wasp nest and within a minute of being warned I was bitten on the hand. This just highlights everything is known, to not override and ignore the support we are given.
Exactly, our body always knows precisely what to do.
At times this might not appeal to our mind and free as we are, it is our choice to override what our body is telling us or listen to it.
Thank you for this great reminder Merrilee.
absolutely Adam and I feel the need to get to the end of our to do list come from not fully accepting and committing to the way life is now and the things that simply belong to it. To accept the things that are there to be done and see them as part of our life instead of something to get out of the way so we can ‘start living’ (meaning doing the things we want/like more) is a great start of re-commiting.
A good point Adam of how we set ourselves up.
Looking outside of ourselves is destined to fail and compress the space we naturally have – filling our minds with expectations, pictures and ideals to live up to and define who we are when we are naturally wise, knowing and heavenly beings.
That is so true Adam; if we only value ourselves by what we do we are putting ourselves second, if not last. This does not support us and is un-sustainable. When we fully support ourselves we bring clarity and quality to whatever we do.
Adam what you share is a priceless wisdom – thank you.
Oh god….nail hit head, hard.
Completing things is as important as feeling complete while completing what has to be completed.
Love this cycle of completion Eduardo.
Absolutely Adam – you’ve nailed it, we cannot value ourselves by how well we meet our own mind driven expectations as it is the road to disappointment and exhaustion. It’s who we are and how much we bring that quality to life that matters, and that is a self replenishing and joyful way to live.
Thank you Adam, this is so true- valuing ourselves by what we get complete in life vs valuing ourselves for who we are- the perfect set up.
I really loved this piece Michael as I felt I was there along with you in the quiet of a new day and could feel the true expansion and freedom that comes from living the flow of the day rather than the push. Gorgeous!
This blog is a beautiful reminder, I love it too. I know I often put pressure on myself to get things done instead of letting things flow in my day.
Beautifully expressed Jade. It is so true that when we surrender to our All there is a fullness that naturally is present and felt. And the more I continue to choose to surrender to this truth, to trust my Love within, the more I too can ‘feel the true expansion and freedom that comes from living the flow of the day rather than the push.’
This blog somehow made me realise how often I make the same old mistakes over and over again, my to do lists quite often don’t get done which does cause a little stress. But staying with the job at hand and being present is the only way forward.
Well said, Kevmchardey.
‘One step at a time’ is a wise old saying. If I don’t stay with one job at a time I feel my body tense up and I go into stress. When I do stay with the job in hand there is a gorgeousness and a flow into the next one.
When I am with one job with all of me, I will complete it much more efficient, respectful and easier and am free to move on to the next, without getting entangled in my own thoughts that can be spun like a spiders web between the jobs.
Love this rachelmurtagh1. ‘One step at a time’ is wise saying indeed which for me delivers the truth of how important it is to be at one with the One, with every step we take.
Being with all of me in the morning and just feeling the beauty of my body as it moves in stillness allows me to treasure me deeply … everyday.
I feel at the moment I am continuously having to check in with myself especially when I am walking to stop pushing and having a drive in me as I walk or do things, it’s very obvious as my body is tight and ahead of myself. As soon as I stop and just be in my body it instantly releases and comes into ease.
I agree Vanessa – I feel it is a question of becoming deeply honest with ourselves and make ourselves aware that sometimes we lose ourselves and fall into old patterns of pushing, going faster, doing better etc. – it is a constant learning and development of self awareness and self honouring.
An interesting blog Michael, I didn’t really feel I was bound by, to do lists but I always had something in my mind that I wanted to do and each day I would remind myself this needed doing. Being a procrastinator sometimes there were often things in the ‘pipeline ‘so to speak. A very helpful sharing and a look at life as it would be if we let go the should and lived from our inner most.
Making to do lists can indeed be very imposing on our own intuition. While when we follow our senses there is way more space to do all those things in, as there is no time needed for worrying about all we have to do next..
Yes I agree, to do lists can be imposing when we used them to drive and measure ourselves. They can be supportive depending on how we use these lists. As a gentle reminder or to keep us under pressure?
Exactly Benkt, creating to do lists is often just creating pressure on our day. We do know what needs to be done, and it’s fine to have reminders, but being free to get everything done at our own pace is actually more productive.
Exactly, this worrying and stress consumes such an amount of energy and most of the time this happens unnoticed. If we stop worrying there is suddenly plenty of time.
Absolutely Michael. I am THE master at this game. I know all too well that when I finally let go of the worry, all this time will open up for me. So what am I waiting for one might ask.
I fully agree with that Benkt, when we follow our intuition we do not have to spend any moment in worrying about what to do next as it will come by its natural rhythm.
Agree Benk, this has been my experience everytime I have relied on the “to do list” especially if I have disconnected from my body – I can feel the anxiousness building up the more I think of what and how I am to do everything which ends up in me feeling exhausted from the imposition I have placed on myself.
Living to our natural rhythm make so much sense to me Michael, as I also know those to do lists, but over time I have experienced that these do not work in the same quality compared to doing things in my rhythm, when my body impulses me to do something because it is completely alined and ready for to deliver what is needed at that moment. This proves to me that what you have described with “knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed” is true to me too.
“I also know those to do lists, but over time I have experienced that these do not work in the same quality compared to doing things in my rhythm, when my body impulses me to do something because it is completely alined and ready to deliver what is needed at that moment.” This is so true. There is a magic in the latter way of being that just isn’t there in the former. Thank you for highlighting this Nico, I feel it very supportive.
Beautifully expressed Nico. The natural impulse and order of life cannot be denied – there is far greater magic and precision to the natural flow and grace of Life and when aligned, connected and surrendered to the all we can’t but move with equal precision, magic and grace.
And to elaborate on that Deborah, to me it is especially the surrendering to these rhythms and the order of life that I am still learning and needs my attention. To surrender myself to the greater whole that we all live in means that I have to give up my little self that still tries to be in control, but when I am in that, I find myself with my own created to do lists that will keep me going in circles and never give me the initiating moments as aligning and surrendering to the greater whole brings me.
True Nico – it gives us the false sense that we are doing much and moving forward when in truth we are spinning around if not walking on the spot. We have spent eons mastering distraction and delaying the true moments of evolution — it is long since been the calling for us to return to simplicity, to Love and to God.
I agree Susan. The beauty of stopping and appreciating the many magical moments to me feels like medicine to the body. When we are 20 steps in front of our body planning our day we miss all that is in-between and the warmth and connection of ourselves and those around us.
I used to pride myself on getting everything worked out in my head while I was in the shower or lying in bed, I created many scenarios and pictures of how the day, week, month or year would look and be like. And write it all down on many many lists. Most of them I wouldn’t come back to for months and then when I did would find that somehow they got done. It was exhausting and by the time I would get to a job I had already energetically done it hundreds if not thousands of times by thinking about it. I still do write lists but the pressure to check or think about what needs doing has changed ten fold because I’m learning to focus on one thing at a time.
So true Aimee, that is certainly the trick – to focus on one thing at a time and stay with my body whilst I am doing it – that way the pull to the next thing is instantly negated. That pull to think about the next thing is the mind’s way of trying to stay in control, when in truth my body is the one that knows.
Yes Josephine everything flows better when the mind and body are working together.
Yes Ariana, expectations come along with having pictures of how everything ‘should’ be, and then we don’t see what is truly there in front of us.
I was never big on lists but I can really relate to doing a job over and over in my head before it was done and over again if I felt I did it wrong in an energy that feels like I was beating up on myself. Now that I am trusting my inner impulses more I feel a natural flow come into my way of living.
Well said Chris, it is beating ourselves up when we are not consciously present with what we are doing… I liken it to going on a roller coaster hundreds of times in one day… its going to leave us bruised and frazzled.
What a different and beautiful way of living you have adopted Michael. I could feel my shoulders and the muscles in my face relax when I read the part where you describe having a day of “might be done” lists instead of the usual to-do’s. Whenever I have placed a mountain of expectations on the day and created in my mind a list of all the things I wanted to do, it seemed that by the end of the day I was both disappointed and exhausted. But what I have also found is that that initial to-do list came from a feeling of not being enough as I am and not appreciating all that I bring to the world, but instead an emotion of trying to prove myself or my worth to others. Thankfully, this has changed dramatically since meeting Serge Benhayon and other Universal Medicine students and practitioners, and reading blogs like this one are super supportive as well.
Yes michaelgoodhart36 it is the weight of expectations that come with a ‘to do’ list that are such a killer and in the past have been another reason for me to beat myself up. Choosing to recognise and appreciate what we bring to the world is a powerful antidote, and I love the idea of ‘might be done’ lists to get stuff out of my head without the burden of feeling it has to be done that day or I have failed.
Un-learning my way of living (because it was killing me) has been a long but very beneficial process. I deeply know, I would not be where I am with out the teachings Serge Benhayon presents and the support and love from him and his family. I now dont jump out of bed, my days are not stretched and filling every waking moment. There is a joy and feels like time opens up and I dont need to rush .. Appreciation and love for each day.
A palpable feeling of steadiness and grace Michael from your blog, which becomes a tangible reminder all day, rather than choosing to over ride with the ‘to-do’ list.
When I listen to what my body tells me and feel what to do next, time unfolds for me. There is so much space and time. Conversely when I’m overwhelmed by my mind’s to do lists, time escapes me. The two are so markedly different. It still astounds me that I let my mind run the show so frequently when I have concrete proof that it is a lose lose situation!
That has been my experience also Jenny, “time unfolds for me”. I have experienced the flow of time and the spaciousness it creates, where I would have assumed in the past, something will take X amount of time … but gets finished effortlessly and in no time. It’s not easily described but time has an elasticity, an expansion a spaciousness, when we leave the usual limitations of time behind.
Might be done lists is something I will be implementing straight away – so much pressure lies in what you ‘think’ you have to do to satisfy what the world wants or expects. This is a great way of supporting our everyday without that pressure.
I agree Lee. I am learning to do the same, not to measure my day by how much I have done but to be aware of the quality and energy I have done things in.
Good point Chan Ly. Sometimes I get to the end of a beautiful day and ask myself what has been achieved – from now on I will re-frame that question and reflect on the quality of energy I brought to my day.
Beautifully said, Quality and the Quality of our Energy is the benchmark.
Yes, great to be reminded to keep bringing it back to the quality I choose to be in when completing these tasks, and to check in with my body, what it is saying and feeling, and from there be guided what needs to be done next.
I agree Lee, I’m actually looking forward to re-setting the whole way I write these lists now — might be done list… if it’s meant to be done at that particular time and space, if it is in harmony with the divine rhythm of my body.
“Might be done” lists feel much more playful! Letting go of the pressure of “to do” lists and their rigidity would definitely lead to my day flowing better. Even when things need to be done and I set up supportive reminders, it’s a very different day you describe where one “flows” and the other is a constant pressure of trying to catch up with the day’s list.
This exactly echoes what I have been feeling about the way I live my life and the way I would like to be. It is just what I needed to read and feel supported by. Thank you Michael.
I agree Amanda, I feel this article will be a great support to many people who perhaps feel under pressure to achieve tasks. I often find I surprise myself with how quickly I can get tasks done but it is that much easier when I just get on with them but don’t have a build up of pressure to do them. For then the quality of the work produced is much greater as it isn’t done with an underlying tension, that constant nagging doubt that whatever I do will never be enough. This is an exhausting and debilitating way to live and one that has had quite a hold on me.
Michael, I love that, from to do lists to might be done lists, I can feel such a weight fall off with this, and how it allows the space to begin to come back to living in true rhythm with ourselves. This I will be experimenting with – thank you.
Yes monicag2 so much more expansive.
“I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.”
Such a shift from trying to master life to living each moment. I love how you brought in rhythm as well. In line with rhythm everything flows and is or gets more spacious. Against rhythm life is hard work bringing hardness and a drain of energy.
“in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.”
Wise words, we can connect to all we need to know if we connect to our body and the wisdom inside.
Great sentence: “Now I will feel what needs to be done next and will go for it, even if my mind might try to tell me that this cannot be right.” I am fine when I let my body lead the way and run the show. My mind and spirit are the ones who bring me in trouble.
As I stay connected with my body throughout the day, the perfectionism is dropping away, bit by bit…. It’s a huge pattern so I see this as brilliant, just letting it go layer by layer. I see that it comes from thoughts, beliefs, have-to’s and ideals that I have about any given circumstance or from needing some form of recognition. Yet when I come back to my body, feel how lovely I am, JUST AS I AM, the task takes a different shape. I can then approach it TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, with my care and presence, but not with the tension of having it be a certain way.
This is gorgeous emmadanchin. I can relate to chasing perfection for recognition. I often felt trapped by this way of existing with constant tension and anxiety. You have expressed beautifully what I too have discovered through building my connection to my body – ‘Yet when I come back to my body, feel how lovely I am, JUST AS I AM, the task takes a different shape. I can then approach it TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, with my care and presence, but not with the tension of having it be a certain way.’ With appreciation of our loving connection we build an deepen the quality of presence with which we live our day.
I feel the lovely quality in all I do when I allow myself to live each moment with stillness and grace. The more I do this the less i feel the tension of having to get things done.
It is truly gorgeous that the stillness you now live can be felt through your words, making this so exquisitely beautiful to read. Although not mastered personally, I love the concept of not being at the mercy of lists but rather just trusting in the flow of life that comes from just being you and knowing from this all will be cared for. A stunning way to live.
I agree Samantha. Just reading the words shared by Michael allows me to feel the quality he lives in. It feels so simple and lovely in this simplicity.
“Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.”
I love this Michael. I have been enjoying sitting with myself early in the day and just feeling me in the ‘glorious stillness of the morning’. Feeling how held I am, by myself, by God and how gorgeous I am, just as I am. It is deeply healing to feel so alive at this time, knowing that I have everything I need for my day within me.
Beautiful statement emmadanchin that we have everything we need for our day within us.
Emmadanchin there’s deep trust in ‘knowing that I have everything I need for the day within me’.
This is gorgeous Michael. I feel the profound shift this has made for you. I have been having a very similar experience, I let go of daily to do lists sometime ago and whilst I do still jot things down that need doing to remind myself, I am much more focused on feeling what the priorities are and attending to them in my rhythm of the day. And another big self-loving shift I have made is to be content with what I have completed as the day comes to an end, resisting the old temptation to berate myself for not getting all those other things done. I am starting to see that my mind throws up activities for me to do, only to keep me very busy and to feel incomplete if I don’t do them; yet by just feeling what I want to direct my focus on each day, I feel much more at ease. Often my body doesn’t want to do that much at all and just keep things pretty simple! This gives me space to feel life which is opening up a whole new way of being for me. And I am loving it.
This is truly gorgeous Michael “Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” The lists and stress to keep them is so much about perfection. This week I have been able to make the choice to not allow anxiousness to control me, to sleep a bit longer if I need it and it has had a lovely effect on my mornings.
Deeply surrendering to the knowing that we are endlessly supported, Trusting in God and forever deepening acceptance of ourselves and others is key.
This is really beautiful Michael, the choice you make to trust each moment to unfold and not being so tightly attached to the to do list, thereby allowing yourself space to just be.
Beautiful way of putting it Annie.” the choice you make to trust each moment to unfold and not being so tightly attached to the to do list, “
The ‘to do list’ can become like a Formula One race, we try to complete it in record time, collecting stress and tension on the way.
True Matthew, a drive, a quest and a competition – something that will identify us, prove us worth, recognise us and keep us always in haste, business, doing and motion and there is never an end to completion with another list if not the never-ending, never achievable marker we set.
In contrast to this, when we deeply surrender and let go of these pictures and give ourselves permission to just be, to connect to ourselves and from there to view the whole, our natural rhythm finds rhythm with the all and there is amble space to complete what is needed in each moment, with respect to our body’s capacity and to the all of the world we live in.
Yes Matthew and with a ‘to do list’, like a Formula One race, we end where we started instead of moving further and on the way have had immense risk and suffered lots of wear to the car and exhaustion and tension for the driver.
Exactly Matthew – we enter the ‘goal’ thinking ‘we’ve made it’, only to discover that is far from truth, when the body is at the expense of our choices.
A Formula One race hardens the body enormously. The abrasion goes over any benefit.
It can also become the never-ending list, impossible to complete and long enough to hold us in perpetual angst and tension if not overwhelm.
My wife’s pet name for me many years ago was the ‘gotto’ fish, because I was always racing around saying ‘gotto’ to do this, or that. I would wake with my mind racing, even before I got out of bed, with what the day would hold. The story today is very different, much less whirlwind and much more presence.
Sounds like this fish has found much more still waters in which to swim Joel. When we do not fight against the flow, we do not have to leave such turbulence in our wake. Something I am learning too, our every move affects the All.
Like you Liane, still forever learning but can now see the ‘goto’ fish for what it is/was, a desire not to feel what was going on in life, good or bad…with out judgement or blame. Learning to do this, with greater honesty has been the key.
Beautiful Joel, when we can let go of the ‘goto’ in our lives we are given the opportunity to be that much more present with who we are and in that, are able to enjoy our lives with the appreciation that it is worth to live being as present as we can.
Absolutely Nico, I love what you shared. When we choose to not be present we miss out so much and stress and anxiety can then take over. By choosing to live as present as we can brings so much joy into our lives, assisting in eliminating one of our biggest killer’s – ‘stress’.
Indeed Chan Ly, stress is one of our biggest killers. Stress is so common in our nowadays societies that we even do not consider it as not healthy any more. People even tend to say that some stress in life is even healthy as they do not know a life without. How far have we strayed away from our true being, where there is no place for stress, but where is that deep stillness which we all equally carry deep within, and accept a state of being where a level of stress is being accepted instead?
There is so much pressure in our whirlwind approach – on ourselves and those in our wake. The calm waters are nurturing and hold us all in their grace.
I think the biggest learning for me Deborah has been that while calmer waters do indeed hold us in grace, that don’t mean you are any less productive.
Absolutely Joel. I too have discovered that life flows from this deep calm with great purpose, clarity and energy…the whirlwind chews me up and spits me out and the nervous tension gives me the feeling that I am achieving a lot when in truth I am not truly productive (how can I be when if I have disconnected from ‘me’.)
“The calm waters are nurturing and hold us all in their grace.” I love this line Deborah, I feel deeply nurtured and held when i connect to stillness.
‘gotto’ fish describes it very well. I will remember this when I slide into those waters.
that is hilarious Joel, but profound all the same.
“Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” Love the simplicity of this Michael…our lists only succeed in complicating our lives. This feels so loving and honouring of who we naturally are.
A very beautiful and timely reminder Michael – ‘ just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.’ Thank you
In the midst of 21st century busy life, your blog is very refreshing Michael, reminding us that it is possible to be Still in a busy world.
Very true Shevon, the 21st century life is hectic…Michaels way of living is a very different outlook and change up to the current way of living.
Living rhythmically in each moment focusses us on the importance of our quality of what we bring in everything we do. This brings the bottomless depth of our presence and beautiful expression, Michael.
So true Gill. The quality is more important then the quantity of what we do. Which is usually about the same anyway, the way one goes about it though is the difference.
Deep within us all burns a flame, steady and true. It is the candle of our making and within the warmth of its flicker, our true love burns. When all is quiet, this flame can be felt without the noise and bustle that seeks to, but never can, extinguish its glow. Our job is to foster this living flame of stillness within so that we may live it out in the world for all to see and in that seeing, know that they too have the power of this Divine spark within them. Michael, your blog says all this to me, and more. Thankyou for another piece of Heaven, delivered with simplicity and grace.
Wow Liane, beautifully expressed. Yes, Michael’s blog captures the essence of this ‘living flame of stillness’ beautifully, and inspired me to remember what is there to be chosen in any moment.
Nothing can warm us up as the warmth of true fire.
Beautiful Liane – the eternal flame of stillness within us all. I love how reading the words expressed by you and Michael have allowed me to feel this stillness more deeply in my body. Thank you both.
Beautiful expressed Liane Mandalis, and yes it is our responsibility to foster this stillness within ourselves and reflect it back to our brothers and sisters as it is so needed. Thankyou
Exquisitely expressed from the silken warmth of your words –the Grace of God you bring to all.
Yes Liane, living a flame, and sparking out, into the world is what it is all about.
“Now I will feel what needs to be done next and will go for it, even if my mind might try to tell me that this cannot be right.” Our minds might think this cannot be right, but I’ve found when I do follow what I feel to do next that it always, without failure, constellates perfectly with what happens further on in my day. For example, I may feel to do something in the morning that I would normally do right before going out later in the day, but then other events occur and there isn’t time to do this right before leaving, so that early impulse was perfect for that day. As you say Michael, it is certainly building a trust in what we feel and honouring this, and knowing that all will be revealed as we stay with the flow.
Awesome Paula. I have found when I follow what I feel to do and do things as they appear like you shared following our impulse, things certainly flow beautifully. But when I put things off and delay my original impulse to do something, I can then feel tension building up in my body. I am learning to listen and trust my inner knowing and allowing it to guide me.
So beautiful Michael, I could feel the stillness in the your blog as I was reading it, thank you Michael.
Jill I too feel bathed in the glorious stillness of this blog. Just gorgeous Michael.
“My experience is that what I feel from deep inside of me is the biggest support that I have, as by following this inner knowing I am flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them” When we flow with life there is a beauty and grace that far surpasses any list – nothing is held from the past and we move on. Every moment is a fresh start, seeing with new eyes.
Wow Paula beautifully said? I am so inspired by your comment. ‘Every moment is a fresh start’, this is an amazing reminder for me. I can sometimes get caught up and forget to honour this incredible opportunity offered to us every day.
Very true Susan. Something that I have observed for myself, when I am on a mission to complete my ‘to do list’, I am often presented with an opportunity to snap out of it, whether it be a phone call from a friend or I run into someone I know when I am out. Then I get to realise that my list is just that…a list and that this opportunity is presenting me with something much more important.
This echoes my experience Michael. I used to be in the constant stress of trying to remember everything I needed to do until I started using todo lists. Using todo lists stopped me from being in this constant stress of remembering everything but then I became a slave to these lists which meant that I didn’t allow for flow and felt like I wasn’t looking up and appreciating where I was but rather was always looking down at the next thing on the list. I have now found a rhythm with life and lists that I now use todo lists as a reminder for when things are due but I am not held to the list and getting things on my list done. I allow flow in my life and I have the space to look up.
Thank you Lee! This brought a deep chuckle with the truth of you sentence about being a slave to the ‘to do lists’ – constantly looking down is very hard on the neck and shoulders too!
“then I became a slave to these lists which meant that I didn’t allow for flow and felt like I wasn’t looking up and appreciating where I was but rather was always looking down at the next thing on the list”.
I can totally relate to what you’ve shared Lee. This drive to get things done and forgetting to stop, appreciate what we bring and what is offered takes the joy out of our everyday tasks. Taking moments in between to check in with ourselves, how we feel, where we are at and appreciate what we’ve done is something I am learning to do.
This is a great way of going about having a to do list Lee! I agree that constantly referring to a to do list would be like ‘looking down’ all the time instead of looking up, being focussed on what we are doing. There is certainly a lot less stress and anxiousness in that way that you are talking about. It makes life more definitely about the quality that we do things in and not necessarily how much we do. The world is far too focussed on these ‘to do lists’ and too worried about what they have to do, and there is a lot of resistance to letting go of this and simply being with ourselves and doing it with joy.
Gorgeous blog Michael. I am inspired by what you share. I especially love being reminded that I can choose to live in a way that flows rather than playing a constant stressful game of catch up. Thank you.
This game of catch up is so absurd, because once we start it, we guarantee, that we will never catch up with everything, as our focus and inner knowing are totally ignored.
Very true Michael. I find myself playing catch up a lot and it is as exhausting as it sounds. Thanks again for reminding me how simple and easy it is to ‘be’ before I ‘do’.
This is so true Michael and Leonne. I had been feeling like I am constantly trying to catch up, feeling like I am constantly behind creates stress and then the quality, awareness, focus and inner knowing is ignored. This is a pattern I am trying to change to making everything I do to be more about quality and awareness.
Thanks for the reminder Michael, it is so easy to get caught in this game, and so now, ‘I will feel what needs to be done next and will go for it, even if my mind might try to tell me that this cannot be right.’
I find at work if I focus on everything that i think needs to be done in the day I feel stressed and overwhelmed, whereas if i connect and feel what needs to be done there is a different quality to the day, the day feels like it flows.
I agree Leonne, super inspirational. That is a great point too- that we can choose to live in a way that flows and supports us.
I agree too, what this blog also shows is that life is not a rigid unchangable thing, if something is not working all we need to do is try something new that will support us better.
So true Meg. We can learn from everything !
‘We can learn from everything.’ That would make such a great life motto! It’s so so so so true, everything that happens in life has a super valuable lesson in it.
For me it has actually been a game of ‘chasing after’ and this has become exhausting. When I return to the quality of stillness Michael refers to there is nothing to chase after. Everything is where it should be and I simply know and feel this.
I like this….”the might be done” list, it made me smile and has a lightness to it. I have one called the “to ‘be’ with list”.
What I do find is when I am in rhythm with myself there is more spaciousness and things do get done without the try or strive.
This is very beautiful Michael. I love the opening how you are feeling so still as you prepare for the day, but yet something sneaks in to make you think that something is wrong because you haven’t done what you thought needed to be done. This in itself is huge. I know I have created many lists of things to be done, but what I put myself through to complete them or if I don’t how I have berated myself. I love how you have turned it into ‘might be done’ lists. Already the pressure is off.
The ‘might be done’ lists feel like a very honouring way to not let outside life tell you what to do, but to let the inner knowing lead the way in what needs to be done each day.
Beautiful Michael. When I read I get a lovely sense of the knowing you have been developing throughout your day, and the ease that this has allowed you to live with. I know so often it is easy to get caught up in expectations or ideas about ‘what we need to do today’, and some things are definitely important, but some things I have later found that I did them as distractions from what I really could have done instead. Another day is here, and a blessing of stillness in the morning, I also sit by a candle as I write.
Thank you Michael and harryjwhite your words are beautiful and build a new marker for me: “Another day is here, and a blessing of stillness in the morning, I also sit by a candle as I write.”
I have been inspired by your blog Michael to delete many of my ‘to do’ lists, and realised in this process that many of them were not even needed! They were ideas that I had in a moment that has long passed, and therefore are irrelevant here and now, but I was trying to hold onto them – hence the tension thats created from the holding.
I so enjoyed reading the opening scene of your blog Michael. It is a treasure to stop and appreciate these glorious moments in life where the flow and natural rhythm of stillness is felt. It is beautiful to feel the stillness in your writing.
When you share how you changed your lists “from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists – this took enormous pressure out of my life” I could literally feel the release of pressure within me. I have too many ‘to do’ lists that do create a constant tension of never being enough because those things haven’t been done – yet! This is showing me very clearly that what I do is my barometer of how worthy I feel – thank you for this morning’s revelation Michael!
Absolutely. When we reduce ourselves to ‘getting things done’, we also squash and reduce our time it seems. When we open up to stillness, we also open up all the space in the world. I am constantly amazed at what is possible when living from this place.
Very beautiful to read Michael and so true. I am finding this more and more that I can plan all these things in my head and then when the moment is there I totally do it differently. Following my inner knowing is amazing, I find it especially now with studying for my exams. I used to just do what everyone does and that is study the whole day every day up to the exam. I used to get all tensed and stressed studying in this way. What I found this exam period is that I study a lot less and really when I feel to do it, it works magic and I find time expands now when I study. Plus the real joy is coming back of doing my study and learning new things. No stress either just a feeling of me and the joy of feeling so expansive whilst studying.
When you’re so focused on your to do list, you miss seeing the beauty of nature and the people around you. It’s amazing how words written on a piece of paper can hold so much power over us at times. Words and power we have created for ourselves.
‘ I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out’ I’m totally with you on this one Michael. To just be and not stress about time is a magical experience for me. I already know what I am going to do so I don’t worry about time. At the end of my experience I find myself reflecting in awe at the magic of God and the simplicity of my connection to my body and the universe.
Getting caught in ‘must do’s’ can be consuming and it can result in becoming driven, not appreciating what is around us and the present moment, “I could not let go of my beloved lists instantly and so turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists –” An interesting and playful change that allows for change, change is happening at all times, so who knows, ‘might do” feels like a good plan.
Michael, this is just what I needed to read this morning – I was already pushing myself to quickly read my emails so that I could start the next task. Your blog was a great remind that my most important ‘task’ today is to be me and move through in a rhythmic way. (I may have to read this tomorrow morning too!)
Yes Carmin, and when I am being me and ‘with myself’ I have noticed that it occurs to me what I need to do next. It simply drops into my mind, and I can complete an amazing amount in a day with no effort or drain at all.
‘What just dawned on me is that I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.’ I love this sentence. It encapsulates what life should be about. There’s such a massive contrast between that never ending pursuit of trying to get everything right, to living in a rhythm that confirms you have and are everything you need, imperfections and all.
Thank you Michael I very much like your to-do list turning into a might-be-done list. It is lovely to have a plan/list but it should not dictate our every move and constantly make us think what is next.
And lists. Well theres a huge subject right there. Turning them from ‘to do’ into ‘might be done’ has been life changing for me. My body feels less tense and life is more spacious. Also the pressure is off, the rhythm is honoured and still quite often the list gets finished…. with so much more even accomplished…if I choose to stay connected to my body. 🙂
Living life from within brings a natural joy and harmony and I can feel this coming through so powerfully in your blog Michael. I loved the change of list title to ‘Things that might be done’ and how this has opened up to allow the unfolding of a deeper level of stillness in you. We all make choices at different times to allow a ‘contracted and predetermined’ way to control our lives that means bringing less and living with a tension that is not true to who we really are. What is true is that the choices we make are always ours and we can choose to do it differently any time. This blog has been a Beautiful way to start the flow of my day, thank you Michael.
This is a beautiful blog Michael. I can feel the morning with you and this part is so inspiring ‘This has been one of the most profound changes in my life. I have developed so much more trust in and love for myself by realising that in fact I already know all that I need to know and that it is about just letting this knowing come out again.
It’s not about pushing to know, its all about letting go of what stands in the way of our knowingness.
Michael you offer such a great understanding with “I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.” The contrast between these two is so real I can feel the difference just by reading your words. There is much caught up in the word ‘trying’. It has connotations of being good, applying myself, effort and even struggle but all with a push to belong, keep up and live up to. There is only one true mastery of life and that is to connect to each moment as you describe so beautifully in this blog.
Wow Michael this feels like the long missed natural way of being as the foundation to life unfolding itself with the exquisite beauty within to just reflect that beauty back. What you are writing contains so very much the quality of your “new” rhythm, that it is very inspirational and yummie to read. Ah, now I know, what it feels like: looking at the beauty of nature.
I found myself sinking in or ‘surrendering’ my own body to your every word Michael, because what you spoke about, my body also knows to be true for me. I am naturally rhythmical and when I allow these movements to be my life I feel the exquisiteness of this existence in each moment, what a blessing is the clarity that follows suit.
“What just dawned on me is that I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life.” That is a beautiful realisation Michael.
I, and I suspect most have done the “trying to master life” and to control it. It doesnt work. Like you I have had a recent dawning about this and it is changing my life as well.
My to do list has become a ‘choices I could make’ list, how different that feels.
The birds are waking up here now and through their welcoming chatter the stillness I felt in your writing and here in my home can still be felt. A dawning.
Yes I agree Jeanette, this is a beautiful line by Michael and something I am learning too, to let go of the need to control life (creation) and let go simply living life.
This is such lovely writing Michael and it matches and supports what I can feel in my day and within myself as it begins here, on the other side of the world.
It is interesting how lists can help us or hinder us depending how much power we give away to them. Lists can be gentle reminders of things that you need to do, an aid to a busy life. But when we hold ourselves at ransom to getting everything done by a certain time we put pressure on ourselves and are striving to fulfil expectations that we have set down to achieve. I love lists, and more so the less I become attached to getting it all done.
Now that’s what I call an awesome surrendering to the diving flow of life. I love how you describe it so majestically Michael.
Having witnessed these changes I can celebrate daily that you’ve taken those choices, Michael. And you’re an inspiration to many around you. Such is the power of each of us, the moment we take a nurturing choice, everybody benefits.
Beautiful Michael, you have reminded me to be with the stillness that i hold in my body.
I loved reading your blog, when the doing gets bigger than the quality i am doing it in I know I have gone off track. I was a great list writer and still am but they are there for checking into rather than dictating my time and space.
This really is a beautiful reminder how effortless and beautiful life can be when lived from inside out, instead of living in reaction to the outside world.
Absolutely gorgeous, Michael. What I love about your sharing is the ordinariness of it, and how settled you feel to be – even though you have gone through the most profound changes, you just feel spectacularly, stunningly ordinary – which echoes and awakes the same within me. Thank you.
Well said Katie, it puts us back in the driver seat rather than handing over to an autopilot.
‘living, instead of trying to master life’ – the difference is immense. The perfection required in trying to master life is exhausting, constantly demanding and unachievable, yet still I do it day in day out. Yet living has an altogether different quality – it is our natural state and all it requires is for us to stop trying to control the outcome and just be who we naturally are.
Stunning simonwilliams8 and ‘immense’ as you say. The quality of just being in life rather than trying to control and master everything is Divine music to my whole body – a deep aha moment – thank you.
This is a great blog Michael. I too have changed my relationship with making lists. Now I too have a flow and unfolding to my day, as well as a consistency with this during my week. I have found the more deeply committed I have become to the details of life, such as grocery shopping and cleaning, the more space and consistency I have available to me to do what is needed. Throwing out the images and pictures of how I think things should look like has taken off the pressure and the daily push to ‘succeed’. It is amazing how much I get done in a day when I am solid in my commitment to life and doing what is needed with no image or picture in mind! For me this is the true definition of success.
Michael, I can feel your stillness in your writing emanating off the page. What a relief for the body when we finally let go of all those expectations and allow ourselves to feel what is needed instead. A lovely reminder.
What you describe is amazing Michael. I still have an endless list of things that need doing that I guess I have turned into a nemesis. There is always so much to do, I often get overwhelmed and get hardly anything done. The letting go of things is a massive thing to learn, especially these days when there are emails pouring through all day. 20 years ago you would get letters once a day. Things have changed. Life is faster and there is a sense that if you don’t keep up, you will get left behind. Being caught up in getting things done gets you trapped in time, of ever trying to achieve something against the ticking clock. What you suggest, by bringing presence to what we do, feels much more spacious.
Living life moment to moment is a beauty we bestow upon ourselves.
Michael I love that you “turned them from ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists”. I can instantly feel how this would support me too. I will try this. Thank you.
Thank you Michael, I love the way you write – I felt as I was in the room with you as the dawn slowly broke. I can definitely relate to the tension you speak of that grows when we feel we will not achieve all we have set out on our “list” – crazy that we actually create this tension for ourselves! I have also started to introduce more flexibility into my lists, and to trust what I feel to do next, rather than relying on my list or what I “think” is the next logical step…it’s still a work in progress:)
Simple medicine we are.
Beautifully expressed Katie.
To be defined by what we do negates and distracts us from the beauty of who we are.
Beautiful Michael; I have become increasingly aware that society and the way of living we have created for ourselves leads us to self-bash and berate and see ourselves as lacking or not good enough. To feel amazing about oneself has become uncomfortable or not possible anymore. How crazy when we break it down like this.
Beautiful Michael. What a glorious sharing. Thank you. I felt like I was in the yumminess and stillness of the morning with you as you captured it all so well within your words.
Michael, this is a terrific way to get out of our own way. Whatever issues we may have can now come up and be dealt with one by one. Well done.
It is so much nicer to live the day without pressure.
Michael your exquisite gentleness shines through in your writing, a really beautiful blog and so timely ….asking me to go deeper into my stillness in every moment of my day.
“Rhythmically living each moment rather trying to master life…” Beautifully said. Accepting and appreciating where we are at in each moment; something I am working with just now. I have often lived a few steps ahead of myself, so now am just choosing to stay with the present – a work in progress, as they say.
Fully accepting where we are at and appreciating ourselves, trusting our inner knowing and knowing we are always fully supported we then make supportive choices for ourselves. Beautiful start to the year Michael.
The simplicity, beauty and stillness of the candle burning and the appreciation of the gradual awakening of the day around you. Gently being aware, observing not absorbing. Now if that was the way we all started our day I feel exhaustion, anxiety and stress would be a thing of the past.
“Just being and being present with what I do….” Life flows so easily and is so simple when we make this the core of our day. Thankyou for your beautiful blog Michael.
This is gorgeous Michael – ‘Now I will feel what needs to be done next and will go for it, even if my mind might try to tell me that this cannot be right.’ I had an experience like this yesterday, where I came home from school and had an unusual desire to clean the house! This doesn’t happen very often, and I initially fought it because I had homework I know I could be doing and computer work – things that are actually ‘useful’, but I realised that cleaning the space in which I live, sleep, write, walk, talk and work is just as important as any project or assignment. So I cleaned! And it felt awesome 🙂
That’s beautiful Susie – it’s easy to override what we’re feeling with thoughts that say we ‘should’ be doing something else but our body does know what is the most harmonious thing to be doing next!
I was very inspired reading your sharing today Michael. Just loving this line “flowing with my days instead of trying to catch up with them”. No doing, just being. This is not my everyday livingness yet but is certainly unfolding gently.
There are a few things I did not complete that have caused me to feel uneasy this morning. As I am about to set off for work, this is a lovely reminder that my deadlines are self imposed, and I don’t have to be at their mercy nor get miserable for not completing them. Thanks for exposing this futile set up Michael.
What shines through your article Michael is the ease and tenderness with which you choose to live your day now. I love the shift in the lists from ‘To do’ to ‘ to ‘might be done’. I too have found lately that although there maybe a list of jobs to achieve, written down so I don’t forget them, the timing of the delivery is entirely down to what my body feels like doing in the moment. The more I trust this, the more I realise that my body has an awareness of what is required that goes beyond the normal logical expectations, so much so that when I surrender and allow myself to follow my body’s impulses, the day flows with such grace and all those little un-expected events are automatically catered for.
Learning to live by the flow of life and not force anything onto life has been the most amazing experience I learned from Serge Benhayon. When life becomes simple and complication fades away we start truly living.
“I would override what I felt would be good to do in favour of what was next on my lists.” I know this feeling well Michael and there is a real strain on the body when I push my body to get things done. I am learning the art of being present and being consistent in each moment and to feel what is next rather than to think it. When I do this the change in my body is phenomenal… it feels more open, vital, still and nourished.
The stillness of this blog says it all. Very beautiful to feel this as a marker for my day.. every day.
Yes rachelandras I agree. A beautiful marker of the stillness that resides within the inner-heart of every one of us.
This is a beautiful blog Michael thank you and just what I needed to read this morning . On waking with all the things I knew needed to be done but before any lists made I too took the time to feel my body and let go. This allows for a flow and is so freeing and expansive and so different from the stress and overwhelm that otherwise comes in and takes over. A beautiful reminder of how living can be with ones inner knowing to support oneself and the joy of this way however much there is to do.
“From ‘to do lists’ into ‘might be done’ lists.’ I like the sound of this very much Michael and am going to adopt it as my way forward.
Thank you, Michael, for sharing such a profound, simple and practical practice for daily living that ‘takes an enormous pressure out of life’. It has given me an insight into how I can make my life far more harmonious.
This is a great reminder Michael, to bring all of me into every task I do and not rush through wanting to be somewhere else doing something else already.
It’s also a reminder to not be rushed due to the imposition or racy energy of another, most times it is just that another can clearly feel the stillness and rhythm we hold and they can experience jealousy or reaction to it. But at the end of the day, all of us are equal in our essence of stillness and our ability to choose it as our living way.
Thanks Cherise, this is a good one to watch. I know that I adjust to other people’s rhythm so they may not feel too uncomfortable and I can avoid their reactions, which really is not a very healthy way to live.
Michael I have just read your other article ‘my home is always with me’ and now that I have read ‘Living from my inner knowing’ this has confirmed to me that you have the energetic quality of a feather landing on a flower.
‘the energetic quality of a feather landing on a flower’ – that is so beautiful Alexis and I shall carry this image with me.
“…just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.” This is a key ingredient Michael of what you are sharing here and it works for me too. I don’t always put it into action because my mind loves to look for stimulation but when I do it is as you describe life becomes so simple and I am at ease.
Thank you Michael and Judith, I agree, life becomes so simple when we become present with all we do, to me this is true responsibility!
I love this deeply profound reminder, Michael. While reading it I could recognise the pressure I often feel in myself to “get things done”. But this pressure is not just about doing things it is doing them “right”, which means that there is forever a feeling of not meeting my own expectations.
Letting go of that for a moment just now, and my body feels much more present, more alive, and with myself as I type. Thank you for this!
I can relate to this Naren. How lovely is it when we let the tension go in our body and can then feel more of ourselves.
It is great, Sally! And it is a reminder that the choice to let go of the tension that I feel in my body does not need grinding out by a massage therapist, it does not require that I go on a holiday to escape the stress in my life, it is a simple matter of reconnecting to this moment, and feeling my body.
It’s true – it’s easy to put ‘to do’ lists and getting things done ahead of the quality in which we complete them. And it doesn’t have to mean not getting things done but rather putting the quality and our connection first.
Yes Fiona, I find I actually complete things in such a way as I don’t need to come back to them when I am not jumping ahead to what is next on the list. It sounds obvious doesn’t it but it’s true. If I am distracted chances are I don’t do whatever I am doing well and I have to revisit it…once…twice…dare I say thrice?!
So true Fiona; and often when we live in this way with our connection first, a beautiful flow occurs and we can discover that actually space expands and more seems to get done.
Yes, well said Fiona.
In the end, what is the quality of all those things we ‘do’ or produce anyway? Are they delivered to life and to the world on the delicate flow of breath that is our exquisite quality or that of anything less?
Yes, when our quality comes first, we take ourselves off the never-ending treadmill of time and step into a spaciousness and stillness that has no limits.
I agree Fiona, the quality we do things in is what makes all the difference and it doesn’t drain the body.
I agree Fiona and this is certainly what I am working on.
‘….no perfection needed’. I sometimes feel our image of perfection is one of perfect lovelessness. An image we constantly strive to create that should we finally achieve it one day we would look around and say ‘but where is the Love?Aha, love, yes, we had
that all the time within our hearts but we have ignored it.’ That day is not likely to come really though because as you say, we never actually meet our own expectations for they are forever moving goalposts demanding ever more of us. Thank you for offering us the choice to just be who we are and to give up this chase.
I saw a poster once on a college dorm room that said ‘I love deadlines… the whooshing sound they make as they go by’. In the past I would have my list and at times have a day where I would not stop and like a bee flitting from flower to flower and at the end of the day I had not really finished anything. Life is much more fun being me, dealing with what needs to be done.
For me the zip, zip, zip of the non-stop to do list has been a factor of life for so long now. I love the way Michael has rephrased this to ‘might be done lists’ to allow us to feel what is next and not be frog marched to the next item.
To get to a point in life where you know without a shadow of doubt that you have all the answers within; that this wise inner knowing is the only guide you will ever need, is the most liberating feeling. No longer at the mercy of the mind that endlessly tries to get your attention, trying to convince you it knows absolutely everything, life begins to flow with an ease that is familiar, but has been absent for so long.
So agree Ingrid. When I live in this way, space arises an amazing true confidence appears and anxiety disappears. I have lived with incredible anxiety and still do but to a lesser degree. It is beautiful to know it does not have to be this way, and it is all a simple choice.
Michael, your blog is a beautiful timely reminder for me to slow down, let go of the drive and planning and go back to the stillness. Recently I have been allowing myself to get caught up in the momentum of my own enthusiasm and ended up exhausted! This is neither a good reflection to others or loving to my body. I shall put down my laptop for a few moments, take a few gentle breaths and bring myself back to my stillness and appreciate the wake up call (I knew it already but a kindly reminder doesn’t hurt). Life is always about self-love first and trusting that everything will work out if we support ourselves and stop allowing our minds to keep us in the drive and the momentum of the doing.
Even when we are in the drive of a momentum that is exhausting us, we are still in the knowing that this is not natural or right. We know everything all of the time, it’s not something that comes to you when you are having a good day.
Beautiful blog, equally beautifully expressed Michael Kremer. The something trying to suggest that I need to do more, to be more – and am therefore not enough just as I am is to very familiar. A constant drive to achieve and to prove to the world and to myself that I am worthy and that I am indeed enough…exhausting just thinking about it. How gloriously simple it is to just return to the fullness of ourselves in that reconnection to our stillness within. Thank you.
Yes richardmills363, I am seeing how my list of things to do is connected to feeling worthy or deserving. When I complete my list I get some sense of accomplishment. When I don’t, there is a feeling of guilt and the negative self chat starts. It is exhausting and the anxiousness it causes does not feel nice at all.
Wow Michael, this is lovely, I write up to do lists and often it feels like a battle trying to get everything on the list done and like you say it’s easy to feel like a failure if all the things on the list do not get completed, I love how you now feel what to do rather than follow your list – very inspiring.
With most behaviours I too have found that just stopping them has never worked in the long run, so adapting them then addressing why they are occurring has had far more success in the long run. Like going from gluten to gluten free products and now not even those. The same can be applied as you’ve shared here Michael, from a ‘to do list’ to a ‘might be done list’ (which even just reading that feels like the pressure has dropped!) without the pressure what could be underneath? When under pressure nothing gets done in any standard of quality.
Thank you Michael this is such a beautiful inspiration to let go of the tension of my ‘to do’ list and trust that my body will show me what is the next thing to do.
That is great Michael and lovely to read how much you have allowed the pressure and expectations to go. I know what you mean about lists they can be anxious driven or they can be supportive. I find at work when I have lots on if I make a list of what I need to do by when I then manage to do it and more not because I am going into anxiousness or drive but because I am spending less time faffing around thinking what needs to be done – so they can be great at keeping me focused!
I can feel the lightness in letting go of the tension of being at the mercy of the ‘to do’ list and “just being and being present with what I do, no thinking ahead or having another project on my mind.”
I agree Mary, the to-do list almost takes away from the beauty of the moment.
I was the queen of the to do list and to feel the anxiety and pressure I placed on myself at the time seems so crazy now, but to see the beauty in being present in every moment and not worrying about what’s next is simply gorgeous.
The ‘to do’ list feels heavy and tiresome. Being present and allowing what is needed to be done next to unfold feels so much lighter.
I can feel that too Mary. Just surrendering to the body and being present – which feels like what it means to bring all of me in full to each moment – does release the tension in my body and connect with the lightness that is there.
Thank you Mary, I agree, it is like letting the air out of your tyres so you have no where to go, and with out that pressure we can be responsible for all your decisions.
Wow Michael, I get so caught up in what ‘needs’ to be done and I can relate so well to the failure I put on myself if I don’t get something done. You have inspired me to at least try to feel what is there to be done next rather than plodding through a list In autopilot which so often feels like climbing up hill.
This is how the whole world lives – under this constant pressure to do things or they have chosen to check out entirely and do nothing. This blog brought me to tears this morning because it is a tangible telling of the influence that Serge Benhayon is having on the world. He is inspiring so many people to show that there is a another way to be with ourselves – that we have a deep knowing of how to live and what is needed but we have forgotten how to (re) connect to that part of us. Thank you for this reflection Michael.
I know the endless lists and of never reaching the end which caused the feeling of stress, disappointment and failure. Not really the way to confirm and appreciate myself but in fact making it about what I do. I can step in this way of abusing myself but more and more I am able to just feel what is needed and just like you I have a ‘gentle reminder’ list. And on top is ‘just oe me in all that I do’.
Do we obsess over the things ‘to do’ as a convenient distraction to simply not BE, the All that we are?
100% Liane, this is our creation.
Living in the honouring of my being, from the stillness deep within is such a blessing to my human body as this serves me through my day and is always there to support me in everything that needs to be done, with ease.
This is a great sharing Michael. Living peacefully – knowing that everything is just as it should be – even though there is still suffering and hurt. We are learning to live with the concept of “and”. There are things to do “A N D” everything is just as it should be. I used to think I had to wait until everything was as it should be before I could appreciate life and myself. The teachings of Serge Benhayon have helped me to realise I can live in harmony even while there are things to be done. Such a blessing.
The stillness in your life and writing is palpable, thank you; and it also feels very yummy, deep and enriching. The polar opposite of the pressure we can so easily put on ourselves and all the out of rhythm to-do-lists of which you so rightly say “I would never meet my expectations”. That’s the perfect setup for failure.
Absolutely Gabriele, I agree, the approach Michael is taking is taking responsibility for his life, with love being the key!
Communication of love, first for ourselves is our most fundamental requirement for us to connect with the truth that this love is our essence, beyond our physical body, our emotions – it IS who we are. You have reminded me of this as you describe your return to your inner knowing. Thank you Michael.
I love feeling the space in this blog. It is the thing we truly want most, that freedom, expansion and absolute stillness of surrender to just be rather than the owning and potential control of lists. These lists be it in our minds or on paper hold us bound by the ideals of time and actually make time contract away from the expansion that could otherwise be
I am loving the “might be done lists”, Michael. That feels like such lovely bridging step to having no lists. It feels so healing to live from your innermost impulses and to allow the future to come to us rather than trying to grab what we think the future might hold!!
A great blog Michael, thank you for confirming how basic daily structure such as going to bed early and waking up early, introduces a simplicity into the day. And this simplicity then is a tremendous support to the rhythm and way of living with love and stillness.
How awesome Michael, turning the to do list into might do ones and saying no to pressure build up in your life. It is refreshing to read and be inspired by your description of living in a way which brings amazing quality and sense of completion to every thing that is done.
Oh yummo! I dearly love the morning, the waking of the day. The sounds all feel fresh and steady, even the sounds from owls who have been awake all night have a gentle call. I have found the morning sounds to be different to the sounds at the end of the day which can hold a different impression, like they carry the momentum of the day in their sound.
Definitely a blog I can relate to Michael! The pattern of “I would override what I felt would be good to do in favour of what was next on my lists” has been one that I have been working on for a while… ! It also made me appreciate that I am now more consistently able to make choices by listening to my body instead of overriding it. For example, last night I felt really tired and knew that what I really felt was to go to bed early. For a fleeting moment I considered all the other things I “could/should” be doing knowing that if I started, I would not get the early bed I felt I truly needed. So I honoured my body and went to bed, let go of the expectation to do the other tasks, and have observed that as a result, this morning I have woken up early and been able to complete all that I needed to get done.
I can relate Angela, my mind can go off in search of something more appealing to do, while my body plays catch up with the choices to prolong or put off what is the most important thing to do. Which as you say can be simply going to bed, or cooking a meal or exercising.
Great Angela, breaking this habit can be hard at first but the more consistent we are the easier it gets and then things get done in a natural flow instead of with a push. Now if I even think of pushing to get something done, I can feel my body tense up and if I override that obstructions and delays often interrupt the flow so it takes longer anyway, whereas if I do things as they naturally present they get done effortlessly without a sense of doing anything. I used to be a bit addicted to that feeling of working hard and achieving but now I love it when things unfold easily in the day.
In reading your words Michael, it is like I am sitting right there in the stillness with you. Thank you for this warming reminder that our body knows exactly, to the last detail, what we are to do.
Yes Joseph ” a warming reminder that our body knows exactly, to the last detail, what we are to do.” I had an experience this week that confirmed my bodies knowing… I felt to walk into a shop I had never been in before, I spoke to the two new owners as it turned out, have just taken over the business, the short story is I am now working there.
So simple when we listen to our body!
Hahaha. That’s awesome merrileepettinato. The same thing happened to me a few years ago!
Michael, you have expressed this in such a beautifully simple way – ‘ knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.’ A true and loving way to live life without expectations, ideals, beliefs and constant worry about anything that distracts from real life and allowing the magic of God to work through and with you, thank you.
I’ve been making the switch from being a to-do list obsessive to having a light touch list of things to remember, from which I then choose based on what feels right to do next. It was a pretty big leap of faith at first, but I agree that things flow way better and get done with an ease that is as surprising as it is rewarding. Giving my full attention to what I’m doing in any given moment allows me to fully participate in the activity and keeps my mind from nagging about other things that will get that same full attention later. It takes all the tension out of ‘getting things done’ and means I can give my all to each activity equally. I can really recommend it.
Excellent piece of writing. I throughly enjoyed reading.
We can get constantly caught up in what to do because of the unseen hand pushing us along. However when we give time and space to the rhythm you are describing Michael, there is an ease. This is something I wish to develop
Absolutely, “when we give time and space to the rhythm you are describing Michael, there is an ease.” The commitment of developing a rhythm that supports us does allow for an ‘ease’ to life as you describe, it is like a foundation of love and care, right there supporting our every moment and then when tricky things arise, or we start to ‘think’ the lists are getting too long we can stop and feel the foundation through our rhythm that we have built, it offers connection, stillness and appreciation of who we are.
Thats the beautiful thing davidsonsamantha when our rhythm becomes so solid very little thinking or consideration is needed. The rhythm gives us everything we need, a reference point to support us throughout life.
Hey Luke, it certainly does feel as if there is an “unseen hand pushing us along” but I realise now that it’s me doing it to me out of some belief that once I get things done I’ll somehow be better, get approval, or tick a box. It’s crazy how we can set impossible standards for ourselves which then gives us an opportunity to beat ourselves up when we don’t meet them. It’s a kind of setup so we never can come back to ourselves and have space and ease. Making that space first makes sense and it sets a foundation for the day to be in harmonious rhythm.
Yes true Sandra, when I feel there is nothing for me to contribute to a conversation or to a relationship it is a choice I am making to not commit to the grace in honouring the beauty in my connection of who I am. It is true that our job is to constantly connect and appreciate all the beauty that is there in every moment and not just at certain times and events.
Good contrasting points Sandra.
There is nothing more beautiful than feeling at ease – with oneself, with others and in life itself. It creates such space for appreciation. And such acceptance allows for such flow and, as you say, a knowningness to be there, lived and enjoyed too.
I agree Zofia. Being at ease and appreciating that is gold.
Wow Zofia, “There is nothing more beautiful than feeling at ease – with oneself, with others and in life itself”!
Absolutely Sofia, everything we do is a joy when we are this, and everyone benefits.
What a beautiful expression and re-take on life, and living it Michael, love the descriptions you use it feels awesome, and in your words: “I am rhythmically living each moment – living, instead of trying to master life” –
It’s always a beauty when we can feel ourselves in the ‘trying’ energy or ‘bettering’ energy as it reveals we are not simply Being. Personally this has been a wonderful unfolding for me and a loving learning to just accept and be and listen to my body.
I love this too Sofia. There is no trying or pushing in Michael’s words here, just an acceptance of the natural rhythm of life.
Michael this is gorgeous, there is a timeless quality of stillness in your writing that is resonating deeply in my body as I read this.
“Feeling no need or pressure – at least most of the time – is such a blessing. Sitting with myself in the glorious stillness of this morning, looking forward to the day, knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed”.
Absolutely Stephanie. I love the quote from the blog you have shared and I can feel the timelessness that you refer to in Michael’s writing. Stunning.
Yes Lee – The joy of letting go of the need for perfection changes everything!
“…no perfection needed.” Yep, let’s kick that harmful pattern to the curb! What is perfection anyway???
There is so much magic in what you write here Michael
Agree Natasha, the magic is the magic of God expressed in the stillness that Michael holds. Gorgeous!
So gorgeous Rachel, and in need of deep celebration, as it is not everyone that allows themselves to drop into the innate stillness that we each have, to bring the true magic of life to life, the true magic of God to life.
I agree. The magic ripples throughout the whole blog.
Just as energy is felt in everything we do, the magic of the blog does ripples through the writing and onwards for everyone to feel.
There certainly is Natasha. To live not governed by ‘to do’ lists is absolutely magic as it frees us up to be truly available to what is actually needed in any given moment. There is great healing offered in this for everyone.
There is and I find it hard to accept that I could live without to do lists, it brings up anxiety and fear, wonderful to have that exposed and feel what is behind this is a lack of connection to myself as when we make this the top of the to do list we know we can handle anything and do anything with ease.
This is a great realisation Vanessa as it shows up where we are still trying to be in control in our life. As I let go more and more of control I have come to realise that I want to control because I don’t fully trust myself to just surrender. Instead I compensate for this lack of surrender by going into a doing or a push, hence the opening for control to enter and take over. This has given me a false sense of safety or ‘comfort’ but in truth has only stopped me from truly dealing with the lack of trust I have in myself.
Robyn and Vanessa I like very much how open and honest you both are here. I agree with you Robyn, needing to do lists exposes how we have difficulty trusting to the flow of our bodies and surrendering to the absolute beauty that doing this brings into our lives.
And for me also I have come to see that I have in fact been in reaction to the power I feel inside, therefore have created many ways to cover this up, rather than feel the reaction in the beginning.
To be truly available for whatever is needed … I love love love this line Robyn 💗
I love it too Natasha. It brings with it a sense of responsibility to be connected to feeling and responding to whatever is needed. For me, this is true service.
True service and true healing. I’ve been noticing my mum doing this as support for me for the last little while and it is truly remarkable to be the recipient to of such service.
What I have found is that in order to be in true service and not just nice or helpful I need to be caring and loving with myself first, as this is then what I extend to all others. This is true service because it doesn’t leave me depleted, therefore leaving no one feeling less.
Gorgeous Robyn, no amount of ‘good’ or ‘truth’ comes from trying to help another. Because in truth we cannot ‘help’ but only inspire another, the choice always and forever has to be there’s. So lovely how it works really.
Yes, the term ‘helping’ comes with an imposition. It’s like the helper has something that the other person doesn’t, which is completely untrue. We all have an essence within and this essence is of equal value within us all. As you have said Natasha, we can only inspire another by living our essence as a reminder to them of theirs. No hard work, just a natural calling of them to come back to themselves – their essence.
So simple! It truly uncomplicates everything!
Gorgeous again Robyn as the way you share how it is without hard work that we can best support those around us, almost effortlessly, as we are innately glorious and have wisdom like no other, all we need to do is connect to it. Without recall, without struggle, just connect to our innate wisdom and love from that place.
I am realising it is effortless, Natasha. Just by being ourselves, from our essence, we naturally change the landscape around us. No hard work needed. Brilliant really!
So beautiful, it’s like we have the power to move mountains 🙂
We absolutely have the power to move mountains, maybe not so much in the physical sense, but certainly energetically. I am allowing myself to feel this on a deeper level at the moment – the impact we have on our environment just by being ourselves. So far, I am being blown away and I know there is more to come.
Continually deepening and seeing how much depth and presence we have and how much power is in that place blows me away too.. When we share with another from this depth or how another with this depth we do move mountains. The power of our presence is so very powerful
It is very powerful indeed, Natasha.
Dear Michael, I have not yet read your blog as I am just going off the work and look forward to it very much when I come home. When your blog landed in my Inbox I just saw the title, hadn’t opened it and immediately knew that you had written it. Your name flashed across what I call my ‘vision board’. I clicked on read blog, and sure enough, it was written by you. This is so interesting for me as I don’t really know you personally . Was this blog just so strong that it communicated who wrote it to me I wonder?
Lyndy, I had the exact same feeling just reading the first sentence of Michaels blog. I just knew he had written it….you pose a great question here and perhaps you are right…”Was this blog just so strong that it communicated who wrote it to me I wonder?” It is indeed a very beautiful piece of writing and such a glorious confirmation “knowing that all will be cared for and all that I have to do is be me to the best of my ability… no perfection needed.” Thankyou Michael for your wise and tender sweetness that you bring to us all.
I like what you are sharing here Lyndy, I had the same moment of knowing that this blog was written by Michael.
Dear Michael,
As I walked my morning walk today, I begun in the joy of me, the lightness was felt and the flow of movement in my body was effortless. Through my walk though, the personal pressures that I put on myself began to interfere with the beauty I was feeling. I steadied my thoughts and focused back on my body, initially to feel the heaviness that my wayward thinking had allowed into it. But then to feel again the beauty, stillness and joy of myself. Your blog is perfectly in line with my own surrendering to my bodies rhythm and the process of letting go of my mind running my body. In my experience letting my body lead the way leads to a simple complication free life.
Thank you Leigh, I could feel that same surrender myself as I read your comment 🙂
This is a great example Leigh of how we let our heads lead rather than our bodies. I love how you so simply surrendered to your bodies rhythm and felt once again the joy of being you.
Beautiful Leigh…our minds complicate whereas our bodies live and love simplicity.
Beautiful Leigh. If we let our hearts lead the way, true love will follow.
Thankyou Leigh, it is great timing for me to read your comment. “In my experience letting my body lead the way leads to a simple complication free life.” Perfectly expressed, and yes, the mind brings in something to upset this delicate beauty all day long!
Thank you for sharing this Leigh. This demonstrates how easy it is to lose ourselves a little but then the ease with which you were able to reconnect with your body. Absolutely inspiring. I love how both you and Michael describe your mornings.
So true Leigh when we lead from our heads we become bound by obligation, however from the body we are free, free to choose.
But for the grace of God. This saying comes to mind Lucindag. From the body we are living with the grace of God.
Leigh it seems clear to me that our bodies are the portal to ourselves, there’s no other way in, no detour, no shortcut and certainly no access through the mind.
Beautifully shared Leigh. In reading your comment I started to appreciate how much less I am letting my thoughts run while in my everyday living. Connecting more with my body and being aware of my thoughts have helped me become less task and performance driven, instead I am allowing my heart to lead the way more and more.
“In my experience letting my body lead the way leads to a simple complication free life” thank you Leigh this was glorious to read. I often have troubles getting ready in the morning before I go somewhere, and I always am anxious about a ‘leave time’ and whether I will be ready on time, but what you have shared makes so much sense as I can learn to trust my body and even if that means being 1 hour early I don’t mind.
I have to watch this too Harry. It can be easy to let time rule, there is no joy in my body though when this happens. The moment I surrender and work with the flow of my body again, the feeling of joy is there and simple things are presented that support me in the time that is available.
Hilarious but true Harryjwhite, as our body knows more truth than our mind can cope with. Therefore our humbleness to be at the receiving end of our body is key. Thank you for reminding us that anxiousness is simply a reaction/feeling to drifting somewhere or not being in the body. It all makes sense that if our human existence exist out of a physical body – we must always be with it and treat it good.
Beautiful Leigh, you have described how the self-imposed pressures we put on ourselves want to take over with our minds and the simplicity and power of surrendering into our bodies where we can feel the clarity and knowing that we can handle everything that is being presented in life.
Absolutely Michael, without perfection! I have found that quiet hard at times, to let go of being right/ trying to be perfect. Since coming to Universal Medicine I felt how this perfection is a huge pressure I put on myself.. but even though I seem to feel this effect everyday more strongly if I do go into perfection, seemingly I choose to be in it less now, but at times I still choose to do so and basically in everything I do, think or choose.
But what I realized recently is that this perfection is nothing more then protection and an energy that I choose to confirm (by its believes) that I am not enough! This voice seems to get in and push, whilst I actually feel that there is no need to push. It is now for me to make sure I stop and connect to myself when this energy or voice is coming up – and feel where I am at by connecting to one of my strengths; being at work at an emergency situation for instance, because all I then remember is what it is about – not these ideals about not being good enough and having to proof wrong or right (being perfect about things). This time is over, now it is simply exposing these areas in life where I have made it about perfection instead of love (for myself and being satisfied with all of me).This is my real power I got, I just have to claim it back now and forever.
I love what you share Danna: “But what I realized recently is that this perfection is nothing more then protection and an energy that I choose to confirm that I am not enough! ”
If we allow this in we go down and I love how you stop in that moment and come back to who you are and remember your strength and what you bring. I will take that practice into my day today.
Yes it is literally a choice and maybe that is a bitter pill to swallow, we go around in circles wanting to make things more complicated than they really are. ‘in every moment is a moment to choose do you choose to be you” lyrics from glorious music but pretty much sums it all up!
That is beautiful Judith. thank you for sharing this with us.
Thanks for drawing my attention again to that line Judith – it’s so true what you share, we do have a choice in every moment to either allow whatever energy comes our way to run us, or to step back, and choose to come back to ourselves, and with each time that we do this we confirm all that we are even more.
True Danna and Judith, “It is now for me to make sure I stop and connect to myself when this energy or voice is coming up – and feel where I am at by connecting to one of my strengths”. I agree and something I have been devoting time to recently too. It is actually very important to know your qualities. This as it has been said by many in the comments is living life in truth.
Wow. What you share here is absolutely true Danna. What I find interesting is that the fact we can never meet our own expectations or perfectionistic ideals shows already that we are setting ourselves up to fail by placing on ourselves something we know we can never achieve. It is almost like the failure is a guarantee than we indulge in the comfort of rather than just enjoying and living the simplicity of just being our glorious selves!
Yes as how can we put out an image of something we are not and expect ourselves to be that – and if not achieved get sad. This is the ultimate form of sabotage. So we are better off without it – as you say, just being in simplicity with ourselves. Then complexity does not matter.
I so agree Joshua, it is such a set up, we raise the bar so high we will never reach it and if we actually should manage we will just raise the bar higher – it is a huge game we play with ourselves just so we can be less than who we truly are.
Its like playing a constant game of chasing the carrot stick.. super exhausting!
Beautiful quote Danna Elmalah, “perfection is nothing more then protection”, and great example of ways that you find your way back to reconnect with your stillness.
Perfection is protection as much as it is distraction and stimulation, it serves a whole lot of behaviours and strategies that take and keep us away from simply being who we are and realizing that this is enough and the first and foremost thing before doing anything – something stillness very much supports.
Yes Alex, stillness supports while the pursuit of perfection erodes our very foundation.
Yes all and yes Alex, stillness is our key!
I have been living in comparison and trying to be perfect, especially with knowledge like my Director, Manager and Senior Accountant have. I have been living with the belief that everyone probably thinks I’m hopeless at my job and that I don’t know what I am doing. The 3 people I’m comparing myself to are on leave at the moment so other staff members are asking me for help. What I am discovering is that I do know what I am doing and I am using skills that I wouldn’t normally use as my senior staff members would take care of it. I am enjoying the communication and connection with my fellow staff members and I can feel the space that has been created to allow this time to discover what I am capable of and build my self confidence. No more being perfectly hopeless in my mind as I can now live from the self confidence I have been building in my body.
That’s beautiful Lindell and very inspiring. It is amazing when you give yourself the space what is afforded to you – miracles happen! Also, it reminded me just because there is a feeling of awkardness in your body can mean there is something there to step into and the tension is only there because you have not stepped into it before.
I have never taken the view that the awkwardness in my body could mean there is something to step into. I have always taken the negative approach. My world has just opened up even more. Thank you for your wisdom Rik.
Michael thank you for such lovely confirming wisdom. We are all equipped with everything we require from with-in and taking the pressure off allows the flow of our own knowing. No “to do list” can match this, as you say it can actually be the mechanism that limits us.
So true Sandra, we are indeed “…all equipped with everything we require from with-in and taking the pressure off allows the flow of our own knowing. “. Pretty crazy that we choose to “put the pressure on” which limits this natural flow.
It is pretty crazy that we get in the way of what actually will support us to be much more joyful in every moment. Prefering the stressed out have so much to do important frenzied I must be important scenario that runs most of us. If we feel the power we have if we are ourselves in full we would feel our true importance.
Exactly Vanessa, so it’s a choice, and by buying into the stress/pressure/frenzy we are actually preventing ourselves from feeling our true power.
Our only real ‘to do’ list is to stay connected to ourselves and honour what we feel.
Kylie if only we were all to have your suggestion of ‘stay connected to ourselves and honour what we feel’ on our ‘to-do’ lists then life as we know it would be transformed.
So true Kylie, if that is at the top of our list, everything else gets taken care of.
Very well said Sandra. The mind full of lists can impose on our inner knowing of what truly needs to be done.
I love how you started your blog Michael, I could feel the stillness and it sets the rhythm of the blog beautifully.
That was what I felt too Matthew I could feel how wonderful it is to start the day with none of the usual pressures of what goes through my mind…getting to work,…. what is the weather doing…. and all the little thoughts that come in to interfere with the unfolding of the day.
I agree alisonmoir. It is easy to go straight into your head with planning the day and all the possibilities even before you get out of bed. I have found such an ease when I connect to my body and go about my day doing the next thing and then the next. This is beautifully reflected in Michael’s writing.
Beautifully expressed Michael, Mathew and Alisonmoir, life is ‘wonder-full’ when love is our foundation.
Absolutely Greg Barnes. If love is the connection we life from than life can only be wonderful.
I too loved the beginning and as soon as I read “something in me tries to suggest that I am wrong as I have not done what I had thought needed to be done this morning” I silently went “uh oh!” because I have been there, I have had such gorgeous mornings and then have lost it to that thought that says all is not well because I am behind with the list! Wonderful that the blog continued to build on how the blog started offering some tips along the way.
Hi Golnaz, I love your comment, it made me realize that even though I do not really write lists anymore, those expectations I can have on myself are invited in at times and spoil my morning or day. I still accept that it is okay to have those expectations on myself (and others) and do not discern those thoughts and where they come from and that I am the one saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to them.
So true Golnaz how easily we can return to the tension of the list, I used to find it hard to truly complete tasks because i would be thinking about the next. Arriving at a task free from expectations allows for joyous completion!
I agree, I felt this gentle stillness, all around as I began to read this article. Awesome start and really began to feel the appreciation for that stillness and why it is wonderful to make it part of life that we are aware of and living with.
I agree, it feels quite wonderful to start the day with enjoying the stillness. After reading this blog I can’t imagine making the choice now to mull over the days “to do” tasks with all that gloriously stillness waiting!
Yes it was very beautiful to read.
Yes I loved and felt this too Matthew, such a beautiful quality that reflects the fact that we can all bring this quality of stillness to our everyday life.
Here, here Matthew, there is such an exquisite timeless quality to how Michael so beautifully described how he was feeling in the early morning.
I could feel that stillness too Matthew, well observed .. it is the way to start the day holding all that is sacred to you at the birth of the day – YOU. Going in-to reactive behaviour was a common theme for me. This was just in spite to lack of choices I have been making. Instead of being in regret it is more important to embrace the learning, let the thoughts / list go and appreciate what’s before you. Keeps it simple to any complex form it may-be.
Wow Michael I love this. Changing to do lists to might be done lists sounds like a great step towards releasing the pressure we can place on ourselves to be continually at the mercy of the clock. When we allow our inner knowing to play a role in how our days unfold the tension is eased and flow returns to our daily living. Awesome.
This is so true Kelly. The pressure we place on ourselves about time just falls away when we allow our days to simply unfold. And this comes from our commitment to do what is needed in every moment possible. It is amazing how often I look at the clock and realise that time is actually on our side when commitment, trust, and presence is our way.
That is beautiful Robyn, you show us actually what true rhythm is and how we can live from our body rhythm instead of lists! I love it!
So true Danna, true rhythm does come from the body and not the clock. There is also a practicality to our lives in terms of time that is important to discuss, such as having commitments at a certain time. We can work with these commitments from our bodies rather than the clock by simply working from a point of true rhythm as it takes care of the whole – our quality, our body, those around us, those we are meeting etc – therefore we arrive at our appointment or commitment glowing with the essence of ourselves, as we are not governed or dominated by time, but respectful of it as it is part of the world we live in.
Yes Robyn – it makes more sense to work from our body than our mind, clock or list. Our body moves not our mind , right? What is important is rhythm, as you share with us, to find our own rhythm not based on time but our inner-impulse to do things and be. This will impress us forth in whatever way will respect and suit our body, mind, spirit and soul. That is beautiful!
So very beautiful, Danna, as it allows our days to unfold rather than be forced, pushed, or ‘planned’. To know that there is a greater plan and all is poised to unfold in the way that is needed, absolutely impresses us forth, and I have found it actually ‘saves’ time and brings with it a sense of space.
Absolutely well said Robyn, it absolutely saves time and feels free too. I have experienced that things seem to be without struggle and more with an openness to be however you feel to be and whatever feels right to do. It is less about our mind and more about our body. That is just very loving!
It does take the struggle out of the day, Danna, I have experienced this too. My body is such a good reminder for me about this, especially around certain times of the month. If I go into a rush or push at all in relation to time, my chest starts to squeeze in, and I begin to the feel a hardness creep in. Instead of continuing on, I stop and take a breath to settle back into my body, and the squeeze and hardness drop away. This has only come to pass because I have released so much hardness in my body through Esoteric Bodywork, that I am now able to feel my body in such an acute way. The body really is the best alarm clock and instrument of time we have available to us here on earth.
That is fantastic that through that Esoteric Bodywork you are able to feel any hardness creep in , and so you have a free choice to continue to allow this hardness to settle – or to choose tenderness instead. Very inspirational. As is said before by this amazing person , Serge Benhayon, ‘Our body is the marker of truth’.. So listening to it – is a wise deed.
Yes, Danna, Esoteric Bodywork is amazing for clearing our bodies of so much. I committed to a 12 month program of arm massages to help clear the hardness in my body. I have another 2 months to go and the changes have been extraordinary. After just 2 treatments I was hugging people like I have never hugged before. A real hug, a real embrace. Allowing people to feel me in the hug, letting them in close on so many levels. Totally recommend this for everyone!
That is huge Robyn, how beautiful that simply healing and commitment to Esoteric Bodywork helps us clear old patterns and behaviors (that have made us hard and unable to truly hug another). How beautiful that these hurts and hardness are able to be cleared out of your body – so that you are able to love and hug people like you had never done before! True celebration of joy in my heart to read this.
It truly is a joy, Danna, and the angels sing in Heaven when we release what is holding us back from truly expressing the Love that we are, and Esoteric Bodywork is a modality sent direct from Heaven to support us in returning to our innate beginnings of Love.
We are all equally given 24 hours per day, and this 24 hour cycle continuously repeats. So why do we think we need to complete our ‘to do’ list in one 24 hour cycle when the cycles are continuous? We place so much pressure on ourselves when we don’t need to.
Brilliantly said lindellparlour- this definitely brings in another way of viewing life- one with less pressure to be living life by the clock, which only creates stress and anxiousness/ nervous energy, which we don’t need.
Great point Lindellparlour, I so much agree with you. I have found when I don’t put pressure on myself to complete certain tasks within my day things definitely flow and more gets completed without stress but with ease.
The same thing happens for me and I still sit in awe of it.
Wow Lindell, this takes the pressure off and makes it more real. I do not feel any complacement with what you say either. The awareness of this fact lets you live to the cycle instead of going against it.
Beautifully written Rik. I agree, it’s so much easier to go with the flow of our rhythms and cycles than to fight against them.
Beautifully said Lindell, we have every moment of our day to complete and feel true within ourselves! This is such good and rich news! No wonder a day can feel so much the same.
I agree Kelly. When I am not dominated by todo lists there is an ease and flow to my day. I am able to do what is there to be done at the time rather than develop some mental priority list to work through regardless of how I feel or what I feel impulsed to complete at the time.
Exactly Lee, what we feel impulsed to do at the time is often way more productive that going with a list of to do’s that often go against our naturally felt rhythms.
True Lee, when you feel what to do next and do it there is beauty in the way you do it, a natural flow is there, and it completes as it should. It is you doing it so the task is joyful. Sometimes I feel to clean for much of the day, when I would rather be doing other stuff. After and during the cleaning there is marker of how lovely it feels in the body. This feeling does not top anything.
Yes it’s beautiful in it’s simplicity as there is no pre-determined outcomes just a natural flow that allows you to bring you into your day.
Yes Kelly! And I find sometimes it’s as if time slows for us to be able to get the job done. I often have that inner knowing that when I’m doing something that really serves others – not just me – it’s as if the clock goes ‘go for it, I’ll buy you a few minutes’. I find that never happens when I’m not with me, when I’m rushing.