837 thoughts on “A Race With No Finish Line”

1. “an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.” The silly thing is that we try to prove ourselves and get recognition from ourselves, so it is the proverbial viscous circle.

2. When we go into drive it is impossible to connect with our body and what we are truly feeling.

3. Rebecca this drive thing often takes us for a drive away from ourselves, and in that, we become something we innately are not. When we become something we naturally are not from, we take on things that do not belong to our bodies and so the cycle continues. Billions and billions of people are in this cycle and its a no wonder our ozone layer is being affected…

   Anxiousness is rife, it drives people in many ways, then just one. When we are from that part that offers us space, then this place will become a whole new planet to live in. And when every human makes that choice, can you imagine how the beings will be then? Connected to more than just each other…

4. Understanding how appreciation of what we are, then this deepening relationship with everyone/thing else being divine also develops an expanding confirmation and authority of our essences.

5. What we don’t realise is when we race around is we lose that time to be with ourselves – we literally miss out on us. And as you have shared Rebecca when we give ourselves the space to be present in life we can respond and learn so much about ourselves and other people.

   1. Melinda, we not only lose that time to be with ourselves, but we lose time to be with each other too. That separation is another anxiousness as no humans are meant to be on their own, no one person can be without another, no place can exist without another. We need one another, it is that simple…

6. Space is still something I am learning to understand fully. I have felt it, and know it to the bone, but yet there is a part of me that feels like it is the hardest thing to put into practice on a day to day basis – giving more and more space each day.

7. Multi-tasking does not mean that we will necessarily be slower in what we do – with focus and presence we are less likely to make mistakes and hence also complete a job or chore or task with greater quality, and from there we are also far more equipped and ready for the next job without feeling rushed or scattered. This is a powerful way to operate in a day and then get to the end of the day and feel like we are still fully together and ready for the next moment in full. This is amazing to experience – and in my experience it is not something that happens overnight and is something that I have worked on and am still working on consistently so.

8. When we multi-task and do things in a way that does many things all at the same time without really being with ourselves during this time, we are putting the body under huge distress by asking it to live several things simultaneously. As much as we would like to believe that we are creatures that are good at multitasking, and this applies especially so to many of us as women, it really is one of the worst things for us to do. Being with ourselves on the other hand and feeling each moment and what it brings is what supports us to be ‘centered’ and more calm and able to handle all of life’s challenges. Being scattered and all over the place and and multitasking does the opposite. In a world where we are expected to multitask, this can be a challenge to bring.

9. Rebecca, I love what you have shared in this blog for it is an all too common thing that we all do. This example is GOLD: “The way I would be thinking about everything except focusing on what I was doing there and then.” and is all about multitasking but not really being anywhere doing anything!

   1. What a great choice to bring into our lives, ‘I am now working on catching when this drive creeps into my day and instead of staying in it, stopping to bring myself back to focus on me and what I am doing right now.’

10. We live in a world where what you achieve is far more important than who you are so is it any wonder that anxiety and nervousness is rampant in our society and we are all exhausted which is why I guess we rely on Coffee and other stimulated drinks to get us through the day.

11. Drive and anxiety seem to go and in hand… I know for me it does, in the drive I disconnect from my body and everything I do lacks quality, and I end up feeling exhausted and anxious because of the way I have pushed myself.

12. “I then asked myself the question – why am I choosing to live this way?”

    First comes the awareness of what you are doing then the next important question is to ask why you are doing what you are doing….and with as much self-love and self-honesty as you can muster!

    1. Spot on Sarah and Rebecca – for honesty is our first step in being able to realise what is stopping us from growing. We cannot bake a cake unless we check first that all the ingredients have been provided, and then once that is in place the next step is to have the willingness to bake the cake (and with no perfection here being asked, and a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them).

13. When we bring true understanding to how we are and allow ourselves to feel more deeply what is really at play we open ourselves up to being more aware and observant in our lives, the platform which supports true change.

14. I have started a new job this month and although in the beginning I absolutely felt the space to be myself, the old pattern of feeling anxious and wanting to prove myself and not letting anyone down (except myself) is in my face again. So this is a great question for me today ‘…am I just doing what seems to be ‘right’?’ And to add, how does this leave my body?

15. Life makes a lot more sense if you can step back in moments and observe what is happening rather than dive right in and get lost in what is happening. I find when I can do that I have much more clarity and awareness and what’s going on around me does not have such a major impact.

16. When we feed ourself with anxiety we go round in circles because it is self perpetuating, and yet when we stop and bring our body to a stillness with the Gentle Breath Meditation we give ourselves space to become more aware of our body and from there we are able to change our choices.

17. Boy Rebecca, reading this blog was like looking in the mirror for me as I can relate to much of what you shared here and I really appreciated what you said about using raciness to avoid feeling what is truly going on and responding to it once it’s read. It is like we are using the raciness and the things that keep us in it (like caffeine, sugar, dramas, etc. ) to avoid really feeling and appreciating just how amazing we are in our natural qualities without having to prove anything to anyone.

18. A gentle appreciation of the potential in all of us when we let go of the drive to be something we are not and just be ourselves.

19. I find it is very difficult to connect with someone who is running on drive and raciness. It can feel like they don’t have time to stop and connect. I used to take this personally and think they were simply avoiding me but now, I can see it so clearly that it is not personal but a sign for me to stay steady and connected with myself and allow people space to connect or not.

20. I can so relate to what your saying Rebecca and the irony too is that we are only racing with, or rather against, ourselves

21. Drive never has a finish line and never feels enough. It never lets you feel contented and settled in your body and it also never lets you feel what the drive is actually covering up – which could be something like the sadness of not being valued or met as child.

    1. So true Fiona, I can relate to this and can feel how I have sometimes allowed drive to cover up what I am really feeling. I used to feel the tension from using my body in drive and feel very unsettled in my body and it can sometimes feel like nothing I do is good enough. This is now changing due to connecting to my body more, being more present and doing things with quality instead of drive. It is a huge difference to now feel the settlement in my body.

       1. Making a choice to connect with and feel our body is so supportive, ‘ bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking.’

    2. True, there is no settlement with drive, there is always the next thing to push through.

22. What you describe is so me like a ‘before & afters’. ‘…I would often be halfway through closing it and already be turning to do the next thing… or I would leave one task half-finished to start another and swap between.’ So me too. I started to focus on completing things and when I needed to leave for work I would allow myself more time to finish up things and get going. That was very confronting at the start – the drive and motion were so engrained – but gradually something settled in me. I experience more space now and and just like you I can feel more of me and, very important, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment – i.e. what is needed to be said, done and how – as you write. I am in the process of deepening that by bringing in more honesty what is truly needed instead of what I want or am used to.

23. Very interesting to read how you have identified appreciation of yourself as a counter to anxiousness, and it feels like we deliberately introduce anxiousness to avoid connecting with space, which would eventually and inevitably let us know the enormity of what is.

24. And the thing is, that this race mode as you say Rebecca, is something that so many many people think is cool, and the way to be, with absolutely no idea of the toll that it is taking upon us

25. The metaphor of a race sets up the stage. If you decide to participate in it (if this is how you see life), you can either quit or finish. Yet, who are you racing against? And, that is the key since you are racing away from yourself who in truth needs no races.

26. What a blessing it is to know that when we truly connect we do not need to be a part of this ‘race with no finish line’ that has sucked most in. Racing through life compounds anxiety as it is competitive and very stressful

27. All we have to do is look around And see that drive is running so many people in so many ways

    1. Drive runs many people, so is it any wonder our health and well-being is not so great?

28. All races race us eventually into the ground. It is an exciting ride but very costly to our love and our well-being.

29. The act of completing something, even the small things, and then pausing to note the completion, allows more space.

30. Having no finish line is huge. So much of my life I have spent thinking when I get this or that then I have made it. It is like I have been programmed to want a rest stop, a moment where I can go ok great and rest. But what if we are here to expand and forever deepen so the moment we complete something it is so something greater can come. It brings the what is next rather than the look at me I’ve just done this. Sure it is important we appreciate and confirm what we have done but we can do this moving forward otherwise the moment we stop we stop our connection.

31. Isn’t it interesting how much honesty comes to us when we sleep? I have found there is a potential for another layer of honesty available to us if we are prepared to listen.

32. What is so important is to feel the difference between purpose and drive… The spherical versus the linear, the multidimensional versus the two-dimensional… The difference between joy and anxiety… What’s amazing is that I need to be constantly reminded of this!

33. When we use drive and motion to get through the day we are totally run by time and miss out on being open to feeling space and that this beautiful quality can bring to our life.

34. Being in drive and push used to be the perfect way to be busy all the time, not deepen the relationship with myself and others and not surrender to the stillness and sacredness inside.

35. I can so relate to what you have shared regarding drive Rebecca and are aware that I constantly pit myself against the pressure of time and in that rush, allow it to compromise the quality of what I do.

    1. The drive and push are so common in people’s lives, is it any wonder there are so many health problems these days.

36. There’s nothing worse than listening to someone and being anxious that you have to get on with whatever it is you have to do. I find this in the care work as you are on a limited visit, which is these days is all checked electronically using mobile phones – so the office knows your every move. The client wants to talk, but we have to get on with the practical side of things – I know we are there to do a job, but people want to connect because they spend hours on their own, so it’s understandable that they want to have a conversation with someone.

37. “What is it that the anxiousness and drive stops me from getting to feel about myself?” And also stops us from being aware of others and everything that is going on around us.

    1. And does the drive stop us feeling the underlying anxiousness?

38. Being driven to perform, always setting the goal ahead, never feeling quite good enough is a sure way to stay in motion and not surrender into the inner stillness and sacredness.

    1. Yes, never to feel what is truly going on, though, if you look a little deeper what is truly going on is love, truth and stillness.

       1. Well said Christoph, we tend to get scared off by the layers of hurt we encounter when we first start feeling again not realising that this is just a very thin veneer compared to the enormous love and light that lies beneath it. Worth scratching that surface I would say!

39. A great article Rebecca on living with drive and raciness and how it feels in the body and how creating space by being consciously present enables us to be present with our body with each situation reading what is there to feel and being able to respond openly and honestly with the situation,

40. Yes, when we’re running at a million miles an hour on the inside it can feel like we don’t have any feelings and we greatly diminish our ability to read situations, just because we’re not with our bodies to be able to notice what and how we’re feeling. Bringing our focus to each moment really does create the feeling of more space, because we’re in the moment and can then complete the thing usually much quicker than when we try to focus on many things at once. It’s the opposite to the multitasking mode where we perpetuate the ‘never enough’ feeling, and always trying to catch up with ourselves.

41. I recognise so much of this in me and around me, so many of us live life in a state of anxiousness and have coping mechanisms which mean we often do not see them. When we drop those mechanisms we get to see where we truly are and that is the start for an honesty and a space to feel what is going on and respond accordingly.

    1. I agree, and wouldn’t you say it is a constant unfolding monicag2? where there are layers we are ready to see and as we choose whether to address that layer we are then offered the next layer. So all in our own time.

42. Thank you Elizabeth, I appreciated what you shared here, this is something I can add to my day also, simple and self loving.

43. Thank you Rebecca, this is very supportive to read this to understand drive. I feel that beliefs of ‘not being enough’ and ideals of ‘doing a good job’ and needing to ‘get things done’ as a priority over myself are definitely at play when drive is present. The anxiousness you speak of underneath the drive is really pivotal because there are often layers to why we are as we are, and understanding these and addressing them in practical ways are part of the healing process.

44. “As I work on addressing the drive, the anxiousness is becoming more apparent because the coping mechanism is no longer being allowed to play out.”
    The understanding shared here brings a great awareness to why it is so very difficult to let go of substance abuse, or anything that we use to ignore feeling our body and the truth of the life we have made.

45. I can so relate to waking up in a panic, this was something that I used to experience frequently. With this anxiousness running my body, I never even felt my body, as such. I no longer wake in a panic and what is so very profound is that on waking I can feel the silkiness of my body, my presence within it and a steady readiness to ease into my day.

46. The simplicity in bringing our awareness back to our body, the way we’re holding ourself, moving and breathing affords us the opportunity to be more aware of the quality in the way we are approaching life.

    1. And allowing this way of living allows a settlement in our bodies, which always feels so lovely.

47. I have been noticing recently a real power and natural authority that can be had when we are with ourselves in absolute presence with our body. Sometimes we go into rush and drive to avoid challenging others with this natural authority.

    1. Yes Joshua I can only agree. The ‘problem’ does not lie in the rushing and drive but the reason why we choose and create it, as you so well said to avoid our power and natural authority.

48. “I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.” When we are able to take this time to stop and appreciate another because we have taken the time to appreciate ourselves more, we open ourselves and the other person up to so many opportunities that would otherwise not be there and avaialbe to us.

49. A point you gave me to ponder on is, when to get up from the dinner table. This has been coming up for me recently where I dishonour myself and do not do what I want to do. I have given my power away and do things by others rhythms and don’t honour my own. I can feel then I go into the reaction of this and shut people out and do my own thing. The truth is learning to express myself within the group.

50. It is amazing how easy it can be to get ahead of myself, it is like I can move onto the next thing in my head without actually finishing what I am currently doing. The more I let go of the mind and what is next the more i can be present with what I am doing and the more ‘time’ I have for those around me as I am not trying to race onto whats next rather allowing it to come to me.

51. “As I work on addressing the drive, the anxiousness is becoming more apparent because the coping mechanism is no longer being allowed to play out” – Rebecca i love the insight you draw here.. and how that in the reducing of speed, race, drive, strive, rush, stimulation and so on.. other aspects do get revealed to us. And it just shows how much motion is a cover and something we use as a crutch almost to not feel other things in life; about life.. and about ourselves, others too.

52. I love the draw half closed identifier as it is a physical manifestation of when we are not with ourselves and committed to completing what we are doing. In these simple and small moments, they can teach us so much about the bigger picture about how we are with ourselves and others. You have given me some good food for thought about my own drive and what is behind it.

53. When we start to let go of drive, and replace that with the gold of purpose, our life changes extraordinary.

54. Great to become aware of unhealthy patterns and behaviours in our lives, we then know what is driving us and hence can choose a different, more supportive way.

55. We can be so driven in our lives, and we can think that this is so normal. And yet when we do find stillness, and those pauses that nurture us so deeply, it is like lifting a veil of awareness, and we see what is actually going on in the world.

56. Society tends to value people who appears to be “bubbly, excited or motivated”. There is no doubt that they do not go unnoticed. Because of this, there is also an expectation that they will deliver bubbliness, excitement and motivation on a consistent basis. After all, these are the features by which you are known to others. So, they have to walk the talk and reduce themselves to fit that image. It is a self-built jail that reduces them as beings and conditions their movements.

57. It can make a real difference to have simple ways of re-connecting with our body and how we’re feeling in what we’re doing, bringing our mind back to our body and movements in the moment, giving ourselves the opportunity to be more aware of the way in which we’re living.

58. The ironic thing about all of our rushing around is that we don’t end up feeling like we’ve achieved more, but usually just more checked out and unaware of how we’ve been. Yes, sometimes we do need to move fast to catch a bus or to put out a fire, but most of the time, we don’t need to rush. It’s just a choice of movement and an alignment to energy: rushing and checking out that leads to a disconnection, or steady focus and presence, bringing more connection to what we can feel, and an innate knowing that we are enough.

    1. I agree there is never really any need to rush as it usually, well always for me, results in my body becoming racy and on edge. It starts as soon as I try to look ahead and anticipate what is coming rather than being fully present with myself in the moment.

59. Great point of reflection: do we go about our day awake and aware of how we’re moving, how we’re being in each moment, or are we in non-stop momentum going from one thing to the next, without ever stopping to notice? And what is the impact of each of those choices on how we feel about ourselves, our relationships with others and the wider impact on the world?

60. I notice that I live in a way that makes sure I am racy, for example if I leave with just enough time to get somewhere then I will feel the tension of not wanting to be late and rush, it may be subtle but it’s there. I am then more impatient with traffic and I’m guaranteed to arrive where I am going wound up. That wound up doesn’t need to be agitated and impatient (which it can be and often is) but also, excited and bubbly as you described. Either way, it doesn’t matter as they have both taken me away from feeling settled in my body.

61. It is so lovely to reflect on how I was living life even a year or so ago when I would finish my day still pushing to get things done, it feels so different to the way I prepared myself to sleep last night.

62. I can feel that it is utterly exhausting to push through life trying to get things done without looking at the quality I am doing them in. I often slip into drive, it is only recently that I’ve started to clock when I shift and it seems to be when I devalue myself and feel I am not enough that I start to push to validate my own worth.I love how you have shared that it is by valuing ‘what you do and what you bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve’

63. I love your honesty in everything you have shared here. ‘For example, bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking.’ Things like this are super simple and practical in supporting us to come back to the truth of who we are. Allowing us a stop and moment instead of just tumbling through the day with one thing after another and not truly being with ourselves .. like being on a continual convey belt with no stop! I know this one well as I have allowed it many times but really appreciate how my body is calling to me this can no longer be lived. It is great when we start to question how we are living.

    1. I like how you describe it as tumbling through life – its like a uncoordinated jumble as we move gracelessly from moment to moment, just muddling through. It leaves life as much less than it could be – in creating more space we give ourselves the opportunity to stop our down hill tumbling and move ourselves through life rather than having it move us.

64. I so recognise this, the need to rush, to be efficient, and in fact it’s a great way to mask what is going on. So now I’m learning to be more with each thing and to see when I go into that race, there’s perhaps something I’m avoiding feeling and wanting to see. And the best thing is that it keeps unfolding, and it does indeed give more space to see what is needed in each moment.

    1. Thank you Monica, I agree that we can be masking what’s is really going on when we allow anxiousness and drive to rule our lives. The simple stop moments Rebecca uses are so supportive to continually allow ourselves to connect to how we feel, and to take care of ourselves as a result. Life then becomes also more about taking care of ourselves rather than placing what we do first.

65. Rebecca, this is a great remedy for anxiousness and I have noticed with myself that this works; ‘I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’ I have noticed at work if I am present with myself and appreciating who I am and my qualities then I do not feel anxious and I enjoy my work, if I am not appreciating myself and am in self doubt then I can get very anxious and work is very un-enjoyable.

66. “I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people” – agree Rebecca, I can relate to this very much.. because if you can’t feel what’s there, then you have easy abdication from otherwise activating the enormous greatness that’s there asking us to be responsible towards understanding whole-life as it is, raw, energetically true.

67. It feels so different when we allow space to occupy our day instead of the constraints of time, by allowing raciness, rush, stress and drive to take over. Interestingly, I seem to choose the latter more often than not, but I am noticing and appreciating more and more each time I let go of this way of moving and expressing.

68. It is a blessing for allowing so much self-reflection and observance in your life as you do Rebecca. We learn that far too little if at all in this world and put no emphasise at all regarding these personal things in our education system. I have always observed with children/students that struggle with a certain subject in school, that it is not the topic itself but that it always had to do with the lack of knowing themselves, knowing what they needed and knowing the rhythms to live by to go through life with ease and joy.

69. What a gift to learn this at 19. Living this way causes so much less wear’n’tear on the body, it is one of the best gifts you can give your body is to be with it and not against it.

    1. So very true “What a gift to learn this at 19.” We are robbed of so many things simply by the way we are brought up and all the things that do not work, like stress and rushing, that society instills in us. So what a blessing to be inspired that there is another way, where you build yourself a solid foundation to go through life on, that saves you the many struggles we deem so normal in this world.

    2. This is so true Sarah, I am becoming more aware of when I am fighting against my body, whereas in the past I would not have taken much notice of what I was doing to my body because I thought it was normal to run my body down, not listen to it or care for it.

    3. Thank you Sarah, you have summed it up so well and so simply, to either be with the body or against it.

70. I have realised that I need to bring more and more appreciation into my life, ‘I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’

71. Living in the rush of nervous energy and drive, we are always living ‘beside ourselves’ and can never feel complete. Allowing the time to re-connect, to be in union with our body is the most beautiful and natural medicine.

    1. How very true the saying that you are ‘beside yourself’ because that’s exactly what it feels like, to be almost separate from the body, trapped by the feeling of anxiety of drive so that you never feel totally prepared for life because you not fully connected with yourself.

    2. I love that you make it about our body and health and that being in union with our body is the greatest form of medicine.

72. What a great realisation to come to, ‘I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.’ Wow, by understanding this old pattern you can now work on letting this go and healing this, as you are doing.

73. Our connection and presence are paramount, and affect the quality we move in, I am learning to keep these as my marker, instead of just getting something done and going into drive.

    1. I’m learning the same Lorraine, and it’s been Esoteric Yoga sessions that have really supported me to make my life more about the quality of my presence and how I move in that, rather than what I do and how much I can get done, which is usually done in complete disregard of myself.

74. Thanks for sharing this Rebecca, I never really thought that by going in to race mode was a way of ignoring what is there to be felt but it does make a lot of sense. I love the way things flow when we are able to stay present with ourselves and even the gentle, or maybe not so gentle reminder of a twisted angle when I have got too far ahead of myself.

75. Holding any outcome as more important than the connection and quality I am moving in makes me feel anxious hence, the quality and presence I have with me and what I am doing is key to feel solid, confident and in flow.

76. “When I am moving at a million miles an hour, at least on the inside, it is much harder to be present in the moment and deal with what is there to be done, even if it is as simple as preparing and eating dinner.” So true Rebecca. Giving ourselves enough time to pause – and feel – becomes even more necessary as the world speeds up. The stop provided by Esoteric Yoga – the Yoga of Stillness – can give us such a pause in our day.

77. There are days when I flow with what is before me and then there are days when I’m thinking about all that needs to be done, what to do next and looking at the clock to see how much time I have. The latter are days where anxiety is present. Whilst I still have days like these, I’m much more aware now that I am racing time and that there is another way.

78. Recently I made a commitment not to rush to complete a piece of work before a client deadline. Rather than focus on what I needed to do within the time I decided to trust that the space was there and to commit to the quality of the steps rather than the end result. It felt so different to the push to complete and what’s completely bizarre is I even had time to run a few overdue errands and get a short rest in before the meeting.

79. ‘For example, bringing a focus on my breathing’, recently on a longish car journey I felt to connect to the way I was breathing rather than stop the car for a break. I had never really committed in the way I did that day to the quality of my breath and being fully present with it. What transpired was incredible, I went from feeling tired, heavy and grizzly to feeling light, revitalised and joyful. That day really showed me how transformative something as simple as breathing gently can be.

80. We have access to so many tools in order not to get caught up in the illusion of the spirit, this needs to be deeply appreciated as the more our movements align to that which is of truth the less chance we will have to deal with that which does not exists.

81. It is great to catch when the drive kicks in, so we are able to stop it and come back to ourself, ‘ feeling when I go into drive and motion, and when I get stimulated and leave myself behind.’

82. So simple and so true.

83. I noticed myself being completely caught up in what I needed to get done this morning. I have a deadline on Wednesday and another on Thursday, so I started to rush and became intense in what I felt I needed to do. I realised that it was me creating the tension and that the truth was I actually had plenty of space to do what was needed, so I took a moment to rest in the middle of the day (which in the past would have been unheard of) and the quality of the second part of my day was completely different.

84. If we let go of pictures of how we think our days should look and instead focus on the quality of what we are doing whilst allowing for stop moments activities space naturally opens up.

    1. Letting go of pictures is super important… it allows us to experience life and be in the flow rather than trying to control the day where we miss all the beautiful opportunities around us.

85. I can really relate to this blog in how you talk about not completing things/tasks and having a form of anxiousness running in the body as I am sure many others can also relate to. The beautifull thing is with this awareness I am now steadily completing all tasks and giving myself space to feel why I am living with a low grade anxiousness running so this will eventually cease completely.

86. Rebecca, I agree with all you have shared and it makes perfect sense to always see “every day as an opportunity to learn” and may I add with the great attitude you have from what you are sharing we also have the opportunity to evolve every day!

87. Not being a terribly driven person but I can still relate to starting one job then to find myself halfway through another before I realise what I have done, and what I haven’t finished of the job before! I am working on it!

88. If you ask me what is “drive” I probably couldn’t tell you before, because I do not know anything outside of it. Drive just feels such a normal in the life and culture I have chosen to be in. But having experienced life without the constant push of drive, feels like a whole new world to me, one which feels deeply sweet to my body, very foreign to my mind, but something I would commit to explore more of, because it feels so harmonious.

89. It’s amusing to consider how much we’ve been duped – myself included – that when we rush we get more done. The truth is, we get less done, less done well and we leave a flurry of chaos behind to impact the next thing we do, and then the next etc.

90. “Bringing a focus…” to how we breath, enables us to alter everything that we think are habits and ‘just how we are’. Challanges, emotions, tricky life stuff is simply with practice observed and responded to with a steadiness and sense of wisdom to that is a wonder to experience. I had no idea that this would be possible, through just being aware of my breath, but it has unfolded in this way and I know with no doubt that breathing our own breath changes everything.

91. I was always turning away or walking away from something I was doing before it was finished and it used to annoy me that I did. I would return to it eventually but I would always be questioning why; why was I doing this? And then finally I discovered the power of the pause; a moment in time where I stop what I am doing and bring all my attention to me and to my breath. As I began to do this I started to notice that I was now completing tasks. There is no longer any walking away with them half done and if the urge to do so begins to grow I simply pause and come back to me in that moment.

92. I am back at work after a long summer break and I can feel how I get ahead of myself, and my movements want to rush to the next thing, before completing what I am doing. Interestingly I have hurt my ankle so I cant move as quickly as I usually would. Its a great reminder to go at my pace and not try and keep up with everyone else.

93. The title captures in essence anxiety. For me anxiety is when I live a few steps ahead of myself, not being in my body in the present moment. And from the place of those few steps ahead, they are always trying to get somewhere. But the only place we can truly be is in the present moment.

    1. Great call Nikki, yes there is a lot of anxiety in living that way. Taking time to stop and feel and connect with our body is a tool well worth developing and living.

94. An enormous pressure we put on our body and therefore ourselves to be everything other than who we naturally are – this inevitably will take a toll and require correction. The simplicity of breathing and moving to our own natural rhythm requires no effort and is indeed a seamless flow.

95. To allow space is a sure way to observe life rather than be swept up in its current/

96. There is so much grandness available to us just by stopping and allowing the natural rhythm that we need to move in through life

97. This is beautiful Rebecca, as it proves the power of the Gentle Breath Meditation. When we rush and race we miss what is on offer for us to connect to and learn from.

98. When we race through life we miss out on all the magic in the world.

99. ” I am beginning to see every day as an opportunity to learn ” This is so key to the way we live and its a clear understanding of our life as human beings. Every day has a purpose and the purpose is learning , there is a teaching in every moment of each day . The more present we are with ourselves the more teaching we receive and therefore more learning , and therefore an understanding of purpose.
    Thank you Rebecca

100. Rebecca, thank you for these simple and practical examples of how you bring yourself back to focus on you; ‘For example, bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking’, this is really helpful.

101. This was very timely to read this morning, as I’ve been grappling lately on a whole new level yet again with the constrictions of time. When we make it about time we’re constantly swimming upstream and exhausting ourselves in the process. I’ve observed how that disposition to make it about time, comes from inside of me first – and it’s like my whole body than becomes this pointy thing aiming for a certain hour, a certain point to achieve that it never does achieve. It’s a conditioning that we’ve let ourselves be under for eons, and the more we see it for what it is, the more we see that we don’t need to belong to this false construct, that is in fact never in tune with our bodies’ rhythm and timing. It may take some ‘time’ to let go, but the irony is that inevitably we all eventually will…

102. A powerful message for us all. Getting to know what is true and what is not is the greatest liberation one can choose. I have been deeply supported claiming back that I have this inner knowing : and that I actually know what is true and what is not, and with this Serge Benhayon has supported me immensely, till this very day. Thank you Rebecca for expressing your truth.

103. The raciness keeps us disconnected from our body and perpetuates itself if we don’t put a very conscious stop to it. Raciness is as much a habit as it is a big fat trap that incarcerates us in the confines of time.

     1. Very true – we literally are spinning in another rhythm rather than moving in our own.

104. We miss so much in rush, all the treasures in life.

105. Its fascinating how much time I have spent trying to get to a certain goal or place then got there and there had not been the fireworks and completition I wanted. It shows me how much I was trying to fill something up inside me and then suddendly the goal is achieved and im left empty wondering whats next. Whereas when I see something as a never ending building and deepening of love there is no emd but rather a continual appreciation all along the way – no fireworks either but plenty of love and joy!

106. So interesting to recognise that when we are are in a constant hurry we are absolutely not with ourselves, and not in space but in time instead, fighting the clock so to say. How different this actually is to how we naturally are, when connected and in full surrendering to the cycles we are in, we cannot else than be in connection with everybody and everything and from there just be and perhaps do that what is needed and will serve us all.

107. Awesome to read your blog again Rebecca. I recently went into anxiousness and it felt exactly as you’ve described. I feel the space close in on me and I couldn’t feel the spaciousness anymore. Instead of reading the situation I reacted and created anxiousness. The lesson for me here is to give myself space before I race into thinking I have not time or space to read the situation. Giving myself space is a loving thing to do and to seeing the truth of any given situation.

108. Letting each moment be spacious rather than polluted and impinged upon by what has been and what is to come is an amazing way to make life feel light and spacious.

109. The more we commit to develop our relationship with our own quality, the easier it is to become aware of that which does not belong to that level of stillness and gentleness within and with no judgement we can simply bring ourselves back to what is our natural way of being.

110. True – there is no escaping our choices and the tension within of living less than what is true.

111. A great reminder that we need to stop our momentum in order to create the needed space to eternally observe life.

112. Making life about space and the beauty that then encapsulates us when we move in this way and not against time we feel a completely different quality in our lives and connecting with people has a greater substance and feel. Enjoying the space and our bodies moving in this quality really does give us a greater awareness of our lives and how we interact within it.

113. Being in drive is an intensity that gives us identification with what we do while separating us from who we are and feel and sometimes if not always is actually intended without us necessarily being honest about it. We avoid feeling, being. The moment we stop, connect and feel we are back to what is actually going on, back to being with ourselves.

114. It is all the simple basic practical everyday things in life where I find it can be so easy to go into auto pilot yet the moment I bring my focus to them it is like my whole body lights up and then I am supported in everything else. I now see these more mundane tasks as crucial aspects of my foundation and then the rest naturally takes care of itself.

115. I lived in conscious anxiousness for most of my life and reading this article tonight I can feel how one of the greatest ‘benifits’ of doing so was that it kept me separate from others and this brought a pretend feel of safety, as I believed I couldn’t get hurt. Now living my life with much less anxiousness and in more connection with others, I now feel a true safety, and that has only coming from my decision to connect first with myself, the beauty, purpose, strength, wisdom, joy and love I feel within. This I never felt when I allowed anxiousness to run my life.

116. I feel being honest is an important key here, as it is only then that we can feel the way we are living is not it, and it is our willingness to develop and nurture our true quality that allows space to be created where things get done for the good of all and not just another way to manage life.

117. So true Brendan, we can try and fool ourselves for many lives, but the body holds all markers of our movements.

118. Function, busyness, anxiousness and raciness are great ploys of the spirit to stop one from deepening in there love and living all they are.

     1. Anything which stops us from deepening and surrendering to the love that we are is ultimately a ploy to keep us from bringing and loving all that we are. I know for me I have used being in a rush as a great way to get caught up in things, like leaving something to the last minute, or making it so I need to drive fast to get somewhere on time, it is crazy all the silly little games I find myself playing all to avoid feeling my amazingness!

119. Its so great that you are able to address the root cause of the raciness and get on with sorting it out with honesty, so many of us go through life with low level anxiety without even looking at it until it has caused another type of illness in the body.

120. Seeking approval by driving myself to achieve and do in life, can be a huge trap that only ends up in ceaseless motion and never really confirms who I am and what I truly offer in life.

121. Rebecca I hear you! I read a great article the other day about ‘flipping’ and how to overcome it in relation to writing a thesis – which is pretty much what you describe in your opening paragraph. I’m such a great flipper that I even flipped out of the article several times! But you’re spot on. For me, drive and motion has been just another way to avoid my true and sensitive nature; my fragility and vulnerability. If I’m working at a fast pace (and poorly, I might add), then I don’t have to feel. That’s the bottom line.

122. It felt like a stop and regathering moment reading this blog. I know I can get caught up in the drive but by allowing space into my life by being present with myself – I am able to breath with so much more ease. Life returns to being simple and situations are not stressed out at as much or at all. A good reminder of the value of presence. Thank you.

123. Rebecca, thank you for these very practical examples;’ ‘bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking. These things may seem simple, but they allow space to be with ‘me’’, These are great to read, I can feel how I can get caught up in the busyness and can get racy trying to complete everything – this never works and so I love how you have bought the focus back to how you are moving and staying present with these movements.

124. Thank you Rebecca for such a powerful blog, having lived with drive most of my life it’s been an interesting process to begin to let go of this pattern and surrender to the flow of life instead of trying to be in control all the time – making simple, loving choices and learning to appreciate myself have been a beautiful support with this.

125. “I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are.” Appreciating and living this truth is a game changer.

126. I can do the changing between tasks or activities, and it’s mostly so that I don’t focus on one thing and be present with it. Even when I’m on the computer replying to an email then a thought will pop in to go look at another site I supposedly need to. This just leaves me at the whim of choosing any distraction. It is a day by day, moment by moment choose to stay present and focused with what I’m doing. The change on the body is huge, it’s allowed to just be and not be overwhelmed by the chopping and changing.

127. Once we start to address any aspect of the manifestations of drive and anxiousness, our world changes… the way we sleep changes, the way we talk, eat, in fact all aspects of our lives have the opportunity to change and transform.

128. A beautiful lesson for us all here Rebecca, that being there is no finish line, just a gentle loving unfolding and expanding into who we so naturally are. A lesson also in appreciating the joy of being a forever student.

129. It’s amazing how often I move on before finishing something, it is like keeping myself perpetually busy.

130. Anxiousness is a very prevalent and insidious emotion that has a huge impact on the body in my experience, not just in the short term discomfort but as an underlying contributing factor for many chronic ill health conditions. Putting our bodies into this sort of motion, without any quality of gentleness or stillness, is completely unnatural and disharmonious.

131. “We are everything before we do anything”. That is so true and we all need to hear this and apply it in our lives because it will give us space to feel the level of anxiety we live with on a daily basis that can go unnoticed, unchecked, and therefore lead to a life lived with anxiety of not being enough, and therefore constantly searching for what is already inside us.

132. For the first time in my life it took me a week to paint my small living room. Usually I would have done it in a day but this time I took one small section at a time and what I found was that there was no going into anxiousness about finishing, or had I done it good enough, was it perfect. The result of working like this meant that I actually got to experience myself in my movements, the room looks awesome and even though it is far from a perfect job, that’s ok.

133. I have found that when I am in the ‘busy’ mode thinking about the next thing before completing what is before me, then that same incompletion happens, both physically and energetically, and it keeps us under the tyranny of time, never having enough of it to complete all the things that are piling up in my head. It is a paradigm shift to bring that full quality of presence to exactly what we are doing in the moment, but the returns are beyond measure… as we now have space to support us to bring even more of who we are to that moment.

134. It is becoming ever more clear to me the damaging effects of drive and stress in the body – all at the expense of being who we naturally truly are. It doesn’t make sense to allow ourselves to run in it, yet it is so deeply ingrained that we are there before we know it… or are we.. there is that space between the decision to choose drive and in that space is the choice of something different.

135. It is almost tempting to not explore drive, as it is so rewarded in society. Yet it feels horrible in the body and does a huge amount of damage over time. It is really only through being so distracted and caught up in drive that you can temporarily avoid feeling this. It is amazing to read about how such an apparently ingrained pattern was able to be reduced by more attention and inner focus.

     1. It is so true Fiona, we are rewarded handsomely for drive. Yet I am starting to discover there is another way to be equally efficient with space and energy that does not deplete or harm. Day by day we have an opportunity to live this experiment and deepen the understandings coming from our own bodies.

136. Thank you Rebecca for sharing how true power comes through our willingness to be honest with the quality we are feeling our bodies and being. It’s so beautiful to feel how when we do honor the truth we feel we are able to reclaim living this truth in our lives as we begin to live more of who we are throughout the day we live. What could be more fulfilling that being in connection to who we are, which is everything already, and moving with our exquisite presence in all we do, as best we can. And as you say when we do not, and if we are open to it, we are simply offered the opportunity to learn of how we can deepen our connection and let go of what does not belong or support us to move in the power of who we are.

137. Understand that I can be busy and not racy was a big aha moment for me. It is a noticeable difference in the the tension and hardness in my body. And this is a great indication if it returns that I am in the drive or the push. If I work like this I feel exhausted the next morning.

138. Brilliant blog Rebecca. You remind me that our relationship with time is reflected in the quality of relationship we have with the people in our lives.

139. Sometimes when we are in anxiousness it can feel like there is no way out but the truth is we have a choice to be in anxiousness or in stillness. When challenging situations arise and we choose to stay connected instead of being anxious this offers healing, clarity and love.

140. ‘These things may seem simple, but they allow space to be with ‘me’ in what I am doing in that moment, whether it be catching the bus or eating my dinner.’ It is attending to the ‘simple’ things that brings the beautiful detail needed for true evolution.

141. Rebecca, this is absolutely gorgeous what you have shared here and I too can relate so much to the whole process you have shared – the inner anxiety that I have been unwilling to acknowledge and deal with, and the drive and raciness that kick in as an excited personality. In reality it is about allowing ourselves the space to be in each situation, to give ourselves a moment to read it and to know how to respond each and every time. And though each situation might appear the same from the outside, when we read it, it may be needed that we respond completely differently each time in order to truly handle what is outplaying. There is no script written for how to ‘get it right’ as things happen all the time that changes so much, hence we can only let ourselves feel each situation for what it is and work with it from there, in connection to ourselves and not from the excited-ness and anxiety. Thank you for this great and timely reminder!

142. I live life thinking there is a finish line – something to try, reach, gain or attain, it’s a picture or pictures in my head that I allow to control me – think I have to be, I’m not sure exactly what they are, but I am nearly always thinking I have to get somewhere – never or very rarely do I allow or let myself to feel I am enough. I have this constant I am not good enough or trying all the time. Which is very sad really.

     1. I can certainly relate to what you are sharing Gyl. Rebecca’s blog reminds me that getting swept up in time, finish lines and deadlines is a choice. I have learned that I need to bring understanding to myself when I catch myself racing against the clock. When I do this it is easy to see that I rush in order to avoid feeling what I feel, connecting to who I am and living my true potential. I begin appreciate the fact that I am a very sensitive being and I always have a choice, connect to rhythm or connect to time.

143. Observing my voice when I speak has been a great exploration at the moment and shows me where I am going into rush and or anxiety. It beg me to go deeper as to why I do this? Is it because I feel not worthy to take the time to share every word in full or a judgement comes in when speaking with someone? Observation of our bodies and enjoying the moments to explore why we have these patterns is a great tool to deepen our own relationship with self and the flow on affect it has in other relationships is super important too.

144. Thank you Rebecca for writing this down; ‘Or I would leave one task half-finished to start another and swap between, rather than completing one before moving on to the next.’ Last weeks I am becoming aware of how I need to focus on completing my tasks and not go from one to another. I thought it was caused by how many tasks I have but by reading your blog I feel the drive behind it and how this and my anxiousness that follows is where the root cause is lying,

145. I’m stunned by how much power blogs by students of Universal Medicine bring. This was just what I needed to read today, and along with my willingness and openness to heal reading the blog and comments has brought about a profound change in how I was feeling – from anxious and racy to feeling more settled.

146. Having been one who has lived life at the pace of an Olympic runner, sometimes without even lifting a finger, I can totally relate to all that you share Rebecca. If I were completely honest with myself then I would say that the reason I go into raciness is to avoid deeply connecting to people, myself included. By living one step ahead I have a convenient excuse to not read in full the depth of what is offered to me in each moment to arise out of the loveless momentums I have ensnared myself in. And so in raciness I can just charge on with eyes closed and hope for the best that I do not bump into anything or anyone on my furious way away from the love that I am. Clever trick on my behalf to avoid true intimacy, transparency and thus evolution…

147. mmm… completion is something I need to work on – be it in a conversation, moving on to another school, not seeing kids again. Completing every moment so there is nothing left behind.

148. I often think of this blog Rebecca when I have finished dinner as I can feel there is a real push in me to get up really quickly and move on to the next thing. Usually this is an indicator I need to stop, connect and appreciate the moment. Life is to precious to miss!

     1. Taking regular moments to appreciate ourselves and where we are before we move onto the next thing is super supportive. It set us up to be in appreciation for the next moment.

149. “A Race With No Finish Line” is a very appropriate title to how I can sometimes feel in life. There is this feeling I am behind, not enough, and therefore I am feeling heaps of tension. For me this often results in stepping on the breaks and doing nothing at all anymore which creates even more tension as you can imagine! When I do stop though and observe my thoughts and all I have to do, I can not really find what it actually is I am feeling I need to do and am behind with. So indeed a race without a finish line or one where the finish line is being moved further away each time I approach it. The true settlement is found in stopping and feeling that I am enough just by being me in what I do, whatever it is.

150. “I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people.” This is so true and why getting caught up in time feels so uncomfortable in the body, because we are out of rhythm with everything and everyone and I know I reduce everything to its bare minimum so that I can squash everything in. I am no longer aware of everything around me just the thing that needs to be done at the expense of everything else. I have learnt that this is not an enjoyable way to live either for myself or for anyone else around me.

151. This race sounds very familiar and it is interesting that when we stop to realise that the only one running the race is the individual it can be a real big wake up call. To push and drive the body this way leads us away from the true knowing of how we can live with commitment, dedication to work and life where each moment matters and all that is needed at every moment is provided.

152. Its beautiful to see someone take such an honest look at themselves and by choosing a better way of living, definitely beats living with anxiety any day.

153. I have rushed and been anxious for a long time. Coming to a place of deeper connection simply by focusing on the quality of my breath is the perfect antidote. It’s quite something to feel my body shift into greater steadiness in a few moments by simply choosing to.

154. Recently in an Esoteric Yoga session I felt how by moving with my body there were no aches or pains, moving to outside instruction hurt my body. Throughout my working life it’s been commented that my work is ‘slow’ and so I would try to do as much as possible to show that I was not slow. But choosing this way of working to an outside beat has hurt me a lot, whereas yesterday I felt how working within myself, moving how I felt to I was faster than I’ve ever been at that particular task, I felt like a wind was pushing me from behind and it felt very light. So different compared to the compounded affect I can feel when rushing to meet an outside finish line.

155. For a long time I was never quite satisfied with how things were in any part of my life. There was a restlessness and a disconnection that I could not shake. Learning to reconnect to myself and allow myself to be fully present to any given task has gone a long way to eliminating the restlessness and also brought greater appreciation to my life in general.

156. For A very long time and in many levels of my life I was dissatisfied with where ever I was. This dissatisfaction permeated all aspects of my life. It was also fed by a restlessness and a disconnection from myself. Learning how to reconnect to myself to the task at hand, has brought a lot more simplicity and appreciation into my life.

157. For years when I had dinner with people that were very loving I was not comfortable with the amount of love I was being held in so would get up from the table quite soon after eating and wash dishes while every-one else stayed sitting and chatting. After I realized what I was doing I stopped this behavior, I remained at the table, let in the love and the washing was done when the dinner was complete for us all.

     1. This sounds familiar to me Mary-Louise, and I can see how I have done similar things in the past and still do occasionally. It is that moment when we are in anothers comapany and we feel so much love that it feels too uncomfortable to stay with it, so the easiest route of escape is to walk away and find something else to do. Its a total distraction and avoidance of feeling how much we are loved and how much love we equally are. Crazy really, as this is what we all want most in the world.

158. To use nervous energy to constantly get over deadlines requires the body to be in constant state of nervous tension which ultimately is not its natural state of harmony.

159. Anxiousness sets us up to be on the back foot – and not accept what we can in fact bring to everything.

160. Great sharing Rebecca! when we look at a lot of these behaviours that you listed its clear that these patterns are a restriction on our body and how we experience life. And there is so much to apprecciate about introducing more stillness and expansion into our movements.

161. I often blame other people for needing to rush or creating deadlines in my head of when I need to get something done by which ensures I stay in a drive to get things done rather than staying with my body and feeling what is true for me and those around me.

162. I notice when I do esoteric yoga and bring focus to whether I am with my body or not how often my mind wanders off and I have to bring it back. During the day when I’m doing tasks I am far less aware of when this happens as I get caught up in what I am doing rather that how I am doing it and whether I am with myself as I’m doing it. Introducing a pause between tasks gives a much needed check in point to see where we are at rather than just racing from doing one thing to the next and then feeling exhausted at the end of the day.

163. Reading this again I can feel how ingrained the race is in me and how by making myself racy I am blocking out feeling the layers of anxiousness that I carry because I’m frightened of making a mistake and believe that I am not enough. I love what you share Rebecca with the very practical tools you have used to clock when you are going into drive and how you have used these to unravel what lies behind a perceived need to race against time.

164. What I have found for myself is that motion of busy-ness itself is a filler. It distracts me away from what is there do be felt and truly dealt with. It numbs me while I think to myself that I am committed to life because I am doing so much. It’s rather deceitful.

165. Today the world seems busier than ever before. Despite our technological ‘innovations’ the maddening drive seems to have gone out of control, to the extent we need to drink all sorts of stimulants just to ‘keep up’. But what if the speed is not a race ‘to’, but a movement away instead? This is the question I feel you present Rebecca. What if we are so aware, and increasingly so, of feelings and sensation we don’t like? What if we have gone for the flight rather than the fight? This starts to make a whole heap of sense of the increasing speed that we see. Wow, if this is the case, just what is the awareness we have, and what power lives in the senses we possess, if we just stop deserting our post and trying to run away from it all.

166. I find I can go a long way before even acknowledging that there is anything amiss. I have been slowly realising how important it is that as soon as I notice all is not okay in the quality I am experiencing, that I stop and give myself the space to clock what I have felt. This opens the possibility to reflect on my choices that have brought me to the moment and fine-tuning the quality in which I choose to take the next step. Without the stop moment at best I will keep ‘trying’ to change a viscious cycle from within the spin- an impossible task.

     1. Same here Golnaz, that stop is so vital. Sometimes it can be a physical stop or even allowing myself to slow down as I get caught behind a mother and pram taking up the pavement and not able to overtake.

167. This is a great blog because it is asking us all to stop and reflect what is going on in our lives.
     and I too have found that when I’m racy there is not a chance of me reading what is going on around me, and how I use food to keep me in that racy momentum and so I miss out on the magic of God before me.

168. “When I am moving at a million miles an hour, at least on the inside, it is much harder to be present in the moment and deal with what is there to be done,” I can sooooo relate to this. I have so often in life been in a lot of drive, both physically and also on the inside. But I have also begun to feel what it feels like to give myself space. To open up to read more and see what is really going on, not only for myself, but for others also.

169. There is a part of us, the human spirit, that seeks to live in constant drive so as to forever be in the perpetuation motion of ‘the rush’ so it/we can skip bits and therefore seemingly not be made accountable for our reckless behaviours that are void of the love that we are. Arresting such an ill momentum requires us to be very honest with ourselves and take responsibility for the way we have moved, if how we have moved has not been true to this love.

170. Drive is sometimes a dominating force for me too – if I let it be. I find it is so much easier to be in drive than stillness, even though the drive is without doubt bad for my health. To be still in my body and work from that foundation requires dedication and commitment, but the difference in how I feel, and how my day flows is like night and day. I would like to reverse the drive and the stillness so that one day my body is so used to stillness, this is the norm, rather than the other way around.

     1. Yes totally Heather, that would feel absolutely incredible. With commitment and by loving ourselves we are able to shift well ingrained patterns.

171. I know the anxiety of living in drive well. For most of my life I was not even aware that I was in anxiety (or drive). For a period of my life I moved from tropical beach to tropical beach and had nothing to do. Yet on the inside I was in drive and the accompanying anxiety. It is not related to anything external that needs to be done, it is purely a choice in how we live.

     1. This is a great point that you make Nikki. Drive isn’t related to how much we have to do. As you say, it can even be there when there appears there is nothing to do. This also highlights that deep down we can feel ourselves delaying our evolution and we can use drive, stimulation and distraction to not feel this choice.

        1. Good point Vicky. Recently something came to my awareness that I had been avoiding for a long time. I chose to eat to not feel the extent of it although no amount of eating could quell the tension. Then when that became too uncomfortable I found myself choosing drive and anxiety. I had such an insight into how I use anxiety and drive to avoid feeling and what is on offer for my evolution.

     2. I have also spent periods of my life going from beach to beach and now you say it I was also in drive, feeling the constant anxiety and lack of worth in my body but until I read your post it would never have occurred to me that I during that ‘time off’ I was still in drive on the inside.

     3. Thank you Nikki, it wasn’t until I read your comment that I realised I had given my power to what is there to be done.

        1. The to do list and the box to tick are always there to accept our power if we hand it over.

172. When the cutlery drawer at home has been shut to hard the separate racks of knifes and flakes etc. move to the back of the drawer creating space between the drawer and the cutlery contains so I have a marker of how hard I am shutting the drawer. When I close the drawer and it does not create any space then in that case I feel it is creating a different space in the rest of my day. It is amazing because as a gauge I can tell what I need to do next to evolve and I am always aware of what happens to this drawer. More and more as I shut this drawer I have to stay focused until it is completely shut before I move to my next task to soon it creates space so I have to stay present when in the kitchen and this flows into the rest of my day.

173. When I finally realised that there is no finish line, it was a relief to stop the rushing. I can still slip back into that mode because I have used it for decades, but its a real joy to feel how time seems to open up when I drop the drive and allow myself to be present with each moment.

     1. Thank you Debra, it’s a supportive reminder to give ourselves that there is no finish line, instead there is being with ourselves and enjoying and appreciating who we are. I have to keep reminding myself that although what I do supports the world in some ways it’s actually being who I am that brings true change.

174. Many people run their lives in drive, I know I used to and I still have to be continually aware that this old pattern does not creep back in.

175. I feel I can easily put pressure on myself to get a job done in a certain amount of time or to do it a certain way and then when things don’t fall in to place easily then I can react which puts even more pressure on . This all adds to the nervousness in my body and nothing of any true quality can come of it. I have to stop and reconfigure before I can be with myself in a true rhythm again

176. I have also recently been clocking how we can present a picture, an image of how we should be, how I should perform and how other should see me, showing the ingrained belief that what I can do and how well I can do it is of greater value than who I am

177. I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve. it makes so much sense that if we aren’t held in our own loving support and acceptance of us, there would be tension in the body and then anxiousness would build because your then trying to get the answer or a resolution from a body that is ill equipped to handle the task.

178. It’s so healing to have this conversation about drive and where I leave myself. Mine is never resting but attempting to allay anxiousness through being prepared but never present because I’m always trying to be one step ahead, forseeing issues and trying to problem solve them before they materialise and then giving myself a hard time for not avoiding those I don’t prevent in an unhealthy drive to learn from my mistakes. This low-grade stress is highly toxic to my body so now I’m taking breaks in my day like going for a walk and choosing to surrender to being in my body with each step.

     I’m constantly bringing myself back to choosing to be in my body and accept there is a solidness to being. It’s been very revealing as to how much I just flitter on the surface and haven’t committed to fully being here – though superficially you’d never know this. I wonder if the not fully being present is what creates the anxiety and not the being fully present. I know I’ve believed that being fully present is too much to cope with – something the world reflects in its myriad use of dulling/stimulating/distracting techniques of TV, gaming, drinking, eating/not eating etc. I do know that when I am fully present I’m connected with my essence and God and there is no space for fear or anxiety.

179. Thank you for sharing this Rebecca as this has really supported me to identify where I also go into drive and in effect cut out any potential space where I can stop and feel what is going on. I really appreciate you sharing this and it gives me some tools to start to explore where in my life I allow this drive.

180. When I am racy and not still on the inside, I tend to make more mistakes, put things in the wrong cupboard, doing things in another sequence as usual, walk in a different pace and stumble, and all without any appreciation of myself. It is the way my body is calling me back to be present and to enjoy every moment as I am in it. So I completely agree Rebecca with what you are saying here; ‘I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’

181. Great insights Rebecca, I can definitely relate to some of what you’ve shared. I know when I don’t want to feel something more deeply, the first thing I notice is that I speed up, not just inside but in my movements as well. It’s like an automatic pilot takes over and I am no longer present in my body and moving with an ease and flow.

182. It is amazing that you have been able to bring the awareness you have to addressing the anxiousness that was driving you to come to a place where you recognize and feel that you are already enough and worth appreciating as you are… melting away any need to prove anything to anyone, including yourself.

183. ‘I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’ Rebecca, you have given us a key here to deal with anxiousness at root level – appreciation not just of what we do but of who we are, and that we are enough as we are. When we know this we can more easily connect to ourselves and when we connect to ourselves we know this intimately and anxiousness cannot then affect us because we are living in this moment not in anxiety about the next moment.

184. “I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.” Wow amazing that not appreciating ourselves can play out in so many ways, I know when I don’t appreciate me and give myself a hard time I can let the world own me as I get caught up in all sorts of things I shouldn’t, when I appreciate myself I create space in my life to move forward with a true sold foundation without appreciation I building on shaky ground.

185. When I flap, and fluster the task in hand never gets done in quality… quite the reverse in fact, I make mistakes and have to save what’s there. “More haste less speed” could never be truer.

186. Rebecca, the title of your blog: A Race with no Finish Line exposes how ridiculous this drive is. We think we are getting somewhere and we think we are doing it faster but we usually do not have a true sense of completion for there is always another peak to climb. We do not stop to appreciate our contribution because often we are not present with what we are doing so we do not have the sense of fulfilment of a job done with the quality we would bring to it if we were connected to ourselves and worked with loving commitment instead of just trying to get the job done.

187. Rebecca, what a lovely demonstration that so much can be revealed to us if we see ‘every day as an opportunity to learn’. I enjoy how you peeled back the layers like a true scientist observing your behaviour and how it affected you and people around you and how you came to see that your driven movements were motivated by an underlying anxiousness which leaves ‘no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people’. 

188. Great blog Rebecca, I know very well the pattern of living with drive and the feel of anxiousness in my body it is very difficult to connect with yourself or anyone when you are choosing to live this way. Learning to let go of this pattern has been huge and I agree does allow the space for you to truly connect to your body and make choices that are more supportive and true.

189. Anxiousness used to rule my life. Thankfully, I began to understand that it can only be in the body if I was not present with myself in the moment. The raciness that anxiousness placed my body in made it difficult at times to stop this momentum, but it is so worth committing to being present and tender in the moment, for living a life without anxiousness is far more beautiful than anything I have before experienced.

190. Being driven is not a natural way to live in, it takes a huge toll on our health and wellbeing and it also affects others around us. I find that when I go into drive if I am honest I have all these conditions and expectations of the things I need to get done and I’m in drive before I know it! letting these go and embracing more of the tenderness in my body and moving with it allows me to live more from feeling what needs to be addressed in the moment without getting ahead of myself.

191. I could relate so much to what you have expressed here Rebecca, drive is such a debilitating way to live life;
     “I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people”.
     A beautiful reminder to stop, connect and enjoy being oneself.

192. This is exactly what I needed to read. A great exploration of what is needed to support us to stop the rush to avoid feeling empty or sad or scared or anything other than build our connection to our essence.

193. I’ve found that by addressing ‘the drive’ what reveals itself is the deepening sense and knowing, that I am enough.

194. When we run our body on over-drive we can be so busy ‘doing’ that we lose the feeling of who we are.

195. Rebecca, this is an awesome blog post and your experiences (like dreams) help me to understand my drive and anxiousness much more. Thanks for sharing!

196. ‘A race with no finish line’ is a great statement that describes the momentum of anxiety and how exhausting this is for the body. Thanks for sharing the way you shifted this pattern.

197. It is great to stop and ask why we are living in a state of anxiousness. This is something we rarely do, but it actually is very empowering and freeing. To explore what we get out of anxiousness allows us to see the capacity and greatness in ourselves we are avoiding. When we let ourselves feel instead of being scattered, we get to feel the flow and rhythm of life and the truth in each moment.

198. Anxiousness is a huge driver of our behaviours. It makes us carry on when we know we should stop or rest, say yes when we would like to say no and keeps us always ahead on the look out for potential threats to our safety. I have found a huge shift in my level of anxiousness since finding Esoteric Yoga and living from this way. Simply being very tuned into your body and present with what you are doing and feeling, allows me now to feel very solid and steady in myself.

199. ‘I am everything before I do anything’ What a beautiful phrase to consider when we catch ourselves in the raciness of doing. Thank you Rebecca.

     1. I agree Jane. They are but a few words, and yet what they are saying is pretty grand. Just imagine the difference in our lives if we woke with these words every morning?

200. Absolutely Brendan. We can get really frazzled and the job done in a nervous energy is not going to bless anyone. We have a responsibility to leave behind a harmonious imprint or feeling and this is almost impossible where anxiety and nervousness reside.

201. Anxiety is a huge problem in society with many people, but as you describe there is a raciness that can often accompany anxiousness, and I think it would be fair to say almost everyone lives in that raciness. The consumption of foods like sugar and caffeine greatly contribute to this situation.

202. I had to chuckle as I started to read Rebecca’s article… I was infamous for always being the first to stand up and leave from dinners when eating out, or with other people,… I was never able to take the time to simply be with people in those environments… definitely driven !

203. My own habits of having many incompleted projects on the go drives me crazy so I can definitely appreciate and can relate to the wisdom of what you have shared in this blog Rebecca.

204. There’s way much more space when we don’t race.

205. ‘A Race with no Finish Line’ – this is actually a joy to read, not the race, but the no finish line – if there is no finish line, then there is no need – that smashes the picture of getting somewhere – and life can be enjoyed, fun and playful as we learn, grow and evolve – it doesn’t have to be a struggle nor full of misery.

206. It really is so detrimental to our bodies to constantly put it into a drive and into nervous energy to get things done from a mind driven picture or ideal of a timeframe of when something needs to be completed.

207. What i recognise from your sharing is that anxiousness is a result of feeling disconnected to our body… time pressured, drive, busy qualities that fill the ‘gap’ or ‘space’ between us, our body and the ‘doing’ that does not have any quality of ourselves in it… And when there is a connection to our body, it opens up this ‘space’ that is filled with the quality and expression of ourselves…
     So in fact, there is a relationship between connection to the body and reduction of anxiousness.

208. Its amazing isn’t it Rebecca, when we actually do stop and catch ourselves and feel our bodies, even this seemingly small thing is huge and creates the space to truly feel as you so beautifully say, what is actually needed at the time and what our bodies need. Its a beautiful choice to make for ourselves and others.

209. Drive has been something that has seemingly ruled most of my life. It changes the way I move which changes everything. When I’m allowing myself to be ruled by drive there is a tightness in my body and a low level anxiousness – all of which became so normal I had no idea it was not normal. When I drop the drive and crazy idea that I need to control things, my body is at ease and I realise life has a beautiful flow.

210. When you are racy there is no finish line; nothing ends, there is no completion. It cannot be since internally there is no space to go there.

211. Rebecca, I can relate to this, ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.’ I notice that if I’m rushing and in drive then there is no true connection with people, I am often in my head thinking about the next thing I need to do and not giving myself and the other person the space and stillness to fully be with them, if I am feeling still and present and not caught up in the rush then I feel a much more natural, loving connection with people and enjoy being with them in full.

212. I have found that when I am racy, everything in my body contracts and the single focus is the drive exuded by my mind-driven agenda which is more than willing and super efficient at overriding the body that it is, after all, a part of.

213. Thank you Rebecca, such a great blog for me to read this morning, you are writing about what I am experiencing at the moment. I have seen recently how much I am ruled by anxiousness, and this has brought it to the fore. This is most uncomfortable but I am so thankful it is coming up to to be cleared, I no longer want to be run by this. I am seeing how much I have designed my life to prevent me from accessing a deeper connection with the stillness and beauty and the power that comes with that, which I naturally am. As are we all. So nutty to avoid what we want most!

214. This is pretty exposing – I can relate to this very much and all the things I can do to take me out and feel anxious when I can think I’m being bubbly. Rushing is a pretty common one and something that takes me out pretty quickly. So it’s great to read here what this actually stems from.

215. Lovely to read your steady growing awareness with your raciness, how it leaves you behind and now your deepening relationship with you, feeling reading and staying with your body. I had alot of raciness and anxiety, it elevated me so as to not feel or read, also it stopped me from taking responsibility for my choices.

216. So true Rebecca, we are everything before we do anything.

217. It sounds so simple to focus on your breathing while you are doing things or simply sitting quietly. However when you have been living like a runaway train, it can be a challenge at first to change this pattern and bring your focus back to you. Part of the process is letting go of the false persona you have created and realising there is a reason why you choose not to stay with you. There is something you are avoiding feeling, and often it is not the ‘bad’ feelings you expect to feel but the loveliness and stillness inside you. Crazy I know!

218. As someone who lives in a lot of raciness- thank you- I needed to read this today and surrender more into my body.

219. Great blog Rebecca, you have really exposed the circular coping mechanism many of us have going to fend off feeling what is going on for us or with those around us . . we act efficiently doing many things at the same time always racing to the next thing to avoid feeling the underlying deep seated anxiousness that we believe is due to whatever dialogue we have running whether it be ‘we are never going to be good enough’ or that we are going to be found out to be the fraud we think we are or whatever our particular critique of our self is . . . all a set up to avoid the responsibility that comes with feeling what is really going on. It is a very clever strategy. When there are feelings that we really do not want to feel the more extreme the anxiousness and raciness becomes. As stated so beautifully by Rebecca it is only being present in our every movement that we come back into our body and allow ourselves the space and build the confidence to feel, deal and express what is needed in each and every moment.

220. Even on extremely busy days space can be found when time seems to run away.

221. A beautiful blog about the rhythm of how we live daily, which is HOW we do things not just what we do, having this sense of connection with yourself Rebecca would surely support others when they see how deeply you connect.

222. It is soo amazing to not be on the racing track yet be on the ever unfolding path of life returning back to the love we are from. So as much as we can seek the relief of getting to an end line when we appreciate what love has to offer why would we want to cap it or put a limit to it, when we have the wonders of the Universe right here in front of and with us.

223. There is so much I can relate to in this blog, especially going from one task to another – this was how I used to do my housework and then wonder why nothing looked tidy or finished. These days I make an effort to finish one task completely before moving onto another task. It makes sense that if we are rushing to do the next thing that the body would become unsettled and anxious as we are moving ahead of ourselves, and with that does come with a feeling of being disjointed.

224. Awesome blog, I have been someone who uses raciness as a way to avoid being in my power. As I read your blog, it stopped me as I could feel a quality in your writing that matched the words you had expressed.

225. Coming from the point that we are already enough before we do anything knocks anxiety completely on the head.

226. We are everything before we do anything, this should be told to us and supported right from when we are very young, and most definitely when we enter school. If every child knew this first up, we would all be living as the amazing people we naturally are.

227. By recognising the push and drive that we are often in, and then choosing to live in a way that we are more present with ourselves in whatever we do, is sure to expose so many other issues we have been holding onto. Unfortunately this is the time when we often revert back to how we were originally living as making any changes can seem just too overwhelming.

228. To live in the quality of this – “I am everything before I do anything” – is going to change the world. And it is up to each and everyone of us, in our time, to return to this. Thank you for taking the step to live like this.

229. I agree Rebecca that when things feel more spacious we can make decisions based on what is needed in that moment. I now have the tools that help create that spaciousness like focusing on my breath and being conscious of my feet as I walk. It makes my other way of operating stand out because when I am racy and not present with myself I can allow complication and stress to rule. I know which one I prefer.

230. ‘And I find I am not getting so caught up in things because I am making more space to step back and look at the situation before responding.’ This feels so expansive. Like we have all the time in the world when we are with ourselves. I know I definitely set myself up to be late, or disorganised so I can take away from being with myself – afraid that whatever it is I am trying to avoid feeling/ being aware of is bigger and badder than me when actually what I’m discovering, when i give myself a chance, that underneath the hurt, the anxiety, there is a natural strength to who I am when I stay present.

231. What can I say but I love that you have recognised this at 19 years old. “When I am moving at a million miles an hour, at least on the inside, it is much harder to be present in the moment and deal with what is there to be done, even if it is as simple as preparing and eating dinner.” This recognition of anxiety and drive will offer a foundation that supports you wherever you are and whatever you do. Lucky world.

232. that sense of being driven… Of literally being trapped by time is endemic… It does take very conscious choices to take oneself out of this ongoing rat race that has had us trapped as a species for aeons.

233. How can we expect to engage and understand life when we are not with or connected to the body? The mind can only DO so much, but the body is where the BEING is at and where we feel what is happening around us.

234. The other day I was talking with a friend and she was saying to me that I did not feel as vibrant as I had in the past, we continued to discuss this and what I realized was that because I had been focusing on being more present, developing a greater connection with my stillness, expressing more from my body, being quiet if I felt to she equated this to lack of vibrancy as she was used to me being racy, exited, speaking loudly and loads more quickly.

235. The interesting thing is the circular treadmill we set up for ourselves. We race around doing this and that so as to avoid feeling the underlying anxiousness when the anxiety is coming from the fact that we are not present in our body as we are racing ahead in our head leaving ourself behind. No wonder we feel anxious!

236. To be driven by anxiousness or impulsed from our sacredness it’s a question I would never have contemplated as I wasn’t aware of another source of power within. The drive I got from living in anxiousness I considered a good thing at the time, as it pushed me to achieve and get results, but at what cost to my body and was it really where I needed to race to. Now with an awareness of a true connection to a source of clarity and power within that does not involve drive, pushing or racing I have a spaciousness that supports what’s next to be done in a timely and true manor

237. I agree Katie – we become so used to this low level tension that we no longer notice it.

238. This is a great blog to return to Rebecca. There is surely something for us all to relate to in some way. I go into super woman mode if I have lots of people in my home. I am then too exhausted to enjoy their company! I am learning to catch myself when I go into this mode, after all no one expects me to and who am I trying to impress? So much more relaxing and enjoyable to welcome friends and family without the pressure on myself or them.

239. I like the point you make about getting up from then dinner table. Last night I was at a meal with friends and was feeling anxious about what the next day would bring. After the meal I started tidying up straight away to avoid connecting deeper with others so that I didn’t have to feel how vulnerable I felt.

240. It has been life changing to feel that my sense of worth comes from inside of me, and not what I do in the world…this is such a massive change in a world that rewards achievements, goals and drive.

241. It is always revealing , revealing AND disturbing when we realize just how much anxiousness is embedded within us, and also, when we simply start to release the anxiety, how profoundly different our lives can be

242. That is an interesting one, how we can move a million miles an hour on the inside yet on the outside look calm. Great description and I know this one very well. Also how many of us have or use anxiousness in a way to get things done? ‘I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.’ I know for myself there is also something similar for me to heal too, thank you for sharing, I would love to know more about how you introduce space ‘What I am beginning to find is that by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment’ as I feel this is important for us all to know.

243. The thing about being driven, as I have discovered, is that there is no goal, or achievement that can truly satisfy you. It becomes all about the “journey”, not the destination. In other words, the addiction is not to the sense of achievement, but rather the state of being one goes into in order to achieve.

244. What you present here is showing us all, the ways we use to prove ourselves. Creating great anxiousness in the process. It is in acknowledging ourself, feeling the truth of who we are. Creating space to be all of this.

245. I love what you offer here about how being in drive and running on nervous energy takes up all our available space – which means we prevent ourselves from reading not just how we feel in a situation, but where others are at and what’s truly required. The role of space in our lives – of creating it, of allowing it and being comfortable when we’re in it – is a must-have skill to master in a world which has us all focused on the doing.

     1. I agree Cathy, when we are moving a million miles an hour internally how are we ever going to be present enough in the moment to actually stop and feel.

246. I was squirming in my seat when I started to read this Rebecca, I know this too well. Being on the go not really letting the moment have its complete cycle. Much to learn here. What I do find is that taking moments to just sit with myself really helps to wind me down and get myself more still.

247. I used to see a messy table, banged door or bashed hand as a sign I was in this drive. Today I can see that ultimately any time I am not with my body in a connected, super gentle way I am off into this rushing vortex. The greatest thing as you present here Rebecca is to grasp this is no accident but an addictive behaviour that blocks out what we feel. If we are able to look underneath what is happening something deeper is revealed.

248. “What is it that the anxiousness and drive stops me from getting to feel about myself?” and the answer to such a question is, the amazing powerhouses we all are when we connect to the true source that we belong to.

249. What a gorgeous awareness and transformation Rebecca; I can relate to so much of what you have shared. Like you I enjoy developing a deeper sense of awareness, conscious presence and expression.

250. There is no coincidence that your blog appeared before me Rebecca. Yesterday I participated in a fantastic ‘Expression Workshop’ presented by Serge Benhayon. There was much that was included in the day that was true wisdom that can be applied to our everyday and this quote also sparked a deep resonation with-in me: “Anxiousness is the amazingness of an explosion of expression waiting to happen” – Serge Benhayon.
     Rather than run away in busyness it is more supportive of ourselves and everybody if we simple say what is there to be said.

251. What a gift you are giving yourself at 19 – amazing!

252. This makes total sense – ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment’. How often do we stand there having a conversation with someone but only listen to a fraction of what is being communicated verbally because we can feel our inner turmoil, and the urge to interrupt.

253. Rebecca I can relate to a lot you have shared moving on to the next thing before fully completing the first, the over excited way of talking and gestured with hands, these are all things I have gone through. It makes so much sense a way of keeping anxiousness buried to avoid dealing with not being good enough. When you look at it like this it’s pretty crazy.

254. I can see that drive in many things I do, and I wonder if this is the same for everyone, does a drive to complete things come from not valuing ourselves as being enough as we are. There is certainly a lot of external pressure to do this or that, but the drive comes through when we haven’t accepted what is really within us. To achieve tasks without drive is marvellously different to feel.

255. Connecting more and more deeply and genuinely to people is one of the amazing rewards that we reap when we are not all over the place, driven and racy. And once we truly start to connect, there is no going back because not living this way is actually a rip off, of others and of oneself.

256. And you know who is in the crowd watching us race this race around this unending track? God. He just stays and waits until we stop running and racing and then actually begin to feel our stillness, our centeredness and our own yumminess. It is then that we begin to feel the fact that He has been there with us all along.

257. I love how you have related anxiousness and raciness and how it affects your ability to read situations in life. I can feel just how true this is in my life too and how much I miss out through not being present in each moment with myself and with everything around me.

258. When raciness is in my movement, it affects the entire day in a very disharmonious way and then anxiousness builds up and my body can feel jittery and hard. Before attending presentations by Serge Benhayon, there was no awareness of this state in my body – nowadays I can feel this and can make a choice to come to a stop and start again – rather like re-booting a computer, everything settles and flows well again.

     1. I agree – I can feel the moment in my day when I start to feel rushed or anxious and it can become like a snowball, running through the entire day if I dont pull myself up and stop the race.

259. Choosing to not live from one’s coping mechanisms is such a huge step in one’s healing to establish living the truth, “that I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are.”

260. I race through life each day, and it’s absolutely exhausting, there is no joy, lightness or fun to be had in living this way. It’s a constant inner battle, of not feeling good enough, always trying, trying to please, or achieve something, make other people happy, constantly living out of your/ my body and in your/ my head, my body gets dragged along behind me, a bit like they used to do in the olden days to make a show of people, drag them along with a rope behind a horse and cart, we would never do this to ourselves literally so why the hell do we/ I do it energetically, because lets be honest that’s what we are doing, and damaging ourselves deeply on so many levels when we live this way. I wonder what it would be like to live from my body first, letting my body lead the way, one day at a time, one moment at a time, now that would be amazing. Now it’s time to not just know it, but live it, now that’s a different story.

261. Anxiousness and drive are just of the many coping mechanisms we use in order to not feel what is being presented in life, the moment we allow ourselves to observe and not absorb and appreciate the beauty of our beingness we can start to break away from those patterns that are not in line with our evolution.

     1. What a great comment to read this morning Francisco, I recognise wanting to race up my body, knowing that it’s to not fully meet the next point of evolution. It’s a pattern that’s exposed, and your words “appreciate the beauty of our beingness” make so much sense when I feel the ‘coping pattern’ trying its hardest to kick in.

262. Appreciation used to be something to become familiar with and re-learn as an action to do. It is gorgeous to feel appreciation arising from within now and deepening, as I re-connect to my essence and observe old patterns beginning to drop away (this is a joy to appreciate!)

263. Appreciation is indeed the only way to stop anxiousness – the feeling of that I will be fine in my day because I am with myself.

264. You have such great awarenesses Rebecca. I hadn’t clocked the movements of going onto the next thing before finishing the first or doing 4 things at once was actually perpetuating motion and giving no space for reflection. These movements pretty much make sure there is no transition period or moments of appreciation for what ever has been done.

265. It’s interesting how our sensitivity, and not wanting to feel and read everything around and inside us, can be the motivation for many harmful behaviours such a drive and busyness. Ultimately though we cut ourselves off from staying connected to the wonderful being we are.

266. Well said Rebecca, we have made our world to be about what we can do (create) – not about the initial beingness that actually does that.. It is interesting when we allow ourselves to feel this fact, and to feel that we are beyond – again.. So that we can live from connecting to our beingness first , before any matter or task we do. Thank you for being so real and honest about that. It serves us all.

267. I love developing a deeper level of conscious presence with my body and feeling the spaciousness this brings both within my particles and outside of myself into the day.

268. I find the more you do the more people step back, it doesn’t foster equal responsibility, and people love the easy option in not stepping into responsibility, so it becomes a pattern that does not serve anyone.

269. Boy have I been in a fair amount of races over the years and noticed that the finishing line never ends as the expectations we place on ourselves fuelled with levels of self worth encourage this cycle to repeat itself with harming effects. A great read and a powerful stop moment.

270. Very powerful blog Rebecca, you are showing us very beautifully how there is behind a certain movement (pattern, behavior) an hurt or emotion we try to keep locked away.. And it is so hugely important to not do that, but actually open up and start to feel what there is underneath.. Powerful and beautiful journey to choose to unravel and be honest with ourselves and so with everyone… Thank you for sharing this..

271. I have lived my life with the concept of getting everything done so I can do the fun things. The problem is that their will always be something to do, I will never finish.
     I understand now that I was doing this so I go fast and then not have to deal with the feelings I was feeling.

     Their is another way that makes sense, slow down so you can truly experience every moment, then you feel more complete with what you have done and you do not have to do more to feel ok. If you can live like this then it allows your body to deal with all the stuff that life brings and the body is very good at doing this, if we let it. Then everything that we do can be fun!

272. What if it is no race at all just a delay in returning to living who we truly are.

273. I can definitely go into drive to get things done, it is almost like I put myself in 6th gear and go for it, I can feel I call in that energy of force to get things done. Learning to be aware of this and so not choose it has been super supportive, I am a lot less existed an anxious and I have more clarity. The quality we choose in life makes all the difference.

274. I am noticing this more and more at the moment, how the more I slow down and complete things the more that becomes the foundation of normal. What it then shows up is the raciness in other areas of my life, I see it in my dreams about worrying that I will forget this or that. Really taking time to appreciate the foundation we build is so important to be able to see anxiety for what it is and choose not to indulge it.

275. The Science of appreciation allows us to embrace the fullness of who we are, it is forever unfolding and revealing how much more our lives change by simply valuing and deepening oour relationship with ourselves.

276. I have been aware of this myself this week, the not completing something in full before I move onto the next. It feels very different to commit.

277. Today I had something come up and found myself speeding out the room like a torpedo. If you asked me I probably would have told you I felt tired, yet there was no lack of energy to move myself away. And then the best thing I wanted in all the world was to be alone. Perhaps this emotional experience is understandable when seen on its own, but what you show me Rebecca here is how we are all moving this way – to escape life for things and situations we sense and do not like. You inspire me today to accept and allow what’s there and to take time right now to slow my speedo right down. Running away has never ever truly worked.

278. I can really relate, especially this morning, to this sense you describe Rebecca of striving to get ‘ahead’. It’s like when I feel this way I get off on getting closer to some imaginary trophy or finish line. I just got that in no uncertain way this way of being, comes from my head so the name is kind of ironic. Going around inside of your mind, is pretty much the only place that you get when you buy into this race at the expense of being present in life.

279. “I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people” Could it be one of the reasons we get caught up in busyness and raciness is to avoid feeling the power we bring? Could it be we like being racy so we do not have to read the the situation and avoid the responsibility being called for? Being busy is a perfect excuse to not feel what is really going on.

     1. Well said Samantha, when we live in a way that doesn’t allow for space, it also doesn’t allow for us to bring our all to a situation and sometimes this is exactly how we set it up – I know I still use this motion to keep me held above my inner knowing of what is needed to be said and done

280. I love the question you pose Rebecca – ‘why is it we find it so hard to just be? Why do feel we need so badly to push ‘fast-forward’?’ When you look around at the world today it seems incredibly fast, hectic and lived at a great pace. We all need stimulants like coffee to keep up. Like a merry-go-round someone has switched the speedometer on it seems impossible to get off – like the progress of the human race is to get faster and faster! All of this is turned on its head when you consider this speed comes in to not feel. So wow, what if we all on this planet are feeling much more than ever before? What if this feeling is not something to be blocked out but the key to our own super power? Well then we certainly should learn to get comfortable with the discomfort and tension that comes up too. Thank you for sharing how this rediscovery played out for you.

     1. Well said Joesph, the high paced speed of life is only exaserbated by the sugar and coffee and other stimulants we live off. We have lost touch with our ability to just be.

281. The thing about anxiousness is that you get so much less done and are forever making mistakes; best way to overcome this is to stay as connected as possible.

282. The drive and anxiousness that Rebecca refers to is literally endemic in our society and that there is a resolution to this plagues is surely a reference worth studying.

283. I’ve recently been seeing through my driven tendencies and what is behind it. I’ve found that much of what I do is coming from a ‘should’, even if it is something I don’t feel to do, and I’m gauging that I’m ‘okay’ by if I can fit it all in. But what it does to me is awful… pressure, expectation, anxiousness, irritability and resentment… and then that is the quality of the end result. So with the support of a friend I have started feeling and asking myself what I would like to do, what supports me first and then that supports my family, friends, workplace, groups etc. The pressure that has lifted off is phenomenal, and it’s like coming through a thick fog and seeing that it was me that created the fog in the first place and it was just not needed.

284. It’s tempting to think of this drive as directly related to speed. If we slow down and take our time it can seem we are calm and at ease. But through what you share here Rebecca it is clear to me, this is just a trick we can play on ourselves – the drive and underlying agenda to ‘get it done’ simply remains the same. So let us not look to the hecticness alone, but consider the attitude we have to how we speak, move and think. Then at last, we can release these driven ideals.

285. The anxiousness you describe Rebecca can seem very real. It takes a steady and solid hand to see through this illusion, to see the projected disaster or travesty we fear does not actually happen. The way of being present with our breath and movements you describe is sublime and our best friend, holding our hand as we make our way through the false anxious beliefs. Your words have inspired me to experiment with focusing on breath in my life today.

286. How beautiful Rebecca to start to see that beneath every habit and ill way of being is a deeper and bigger cause for us to understand. When you start to unravel life this way its stops being a matter of good and bad. Finding an issue we may be doing is no longer like getting a speeding ticket but being alerted to the fact that the petrol you use may not actually be the best for you. We so often brush off the world today as ‘crazy’ or so busy, but what if we all stopped and truly considered why that is and just what may be hiding beneath?

287. The nervous tension that exists in my body when I allow myself to be distracted and pulled outside of my self by expectations, fear of criticism and of ‘getting it wrong’ is truly crippling and halts the emergence of the true power that lies within me. And like you say Rebecca, there is no ‘finish line.’

     1. I agree Bernadette, the nervous tension is like a crippling weed that strangles the stillness from blossoming within us

288. The feeling of completion in my body is amazing, you feel sold, steady and much more there. In the sense of being really present in your body, as a person, rather than in your head thinking about somewhere or something else. The unseen effect this has on people is immense.

289. Every day we seem to think we are ‘nearly there’ like we are getting ‘somewhere’. We may alll have different destinations in mind and slightly alternate flavours of dissapointment when this projected future is delayed. But what if it all isn’t true? What if there is absolute nowhere at all to get to. Yes, nowhere. What if the only true value of life – our evolution and return to our true light, is one that cannot be rushed or forced or pushed through? Well then this blog and what you write Rebecca is well worth listening and living to, for really racing around is just a big escape from being you.

290. Amazing sharing Rebecca! One of the things we avoid most is our deep sensitivity, and when connecting with what we are doing in the present it can be a vulnerable state because we always put plans out into the future but we have no idea what the future will look like. I love your sharing about how you give yourself space to ‘be you’ just by breathing which is very supportive when going through life daily things like catching the bus walking into work, cooking etc which can sometimes be rigorous or demanding.

291. Hello Rebecca and I can relate to the drive. Through The Gentle Breath Meditation I can connect to a still place. A place where the drive of the world holds still and from there I have a choice, walk in this stillness or choose the race again. The race just brings more to do, more anxiety and you never keep up or catch up. Where as the stillness has a simple marker, itself and so the only thing to ‘achieve’ is at any moment to return to this stillness. In life there is always a to do list or a must have list and most of us drive to get there only to find a moments rest before the next thing is there to chase again. What has been a solid approach for me is to dedicate to feeling still and when I am not ask the question why. It’s not a perfect world approach but more a realisation that everything starts with me and so the start I choose is to be still first no matter where I am in the list of life.

     1. For me the Gentle Breath Meditation was also the first tool or moment of stop in my life and introducing it, along with other techniques into how I live has given me the ability to not be at the mercy of life and instead create enough distance from it to respond rather than simply react.

292. Drive, anxiety and the propensity to push through life is so normal that to stop and consider another way can seem quite alien, but feeling the transformative change that comes with creating space and slowing down is enormous…it becomes well worth making the effort for.

293. ‘ Being in this raciness stops me reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it. ‘ Bringing ‘my all’ to situations is rendered impossible when I am anxious or in drive. Seeing this written here is a stop moment for me to go deeper and feel how I can sabotage my own power and gracefulness by allowing myself to be ‘taken’ by these emotions and bodily reactions.

     1. I see it almost like being caught in a rip current, caught up and carried away and therefore not entirely present and able to deliver what is needed in the moment.

294. It feels like if you have described my life from the last 30 years – always in the drive mode, no time to rest and not really connected to myself. The level of detail you share with us is really amazing and I enjoyed reading every bit. Thanks.

295. That isn’t you. The way you opened those draws wasn’t true. The way you sat and typed wasn’t with all of who you are, but went so quick it rushed past like a speeding car. Yes Rebecca, imagine if we had an internal commentary of the truth on our lives like a grand prix. “Here is Joseph he’s going great, oh but look he has chosen to speed up and go crazy in his work – someone warn the pit team he’ll be needing some of their support real soon”. It actually is like that because we do know and all have this guide inside that tells us that when we race and rush it really isn’t true. Its this knowing that as you beautifully show we try our best to shut down. But this certainly isn’t a race we can ever win.

296. It’s obvious to me now how much pressure we put the human body under, unnecessarily so. It feels great to be learning to live without this unconscious pattern of squeezing ourselves through life.

297. Moving ahead of myself only keeps me behind .

298. I am so glad I read your blog Rebecca. I have begun to make changes in my life as a result of reading it and I have come back to your words for support as I have been confronted with my own well of previously numbed anxiousness.

299. Completing one thing before starting the next – this lesson alone has changed my whole life. My body is much less tense, my sleep is deeper, I have less need to eat sweets and I am more open in relationships with people. The ripple effect of this single habit is immense.

300. Living in this drive and momentum feels squashing: we literally compress our bodies with thoughts of how much there is to do, there’s no space to feel ourselves at all as we race from one activity to another, and we end up resenting the activities for being so relentless. But as you’ve shown, it’s not the activities, but how we are in them that makes the difference. There will always be a million things to do, and we can either be in this constant race to do it all, or bring the focus to how we are.. By focusing on what I’m doing and being aware of how I am being in that moment, instead of stressing out about all the things I have to do and haven’t done yet, instantly the pressure is off and there’s more space.

301. Reading the title of this article again has made me realise the madness of human behaviour that has us running in a hamster wheel with certain values being put on the speed with which we get nowhere.

302. In the past week I’ve been given subtle and not so subtle clues that I was moving in the energy of rush and drive. I went to work on a day, I wasn’t booked, arrived for an appointment an hour early, eat for comfort, missed a motorway junction and then pranged my car. The prang was a blessing and the stop I needed to deeply reflect on what was happening. It revealed I had lost connection with my body, become pre-occupied in mental activity and had moved into the future rather than be consciously present. Eating for comfort is a sure sign of a deeper disharmony. All that is called for is to be fully present in the body, here and now. Fast-forwarding into the future takes you nowhere and so much missed in the here and now.

303. If you are sitting in a restaurant and some pushes past, or walking in a museum and someone shoves you aside, or standing on a train and someone bashes you as they race for the door, we can all notice that there is an unfavourable disturbance that we feel. But what you show Rebecca is that whilst we think we are calm or sedate, that is not what is actually going on. For how many of us lay down to sleep, and have difficulty letting go of that email or work? How many are anxious about how that night with our partner will go? How many worry that our children are ill or unsafe? So is it possible that we are all rushing around racing like you say, in quite seemingly small internal ways? I wonder what would our lives be like if we collectively waved the chequered flag?

     1. Great comment Joseph ‘ So is it possible that we are all rushing around racing like you say, in quite seemingly small internal ways?’ I can relate to this, just had an awakening and felt the consequences of not being in the here and now.

304. “I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people. Being in this raciness stops me reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it” this is what I use to do so much and so easily, it would leave me exhausted and tired and I was unable to read what is going on. Now I have brought conscious presence to my movements, the raciness has subsided and I am more able to read what is going on and also feel my body.

305. What you have shared Rebecca is a rhythm that affects much of society and in my view is one of the things that exhausts us the most.

306. I have been paying attention to how I get out of bed lately. What I’ve noticed is the the race has started before I even get up. I start thinking about what I need to do, how I’ll do it, what is a priority…I’m off. I’m so used to being in that race with no finish line that it is quite confronting to be otherwise.

307. When I travel about, almost everyone on the roads I see seems to be breaking the speed limit. Rather than an unfortunate exception, your blog has helped show me Rebecca, that this is no coincidence, but simply a representation of how are in all of life. The fact is many of us tear away at tasks, until the wheels fall off or we get a ticket. So I love how you chose to go beneath this recklessness to see what it truly is we have been racing away from all this time – our natural grace and power.

308. Have you ever skim-read a book, fast forwarded a video, read just a few words from an article? Or listened to a friend half-heartedly while checking your text messages on your phone? How crazy is it that we do these things then turn around and complain that our life is lacking and not full? What you show without doubt Rebecca is that our racing ahead does not work, and that the richness in life lives not over the hills but in this moment when we live it with all our heart.

309. Universal Medicine is always there for humanity, presenting the opportunity, the possibility to live life without the overwhelming shroud of anxiousness, however subtle, that wraps around everyone’s lives, stopping the true spark of joy of life being ignited.

310. I spent much of my life living with anxiousness and being caught up in things that I would be doing days ahead of where I presently was, which left me feeling stressed and running on empty most of the time. To now see how truly awesome it is to return to the simplicity of our connection and being present with everything we are doing, it leaves space for us to see life truly expand and grow from our deeper awareness and observation of the world around us. I love space and all it encumbers.

311. I loved the way you have exposed how a behaviour such as ‘drive’ under the guise of being busy, being excited etc can hide an anxiousness underneath and that this anxiousness tells us so much about what is really going on. Now that you have removed the many layers of protection the world is getting to experience who you truly are – wow that is gorgeous.

312. Yes it is true, when there is anxiousness it is for me often because I have not been with myself and feeling what was going on around me consciously. So to go out of that is to start to feel again and to do what is needed to be done.

313. I too used to be very driven and over the years have been letting that go more and more. Drive, emotions, sugar, coffee, certain thoughts… these are all drugs we use to stimulate ourselves but they disconnect us from the natural, true and eternal fuel of our Soul connected life force. These false fuels don’t work, never satisfy and keep calling us back for more. I am gradually letting go of them and do at times go through periods of semi exhaustion as my body adapts to letting go of the stimulants and converting to more fiery fuel – but boy oh boy it is a great investment and the rewards are priceless!

314. It is so true Rebecca we can break every part of the day into a movement that needs to be completed with our eyes on finishing it or achieving rather than the quality that we bring to it.

315. Giving ourselves space, is a simple self loving tool, but one that is truly necessary if you are to stay present with what you are doing and then do it in a quality that is worthwhile.

316. I like how you shared the way your awareness unfolded – from being more aware of the drive and letting that go, which lead to revealing what was underneath it and so being able to address and heal it on a deeper level. Thank you.

317. Keeping our lives simple and not trying to be more than we already are, may seem boring to the distracted spirit, but who can beat how exquisite the body feels in this grace as it moves, confirming the love it holds within. The mind cannot do that.

318. Reading your words Rebecca leaves me reflecting on our world, like we are all stuck on one of those ‘Dodgem car’ rides at the fair. We circle around at breakneck speed smashing into each other sometimes with much glee. And yet all the time there is always the chance to stop and get off. To step out of the ride and its mad hurtling pace and see that this actually is not the reality of life.

     1. I love the analogy Joseph of the dodgem cars, this so aptly describes the approach to life we can get caught up in.

319. Training myself to look after myself well has been an ongoing process. I am so glad I am giving this some time and focus now as I richly deserve it

320. Cruelly the world sees the image of the doing as the ‘thing to celebrate’. And we strive and struggle to keep up with the pictures it paints. It is harming us all and yet no-one dares bare this side to the world, we uphold the image, we show the shiny and the bright side. The fact is this non-stop doing is having a detrimental effect not just to the one or two, but to all. We barely want to say hello to a person in the morning – we have to be somewhere important. We just need what we want to get what we need to be done. Where will it end? The statistics in our present day get more and more confronting. It is time to draw a finish line in the sand and end the race.

321. What you share Rebecca makes total sense when you consider how much we seem to want to escape life, to sit and watch TV, to browse online, to read a book, just to always be somewhere else. This perpetual speeding is like trying to live with life on fast forward – no wonder we are exhausted and bored. So just what is it exactly that offends us so much about being still? I agree with you, that actually it is in this stillness that our true feelings come to light.

322. It is amazing how quickly the mind races off leaving the body behind. I am finding that there is always a deeper level of surrender and presence I can go to.

323. I have also not noticed that when I am with myself I can connect with people and make space for what is needed. It doesn’t matter if the other person rejects it; what matters is I have offered a space, a movement to deepen the relationship to myself, with another and therefore to God.

324. I can relate to the ‘inner race’, some times I have chosen to correct it very simply, when I have realised I have been going into head over body, by having another go at what I had raced through, be it a moment of connection, a good bye, an action. Going back and doing it in presence and with space, allows me to truly appreciate what has just passed and return to a unity of head,heart and body. I feel disconnected when I begin to get racy, and it is not about going slower, but being present in the moment.

325. It was great to read this, in all those details, so well observed. It made me aware how driven I am some times – on the inside with thoughts, or just as a tangible “being pushed” feeling. I even forget to breath sometimes. Thank you, for reminding me of the simple tools of making space and come back to me.

326. “What I am beginning to find is that by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment.” I too have found giving ourselves space not only expands our ways of doing things and the quality we do them it, but it allows our bodies to be free from stress and anxiousness and return to the stillness of our own beautiful connection.

327. I did an experiment in these two days. Yesterday I rushed and forgot to take something to work, this choice made contracted my day, because I criticized myself for forgetting. My entire day became very cramped (lack of spaciousness) and I rushed even more. Towards the end of the day, it hit me, and I felt—what if I did not harden and be harsh to myself? Yes, I did forget something, and I did have to make extra arrangements for the next day, and I did those in response without resistance, so I began appreciating myself again. The next morning opened up in so much spaciousness that I was one hour early for my appointments without an ounce of rushing, and in this spaciousness I could feel the deep loveliness within myself, and I cried because how on earth can I ever criticize and judge this amazing loveliness that is me, how deeply disrespectful to do so. I am never perfect and do make mistakes, but the momentum of critique is so strong within me (and probably my whole culture) and yet made to be so normal, that it over powers this loveliness, but only because this ill momentum has been given attention. And it is not easy to re-correct such an ingrained momentum, but with the marker of loveliness felt in my body, it will become easier with consistent choices to move in this direction.

     1. How we are with ourselves in the moment either prepares us to remain with ourselves in the next moment or it can disconnect us and therefore we can end up sabotaging ourselves for the remainder and sometimes beyond the rest of the day. Monday morning I was too late getting the children off to meet the bus for school and they missed it. Tuesday morning I managed to meet the bus but it was rushed. This morning was very different. We created space allowing plenty of time to walk to meet the bus and having a chat a long the way. It felt lovely re-imprinting our journey setting a new marker within our bodies. Now it is committing to being consistent with the loving choices to remain in connection to myself and the children when I feel the impulse to catch the bus.

     2. I agree – it can be so easy to get caught in the hardness, be it judgement or criticism, or self-doubt or blame or simply hardening to get on with it – when we choose this we push ourselves and our sensitive sweetness down.

328. Naturally we are very still, and yet in daily life it is very common to adopt the rhythm of rush, which only means drive somehow has crept into our way of being and we focus on it more than our natural stillness. Why would we forsake something so deeply loving and that is natural to us for something that is harmful and disharmonious? I am finding this is a rebellion within me to go against the rhythm of evolution that is natural, to create a detour to delay, and it is a momentum that has been there for so long that it takes super awareness and a consistent changing of movements to stop and bring myself out from this pattern.

329. It is true that being in the momentum of angst, raciness and anxiety leaves us spinning with no end in sight.
     Allowing ourselves to stop and assess where we are at and to feel our body for a start, creates the space to observe and to remove ourselves from an all too familiar chaos.

330. “Being in this raciness stops me reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it. ” I smiled when I read this line as I realised that we use drive to hold ourselves back. How very counterproductive 🙂

331. Last night I returned home after a few days away, and found myself rushing round like I had a million things to do. My partner who was in a similar position was stable sound and calm. As the night went on the rushing changed to be quite emotional behavior. This was when I noticed and was able to see a link with events earlier, which I didn’t like and didn’t want to feel. So your words resonate with me Rebecca very strongly this morning as I reflect back on how none of this was needed if I resisted the urge to race away from what I feel. When we speed off from the bits of life we don’t like we surely leave ourselves behind.

332. The anxiety and raciness I have felt within me is becoming more obvious to notice now, reading these examples you give Rebecca and learning more about how and why we can behave in this way. Another obvious one for me to recognise is when I type too quickly, (not being a typist at all), and I make mistakes, miss letters, or misspell words. It’s a sure sign to notice I’m running ahead with my thoughts, and ends up taking much longer to correct the mistakes than if I type in my own gentle rhythm. Stopping the raciness brings more space for the inner connection.

333. Rebecca I love your closing statement ‘I am everything before I do anything’. I too have been reminded of this fact over the years and it’s starting to sink in … it’s not about what I do but the quality of me that I bring to what I do that is important. In other words, when I am very much with myself I am enough, and don’t always need to be striving to be better.

334. It is so true Rebeca about what you say about raciness stoping us from reading what is going on it is like when we choose to go into raciness as an excuse to not bring our all to the situation. When we are still and have space everyone benefits.

335. In our world today, speed is worshiped in so many ways. We are applauded like motor racing drivers for being first and are given trophies, recognition, pay rises and rewards for our ability to be totally driven. And yet what your blog and our bodies show Rebecca is this is not our natural way, not who we are, in or out of the car. I especially am touched by the way you go under the bonnet of this driven way to see we use it like a kid with a computer game. to distract and remove ourselves from life. I for one no longer want to live every day accelerating away.

336. It is really quite amazing to bring our attention to the ‘payoff’ we receive for creating anxiousness and stress in our lives. I have become far more aware of my own anxiousness since the first time I read this blog and although it is uncomfortable I am thankful that it is no longer buried deep within me. When I feel the anxiousness it feels as though it is being released from my body.

337. I too have been criticised for not being bubbly, excited and motivated in the way I used to be. The truth is I was running on nervous energy and propping myself up with ‘natural’ stimulants like coffee and alcohol. Now that I don’t subscribe to these ‘normal’ behaviours and am becoming more responsible for myself there is a change and this can be disturbing to some people. If they don’t want to blame me it is easy to point the finger at Universal Medicine or Serge Benhayon as they know that I am supported in this ‘new’ way of living by them. The truth is though that I am more committed to life now and more actively being of service in the world too and at an age where many are wanting to do as little as possible and in fear of dying and the consequences of that.

338. It is a pity that we are not taught from young that we are already everything before we do anything but instead are valued on what we do. This takes us to a way of living that is always looking to the outside for recognition and reward but forgets to put attention to the inside, there where we know and already are everything we need in this life.

339. I find it very interesting that you report that anxiousness came to the surface once you resolved to bring more presence to everything you do; it suggests to me that there might be many layers and excuses plus a lot of avoidance behaviour, all tied up, sitting underneath and informing our raciness and nervous energy laden activities.

340. Being present with myself and with my moments in daily life is the very simple way to be fully confident and feel who I am. Whenever I lose the solid feeling of myself and start to have doubts or feel uncomfortable and not confident, the first responsibility I take is to come back to full presence of me and what I am doing/facing in that moment. When I am with myself, my thoughts and bodily movements intact, there is no room to feel any doubt, there is just presence, and it is the most amazing feeling in this world, because I get to feel the truth of me every moment.

341. ‘Where are you off to in such a hurry?’ The last couple of days Rebecca I have been getting in a very strong way that there is no thing on this earth that I need to race for, there is no project I need to smash out, or deadline that I must beat. There is no train I must catch or sale I must accelerate to get to. There is no person so important that I must run and bash my feet and get to at the expense of me. The whole way we are here to be on this earth is to be Love, it is not slow or reduced or slack – that’s so far from the truth, but it definitely does not play this racing game.

342. We can spend our lives trying to win an impossible race and think we’re ‘progressing’ by driving ourselves to complete all the to do lists in the world, but what is the quality of this kind of life where things work in such a linear manner with no opportunity to deepen the relationships we have with others or the one we have with ourselves.

343. The inner race you talk Rebecca feels like a hamster on a wheel constantly in motion, and only stopping when exhausted. I don’t rush around from one thing to the other like I used to, but the times when I still do I can feel the anxiousness of trying to stay one step ahead of myself. This line is a great reminder to myself that if there is ever any anxiousness it is because I don’t feel I am good enough, and therefore need to prove my worth “I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.”

344. Over time it has become extremely clear to me that it is not how much I do in any given time but the quality of the energy that I do it in that either fuels me or drains me. When I have no agenda or attachment to an outcome and go about my day with love and purpose I feel vital at the end of the day.

345. Hello Rebecca and great blog thank you. What I have found is that there are subtle parts to this ‘racy’ as well. So it may not look like a run for the stairs or a speeding driver but you can still have a walking person that looks calm on the outside but inside is anxious and racy, they may even be different behind closed doors. What I am saying is that ‘stop moments’ unfold like everything else. What may have been a moment to stop this week may change and look different in a couple of weeks. This is the flexibility you have when you are living something and not just learning it as a process. The fluidity of this ‘living way’ is evident with Universal Medicine, real people living in the real world supported. They aren’t supported from outside but supporting themselves by holding or dedicating themselves with a quality that then comes out into everything and to everyone. As we grow or expand what we had a picture of ‘normal’ being changes because in each moment we all change, so The Way Of The Livingness is for all the ages, a true religion for us all.

346. so true Rebecca, there is finishing line, and we don’t leave anything behind, it all comes back to meet us the next time around – how would that change the quality of how we live in the world, if the politicians, the corporate leaders lived in the understanding of that principle.

347. I know drive very well. Even reading the title of this blog made me feel what living like that is like. So much anxiety!

348. What if there really was no finish line? What if we kept going around in circles, how then would we change the way we live? These questions popped up for me when reading the first paragraph of your blog. As so much of life is lived to get past one finish line to the next, the importance of allowing space, of feeling the next impulse is almost disregarded throughout the day – yet when we do allow ourselves to listen to our bodies call then the magic really happens.

349. I can very much relate to this blog, I can feel how exhausted I am reading the title. I pretty much constantly live in a raciness, from going into my head, it’s actually a saddening way to live, but joyful in knowing that. In the sense I know so I can change it, and I’ve felt how it is to live another way. A way with so much magic, connection with God, nature, the universe, yourself, and other people when you live this way. Everything is very simple and way much more joyful when you don’t race. It also allows for far more space, and understanding people and seeing people for who they really are, rather than reacting to what is not them.

350. A race with no finish line is an exhausting way to live. Having stop moments in the day, even very short ones, break the momentum of rush, push and drive. Given time with regular practice these stop moments begin to build a quality that reverses the race in life to a walk with purpose and connection.

351. It is amazing how being ‘driven’ is a sought after skill, and encouraged as a must have when going for a job, but it makes me wonder what would be the long term effects of living in this way and the health conditions which may present themselves. From what you have described here Rebecca there is a huge difference to every aspect of your life, from your well being to your relationships which shows that employers do not know what they are asking when they want a driven person.

352. I love the example of leaving the dinner table before the conversation is finished and how through being in space we get to feel and honour other people as we learnt to feel and honour our selves.

353. I had spent years in that ‘race with no finishing line’ I never even saw the finishing line but I was successful in beating myself for it was nowhere to be seen behind me. Motion was my life till I had the pull to attend a one-day presentation that a friend said I should go and see. I had no idea about what was going to be presented. I had reached a period in my life where I was looking for something more. The presentation given by Segre Benhayon was not more; it was coming home to what I had spent years running from…Me. I never have since that day looked back to see myself, for it is always with me now.

354. The joy that floods the body when I allow it to become still is enormous. Almost equally enormous is the force that tries to prevent this to happen.

355. Funny how we can stop and take a moment just to be, and this is when we begin to feel anxious or restless or unsettled. In actual fact it is not really true that we ‘begin’ to feel this way, for this has been there all along, but it is simply more tangible to feel when we stop the business and the rushing around. And so it is often easier to keep busy and to keep rushing than to allow ourselves to feel the anxiousness that lies within.
     But what if that anxiousness was just a sign to show us that we were disconnected? A way for the body to signal to us that we have just lost our connection momentarily to our essence, our inner strength? Would it then not make sense to use this anxiousness as a cue to come back, to re-gather and to re-turn to the essence we all knew and held as children…So simple, yet not something we do often enough.

356. A great sharing – often we are in too much of a rush to consider a pause, let alone stop.
     It is well worth allowing ourselves the space to connect to our bodies and what is needed in any moment – a needed, very loving step towards ourselves.

357. Thank you so much for writing this Rebecca. Since I first read your blog I have recognised so many of the behaviours you mention and it is uncomfortable to see but wonderful at the same time because I am starting to change things and make more space for myself. Today when I read about the way that making space opens up connections I thought about quite a few instances where I see a particular person I have always wanted to connect with but I have been unable to as I am rushing to my next destination. I feel inspired to monitor the way that making space supports my relationships.

358. I recently put myself onto a program of not multi-tasking and let me tell you, initially it was hard as I would move in the old pattern and then realize as I am moving how I felt in my body, which was tense and running on nervous energy. I realized it depended on what task I was doing as to whether I went into drive and wanting to get as much done as I can quicker. Definitely can feel how lack of self worth comes into play at those times. It’s so great to feel the difference within my body of completing tasks before I move on.

359. ‘These things may seem simple, but they allow space to be with ‘me’’ It really is the simplest things that support us in making the greatest changes in the way we live.

     1. I agree Kylie, it is in the space we give ourselves in our day that allows for growth – when we are travelling at a hundred miles an hour, internally externally or both, there is no way we can stop and feel what is true for us

360. To recognise that we have a coping mechanism to mask, hide or bury an un-dealt with feeling (like anxiousness) is superb to catch, because this opens the door to then be able to observe just how many other ways we may employ to avoid that uncomfortable issue. Like over eating, or eating certain types of food when we are not hungry, serial T.V series watching or over exercise to name a few..

361. So inspiring and poignant to read as I’m realising how rigid I am in life. I try to get things perfect in a drive to avoid criticism that’ll trigger feelings of shame. But I’m also feeling how lovely it is to be present, or walk through the park and notice the delicate yellow leaves gracefully fall to the ground, to be spacious and allow myself the openness to learn and observe, to feel what’s needed in a moment and trust I don’t have to be trying to be ten steps ahead and out-think the world!

     1. A good point Karin. The always doing to achieve perfection that avoids us being critiqued or critised.

362. It is so true, I have felt there was never enough time and so started noticing that I was moving on to the next thing before I had finished the thing I was doing. Once I started being aware of that, I started noticing half closed cupboards, drawers, have made beds, half finished washing up…it was everywhere which led to a huge underlying anxiety that I had never finished! Great blog.

     1. Great observations Lucy. I have been noticing this in myself too and it has been great because it helps me to see that I am actually trying to dull down my awareness.

     2. Well said Lucy – it’s amazing how often I move on before finishing something – the most recent being at work, where the corridor door, and the door to the office are very close to each other, and I will open the next before having fully closed the other behind me, so end up doing both at the same time – its a great catch and im enjoying leanring to do one door at a time.

        1. ha ha what a great opportunity each day!

363. What a gift to realise the drive is coming form an anxiousness born of not feeling enough. While this is running there can be no ease or stillness in the body. When we realise that we (and everyone) are born more than enough, it is like a deep sigh rippling through your body. There is no need to chase or prove anything and whatever we do is already enough as we brought all of what we have to share to it.

     1. I agree Fiona, living from this basis of never being enough, there is no rest or surrender, there is never a point at which we feel enough. When this is healed, we can begin to live and appreciate ourselves for a place that cannot be quantified by any action, but is instead a quality.

364. I imagine some people see the drive they observe in others as a positive thing, even inspiring, as we applaud doing and achievement in society. It also subconsciously means that if we know someone else is doing it, then we can sit back and do the bare minimum. There is the saying, “If you want something done, give it to the busiest person. There is certainly a lack of shared responsibility in society, and those who overdo and those who underdo. This all feels like it comes from the same energy though. What is needed is for people to feel a purpose and sense of shared responsibility ands take whatever steps are needed together, with each using whatever strengths they have to complete the whole.

     1. So true Fiona. How do we hear the glorification around multitasking? As a whole society we are yet to see the harm that lays behind the drive.

        1. It’s the same with perfectionism – we’re yet to see it for the poison that it is to the body.

365. In my life the exhaustion has not come from the amount of things I have done but the quality of energy I have done it in. When there is love and care and attention to detail and a purpose to support humanity then there is nourishment when there has been self and recognition and need the emptiness is magnified and it hurts even more.

     1. I agree – often the most tiring days are not necessarily the busy ones, sometimes Ii do very little, but it’s the way I was that drains me – a conversation where I get emotional or a situation I make a fuss of that I don’t need to, saps my energy far more than a day full of activity done first from a connection to me.

        1. That is the significant element –“done in connection to me”. We can walk fast, move swiftly from one task to another, express something to somebody at speed and not be exhausted or racy if we are coming from that inner connection and staying in our own presence. Then the walk, the moving, the speech are from our inner rhythm and a consistent steady pace, however fast.

366. Thank you Rebecca – you have made such sense of the life I have been living and explain how we can take simple steps to get off the merry-go-round.

     1. It really is a merry go round – an illusion of movement, of going forward and getting somewhere when in reality we are going nowhere, and therefore motionlessness is in truth our movement.

367. ‘The way I would be the first up from the table at dinner and clearing away the plates even before other people had finished eating’ I’ve been aware that I have been doing this for sometime but it wasn’t until I read it from you that I was prepared to look at it and start to change it. I can feel that when I am eating I am already racing to get everything done, including my meal finished so that I can get to the end of the day. Living like this has been utterly exhausting and has squeezed out every ounce of enjoyment from my day. Recently, I took my time to eat my food with full presence of the purpose of the meal (to nourish) and took my time to wait for others to finish before getting up. What was gorgeous was that I was left with absolutely enough space to then get everything I needed to do done and it was far more enjoyable as I felt connected not only to myself but to the others I had been eating with.

368. Bringing focus to my breathing I can easily catch if I’ve fallen into the race for the non-existent or should I say completely self created, finishing line.

369. “A race with no finish line”. When you put it like that it seems ridiculous that we would race to do anything. There really is no finish line in life – it just goes on and on – and we are required to engage with life until our last breath. It’s worth taking a pause and considering exactly how we want to live, instead of simply pushing through it in a blind panic!

370. It is so easy to be absorbed by the doing and striving, achieving and seeming pressure to get things done, it seems to be so real and necessary as life demands it, but then life also works when we get sick or unexpected events require us to stop doing what we are obsessively doing and, oh wonder, life continues without disaster. No need to wait for the excuse, surprise or extreme to take us off the hook of raciness, just a choice to focus first on our quality and presence and then do whatever we do in that quality.

     1. I like what you share here Alex Braun. About how it can all seem so real and necessary when we are looking at life from the view of life – what I mean is that when I am in the whirlwind then the whirlwind feels real and thus I react to it and get swept up in it and feed it. What supports me amazingly is having rhythms, moments, tools that allow me to step out of the whirlwind – and then I can see so much more clearly.

        1. I can absolutely attest to what you share, without knowing ourselves outside the whirlwind we don´t even know that there is a different way than being swept away by life. We need to know ourselves as who we are first before we can be who we are in the daily challenges of a life that is not yet harmonious with our innate nature and hence tends to absorb us when we don´t have the means to stay consistent with ourselves.

        2. It’s like a ship in a storm or lost at sea. We need anchors…or land-marks…or lighthouses…navigation buoys…all of these things are markers of our truth that we can come back to, rely on, remind ourselves of when we have lost our way. That is why rhythms and consistency are so important to me. They are my lighthouses that keep me on course.

371. Awesome Rebecca. I love the way you explain that drive is actually unnatural for you. This is huge because there are many that would consider this a positive and unchangeable ‘personality trait’.

372. “What I am beginning to find is that by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment” this is something that has taken me a while to comprehend as I always found it difficult to trust that by being more gentle with myself and present I could actually get more done but that is truth of it all, connecting to our stillness allows us to feel what space is all about.

373. All this need to get to the top, when the truth is when you get there you realise there is nought to do but climb back down.

374. Imagining a race with no finish line would make one very exhausted! This is a great blog Rebecca, revealing just how easily we can go about things in a rush or hurry and how this gradually can over time bring on fatigue or exhaustion to our body.

375. These days I am far more aware of my movements and feel when I have gone into drive and often able to gently and lovingly bring myself back to myself and the loving quality of being in what I am doing.

376. I love reading this Rebecca, there is so much clarity that you share here and wisdom in the way you are approaching life.

377. This is amazing Rebecca and I can so totally relate.
     Your tenderness is coming through so beautifully, and it’s just another confirmation of your growth!

378. It is great to catch oneself in any drive, and to recognise and clock all the tell-tale signs that lead to lack of presence with our body. When the feeling of spaciousness leaves and I feel that I am on a ‘time-line’ I know that I have disconnected from myself.

379. It is very interesting to realize the different feeling for being either in ‘time or in ‘space’. Said like this it may sound a bit strange but simply means we are either caught by the pressure of time we have bought into or are free of such pressure by holding a presence with ourselves while we are moving and time is passing. It is no coincidence that the term ‘presence’ refers to time as much as to the quality of being.

380. I too can see how much I pushed my body, all driven by my mind, and I didn’t want to feel this impact for a long time. It has taken a long time to let go of this behaviour but I am so worth it.

381. I think a lot of injuries and accidents in life have been caused by not completing each moment and getting distracted and moving on to the next thing.

382. The appreciation I have for learning about presence and stillness is enormous! There is nowhere else in the world other than Universal Medicine that I could receive such wisdom and support the breadth and depth of which has not ‘finish line’.

383. Rebecca i can well relate to this raciness and have observed how functional life becomes when i live like this – our ability to read and respond to energy is remarkable yet we choose to live in a way that impairs the depth and wonder of our natural senses.

384. Rebecca, what you are sharing here is really interesting, ‘I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough’, I was in a lot of drive until recently, I had not clocked that it may have been anxiousness about not being good enough that was driving this, great to ponder on this.

385. The honesty and practicality of your blog is ace. I sense that this is something that affects so many people in the world. We are all running around at a “million miles an hour” – running away from ourselves.

386. Yes the examples you give of finding space to check in are very simple – but I have found that that is the whole point. It is in those moments of simplicity that it is easiest to see the gap between what I am doing and where my head is at. And it is through focusing on these most simple of things that it is easiest to bring myself back to me.

     1. Very true ottobathurst. I often think I am feeling quite calm but when I connect to my breath I then become aware that my body is actually stressed and racing a million miles an hour. The more I allow myself to be aware of how I really feel the easier it is to bring myself back to a truly harmonious state.

        1. It’s also great to catch it early, before it becomes too embedded in my movements. A constant awareness and constant checking in serves me well. If I drop the ball and let it roll down the hill, then the walk back up is harder!

387. Thank you Rebecca your article has shown me again, how easy it is to get into drive and getting things done, but where am I along the way. Slowly my whole body is letting me know, to stop and be with myself and then allow my connection within.

388. “For example, when I close doors, cupboards or drawers, I would often be halfway through closing it and already be turning to do the next thing, or leave it to close on its own as I walk away” – Rebecca i’m also ‘guilty’ of this one too at times, and to be truly with whatever it is i’m doing as simple as closing a door/cupboard, or typing away on the computer, and when such ‘off’ moments do happen, it feels really awkward … and i have to go back and re-do what i did…which wastes time and creates unnecessary jam than if there was a presence from the start. Being present thus creates space and flow too. Great reminder Rebecca!

389. ‘bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking. These things may seem simple, but they allow space to be with ‘me’ in what I am doing in that moment, whether it be catching the bus or eating my dinner.’ These are a beautiful reminder of the simplicity of returning to our connection to our bodies to be aware of what is affecting us and that we may be caught up in from the environment around us.

390. ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.’ Today I felt myself slip back into old patterns of drive and doing which started with a feeling of lack of self worth and I noticed just how much this impacted negatively on the quality of my relationships throughout the day. How we are with ourselves is how we are with others.

391. I love the quote you shared Rebecca “I am everything before I do anything”. This can stop the rush and push to get things done and give us the “space” as you mentioned. We need to experience every moment and be present with ourselves and stop the control and exhaustion we often set ourselves up for.

392. Creating space feels like such a loving thing to do, giving ourselves the chance to really connect to the truth of what is felt inside…when we do that we can’t go wrong.

393. Rather than an exhausting race with no finish line, connecting and being present in the moment opens up a life of opportunities, ongoing and inspiring.

394. So much of my life has changed thanks to the presentations by Serge Benhayon. Feeling what is happening in my body and putting a true reading on what is taking place has definitely put a stop to me being so racy in all areas of my life.

395. Rebecca whats great in what you share here is that there are simple steps that you’ve taken which are practical. The one about being aware when you open doors is something that I am also experimenting with. Each of these moments are helping in not being in a “rush stream” to get to the never approaching finish line.

396. its so interesting that you talk about the reason behind the drive you had. Often we are aware of a behaviour but don’t scratch the surface to look at the underlying cause. Its lovely how you share that by appreciating you are enough, you are healing the need to prove yourself with the incessant drive.

397. I too had not experienced what it was like to live with stillness until I met Serge Benhayon. Being caught up in anxiousness, drive, push and rush I didn’t know another way of being existed…Learning to stay present with myself in each moment and focusing on the gentle breath and quality of my movements has been life changing.

398. I made the same experiences Rebecca! When I started to take more care of myself, when I started to be more loving with me – I did become anxious. This fear was quite unexplainable or unrealistic and it brought me too to wonder what is going on. And I can see how this fear was there before but covered and hidden by my busyness/actions and disconnection. To care for me contains also a state of conscious presents and here I feel where I am. So I came to the result that it is good to feel the anxiety – so I can deal with it, face what brought me there. And I found that I am in fear when I am disconnected to my belonging and to who I truly am. In fact we are all missing a true religious life, what contains the knowing and feeling that we are the suns of God and on our way back to live unity again. This contains responsibility and a giving up on individual creations.
     That we try to run away from truth, will truth not make go away.
     So it is my choice: will I try harder to run from it, or do I choose to surrender again?
     Will I choose true intelligence again?

399. I am inspired to create space to have moments to pause, reflect and feel what is going on especially when I am around others as it is when I am around others that I can let things slip and ‘fall in’. Simply asking myself the question Rebecca has posed in her blog ‘Is the decision I am about to make true for myself and other people…’ can be all that is needed to bring me back to truth when I am in the presence of others.

400. A race with no finish line sounds exhausting! But then who said life was a race? Who coined the term ‘the human race’ and why do we accept that as the way we have to be. If we were to move in a different way, to walk and not rush around everywhere then we know we would enjoy the view more, be in a better place when we arrive at the next junction or thing to do. We would not arrive in a jumble and already be thinking of the next leg of the journey, but appreciate more fully the current steps we are taking.

401. After reading your blog, it reminds me of a quote that states..’slow and steady wins the race’.. Maybe whoever came up with this also realised that living in a steady and not rushed way you are always a winner because you do not miss out on being with yourself in all that you do – and with this connection, there is no race.

402. “The way I would be the first up from the table at dinner and clearing away the plates even before other people had finished eating” – this one made me smile Rebecca, it was the scene of family dinners as a child where i would race to eat, finish and clear away the plates.. then dash to make the teas, wash up.. there was no time for any digestion, and we always use to laugh and joke that the dinner would take 3+ hours to make, and 3mins to consume or wolf down should i say ; ) This self time-bound way of eating, was also how i studied too where the quality of rush or impatience was in every aspect of my daily life.. dressing, walking, bathing, exercising, shopping … and the lack of space brought anxiousness and desperation, though today thankfully the creation of space has brought an ease, steadiness and confidence to be able to feel more what’s going on, which, in the past was something very easily dismissed in the speed or race.

403. “What I am beginning to find is that by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment.” I spent much of my life in anxiousness and needing to be doing things as a form of recognition. I now see just how much torment I placed on my body under constant stress and it makes me question what kind of quality was I moving in when I was in this pattern of behaviours? Having a greater awareness of my connection with my body has given me a new understanding of space and simply being present in any moment.
     We do not need to do anything, simply be our lovely selves in every movement and moment we can without perfection but with honesty and a deep appreciation for all that we are.

404. I was discussing this topic with my sister last week, how so much of our world is geared to be in drive, but it wears us out, the use of stimulants are out of control. When we connect with ourselves there is no drive there, just space and a beautiful stillness.

405. “..I am everything before I do anything…” Absolutely Rebecca, and so many of us thankfully hold this knowing within ourselves thanks to Serge and the Universal Medicine presentations and workshops.

406. Beautiful to read Rebecca, thank you for sharing, I know only too well the the continual doing and the raciness that accompanies that way of life, i too have come to realise it is not what I do that defines me but who I am being with me in each moment. I love the word space, my body feels it and responds with a beautiful ease fullness.

407. It is really interesting that when I work on the computer and drink some water, how tempted I am to continue looking at the screen rather than be with what I am doing.

408. I find it really beautiful how you asked yourself questions and by that got to let go of a lot of things like the drive and anxiousness. It is amazing how these questions can bring awareness of what is truly going on for us and that it is not ‘just the way we are’.

409. ‘For example, bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking. These things may seem simple, but they allow space to be with ‘me’ in what I am doing in that moment, whether it be catching the bus or eating my dinner.’ A great reminder Rebeca, to bring this detail of awareness to everything we do , as the quality in one moment leads to the next.

410. Feeling the raciness that is within is confronting. But it is giving us the opportunity to let go of this. And take the space that we are capable of when we choose to let go of this anxiousness.

411. It’s true so many of us are in a race all the time- I know as this used to be how I lived daily, and it never ever ended. Now I enjoy when I am feeling calm and still in every step of my day- that is everything for me.

412. It was for me such a revelation to know that ” I am everything before I do anything”, and the more I bring this to my awareness the more space I create as I surrender to what is presented in front of me.

413. Exposing the drive and motion in one area of our lives opens our eyes to the other areas that we may have it in. Through the exposure we then have the opportunity to work on shifting it.

414. Thank You Rebecca for this great blog highlighting something so important for most of our racy world today. I too was one of those until I came across the work and teachings of Serge Benhayon.
     I love what you say at the beginning about the ‘unnatural drive’. I was known for multi tasking and highly motivational and yet this was totally in contrast to what my body needed and stillness was not a word on my radar. Moving onto the next thing as you mention and also thinking about something else whilst carrying out the task in hand was classed as normal and lets face it most live this way so I fitted in.
     I realise now that all this drive made me exhausted and got me craving more and more sugar filled foods.
     Today I can appreciate how far I have come and my focus is on the moment and dealing with what comes up however small and not pushing it down or racing to get somewhere.

     1. It’s crazy because we actually champion multi-tasking. I too was forever trying to multi-task but I couldn’t do it and was even criticised for not being able to do it. I couldn’t do it because I was a bit of a perfectionist and had to do each job as perfect as I could. It is no wonder I was always feeling exhausted! I am letting go of the perfectionist and boy do I feel so much better. I am beginning to enjoy doing jobs because I am enjoying being with me.

415. Brilliant blog Rebecca. I have experienced so many of the examples you gave and I have even had the same types of dreams you describe here. It is very revealing to see that this drive is actually a calculated choice that we use to avoid being aware of all we are feeling.

     1. It also allows us to function while we are tired or exhausted, both of which are useful if we don’t wish to feel what is happening to us.

416. “A huge thank you to Serge Benhayon and my Universal Medicine practitioners, who have always presented that I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are.” Thank-you Rebecca for this sharing, anxiousness and raciness is rife today – how can it not be in a world that applauds muti-tasking supermen and women. Accepting that we can live in the knowingness, the beingness that we are everything already is life changing.

417. We live life like we are stuck in 5th gear with our foot on the floor. We hurtle round corners at breakneck speed with little regard for our body Then when we crash and burn and break down we make life about going slower. But as you beautifully show Rebecca, this is just more of the same that caused us the issues in the first place. For if the race actually does not exist, except in our head, if the mad dash is but a trick then the only way out for us all is to live breathe and move knowing this race is not true.

418. It’s much easier not to get caught up in things or overwhelmed when we create space in our day; not necessarily meaning that we need more ‘time’, but there is a quality of being that allows us to still live our lives and work that’s spacious and allows for us to observe things that are going on around us and the quality of how we’re choosing to be in each moment.

419. The way I move in and with my body is a direct expression and reflection of how I am with myself, the degree of connection and centeredness, stillness and presence. Raciness immediately disrupts any smooth, fluidic movement to the point that it appears the body is controlled and forced by a force that is not part of its natural design; like a driver driving his car without any regard to keep it undamaged and well maintained and disrespecting of its design and purpose.

420. I have been noticing recently a hardness or ‘push’ in my right arm that creeps in when I do the simplest things like brushing my teeth or typing on the computer. When I consciously let go of this ‘drive’ and just surrender to being in my body, and being more gentle with my arm, it feels very different in my whole body not just my arm.

421. I can so much relate to the racyness, Rebecca. What I observe in becoming more present with my movements, the racyness sticks out even more. In the past I have given up, because it was uncomfortable to feel. Now I stick with the feeling , stay with my movements and observe. The rise of energy I receive from observing and not reacting is enormous.

422. “The over excited way I talked and gestured with my hands” – I can relate to this one Rebecca, it was quite a trait of mine before and something others use to know (and like) me for i.e. it became my personality, though I do recall that after I talked excitedly and animatedly that my head would race, I would feel a rushing and end up feeling quite off, or dizzy afterwards. Today I just can’t do that as the moment I do, it feels so awful to feel my head spin like that.

423. It is easy to get swept away in this push to get ahead of what needs to be done. There is a way to surrender ourselves, to trust we are enough and to be with ourselves in each moment that creates space for what is needed.

424. It is so interesting how things like being driven, that can be seen as a good thing, take over our lives and end up masking something that we don’t want to feel. I use to run off nervous energy, doing one thing then the next and the next, always having many things on the go at once. This created a constant nervous tension in my body with the driver being all about how I was seen in the world and being able to get things done. This nervousness was covering up that I did not feel like I was enough. By addressing the underlying feeling of not being enough, I realised that I don’t need the nervous tension. I can actually do more things in a day now, but doing these things does not define who I am, nor does the amount I get done. My quality is what I take to the things I do, my quality is not defined by what I do.

425. “The way I would be the first up from the table at dinner and clearing away the plates even before other people had finished eating” I so did this too for years and especially if I was having dinner with people who were super loving, I would want to avoid my discomfort at not being able to surrender to the love on offer so jump up and clear the table. Now I am able to sit and bask in the love.

426. When I stopped to contemplate why I was in this perpetual race against time I actually had no idea. It had been happening for so long that it had become normal, despite being awful. When I stopped racing against time I began to feel how futile the race was and how wonderful it felt to embrace the moment. What blew me away and still does is just how full each moment can be when we don’t race past it.

427. The willingness to be honest about how I am feeling (not necessarily as a public declaration but simply with myself) is an unfolding practise that is gently and incrementally changing my life. It is getting behind the scenes of all the games I have played and the facades I have created in an attempt to comply with a rule book, that I am pretty sure doesn’t actually exist…

428. I had to read this again, it is such a worldly and poignant article, it really is news worthy nutting out how much ‘drive’ we are all in.

429. Thank you Rebecca, this is something I feel in need to make my main focus for this week – simply coming back to my body.

430. Recently I have become more aware of how I can go into raciness in my day. I started to feel the anxiety and interestingly I too started to have reoccurring dreams of waking up in a panic because I had left something behind feeling like I wasn’t prepared. In one dream particular, I had turned up, away from home with no suitcase! The dreams have subsided but I too am learning to catch myself when I feel myself going into anxiousness especially when I have set myself a deadline and there is so much to do but that is because of a lack of commitment in my previous choices.

431. This blog has really resonated with me Rebecca. It was a revelation to understand that it is anxiousness that is actually what is underneath the drive that you describe – a drive that many of us, including me feeling calm and confident, go into without a thought for its underlying agenda. In an illuminating Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy session yesterday, my therapist identified anxiousness underneath my drive, and I immediately recalled your blog, and reread it today. The health issues that are evident in my body today can be seen as a result of this drive and constant competition with myself to do more and more, better and better, so for you to identify this at the tender age of 19, and work on correcting it puts you in a magnificent position for a balanced, connected life. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. Now it is up to me to put this into practice much deeper than I have been so far.

     1. I agree – I look forward to using the many years I have ahead of me to constantly grow and work on these areas – to come to know myself not as the driven or anxious person, but for who i really am.

432. Most of my life being in a rush and anxiousness has been very familiar to me, this has become a lot better since becoming more aware and present with myself but I still feel there is a lot more I could go with this. Much of humanity are walking around with levels of anxiety which lie unaddressed. Thank you Rebecca for sharing your awareness in this much needed blog.

433. Bringing our mind in line with what our body is doing in each moment, rather than allowing our mind to wander, skip off somewhere or perhaps fixate whilst our body is carrying out it’s movement enables us the space and perspective of great presence, reflection and awareness.

434. I used to pride myself on thinking and doing many things at once, while at the same time needing stimulants and relaxants during and at the end of each day. I would fall asleep exhausted, wake up without a moments pause and do it all over again. The notion of space was being occupied with a leisure activity and not truly space of being with me. No wonder many emotions and other disturbances were held inside and no wonder they built up into illness. But if it wasn’t for Serge Benhayon I would not have understood how simple and supportive it was to come back to my body, allow feelings to surface and begin to appreciate the healing energy of stillness that dwelled deeper inside. Now I understand how true space can be held during life’s activities and what a contrast it is to bring quality to life instead of quantity.

435. “What is it that the anxiousness and drive stops me from getting to feel about myself?” as i’ve been learning myself the anxiousness is very often used as a decoy or excuse to not feel the disturbance inside the body, so there is deliberate activity to keep it in its heightened state, and equally, to not feel the amazingness of oneself its absence… because when there is no anxiousness, the road ahead in regards capability and potential is clearly seen and felt.. and the responsibility that comes with exercising this.

436. ‘by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment’ I love this. I’ve a drive to live by being driven by trying to be one step ahead and not present with what is. Today I realised I could live in the stress of what there is to do or simply be with each moment, enjoy the walk to my car before a work call, be with the person on the phone and not thinking of the next step ‘before I forget’. It’s taking practice but it is very possible and I’m feeling is just a simple choice to not enjoin the stress I see around me. I only enjoin this stress to not be the odd one out and be in my amazingness.

437. Reflecting on this further I realise just how much I will create a challenge where there need not be one just so I can work in a way which puts me out of simply responding to the natural impulses which are felt within me.

     1. Yes Michael I too am beginning to see how I can create situations to distract me from being present and going deeper. I am finding that the key is to catch myself and not get caught in what is going on around me when I choose this way of being.

438. Love your last paragraph and I couldn’t agree more… for knowing and then living that we are everything before we do anything is invaluable wisdom and an incredible reminder that we are more than we allow ourselves to acknowledge…. no defining necessary.

439. You raise a beautiful point here Rebecca it is not so much that we are time poor but space poor and that is the lack of conscious presence that we bring to each moment. When we are with all our movements space just seems to open up and completion of each moment naturally occurs.

440. Every day – and even more frequently if we choose is an opportunity to learn. To me learning means, to be honest with myself about what didn’t work, why I felt it didn’t work and start afresh with another approach. Whoever said just because it was done a certain way it has to remain locked in to that. This is where rigidity and rules come in and kills the joy and playfulness of discovery for and within us.

441. I am learning to enjoy just being myself, without needing to do anything. And actually it is true that whether I am doing something or not, I am the same me within, when I really pay attention I feel the same loveliness, so there is really no need to prove myself with what I do or not do. Sometimes I feel rushed because there are deadlines in daily life, but whether I rush or not only determines whether I continue to feel lovely inside or not (rushing takes me away from feeling this loveliness), and it actually does not guarantee whether I finish a task sooner. Even if I do get something done and out of the way, the expense of having to leave my own loveliness is not worth it in the end. It affects me and certainly that would affect the outcome too. What if, one day we realize all the “hard work” we have put in our lives are actually accumulating towards disregard which does not reflect our true intelligence as human beings? Are we ready to really be honest to ourselves?

442. I was at the airport very recently at 4.30am and was struck by the intensity and anxiety the vast majority of people were in at that time. It could have been midday the way everyone was moving around, rushing and being in stress. Because it was so early the anxiety seemed more pronounced, but it is always there in our lives…this way of being really has become so normalised we don’t think twice about it.

443. There’s a vast difference between “leaving one task half-finished to start another and swap between, rather than completing one before moving on to the next.”. In the first example there’s a rush, a hardness, a need to get it done. Where as in the second one there’s space and loveliness in each and every movement. Even in typing these words I can feel the difference between the two. The second one leaves me fullfilled, enriched and joyfull, where as the first one leaves me empty, more racy and a feeling of wanting ‘more’ (as if this would fill the emptyness).

444. I love this Rebecca. I’ve been in drive most of my life and I’m realising that when I’m in drive I can’t feel what is going on around me nor can I read the situation I’m presented with which then means I bring little understanding. Perhaps the reason I started going into drive years ago what that I didn’t want to feel what was going on.

445. You are speaking here Rebecca on behalf of us all as nearly everyone is living in one way or another with constant drive, if not a subtle anxiousness or nervousness. It is super simple to heal as it in truth stems from not living a way of being that is truly and deeply honouring of our feelings and our innate truth.

446. It can be challenging slowing down the momentum of racy-ness that we have built up over the years. One thing amongst many for me, is bringing myself back to my breath, gently feeling the coolness at the tip of my nose. Projecting ourselves into the future, or dwelling on the past takes us away from the present moment, which may not be that pleasant at times, but the reality is, there is no avoiding the present moment as everything we do in that moment always catches up with us, whether we want to stop and feel it or not!

447. It is interesting how everywhere in society it is set up for us to rush to the next thing, we are always ‘on’ – when truth is it keeps us ‘off’ and disconnected to ourselves as well as everyone and everything around us.

448. “I am not getting so caught up in things because I am making more space to step back and look at the situation before responding.” This one lesson could change the course of history and conflict. The problem is it is not a quick fix but a path of responsibility

449. Rebecca, what you have written here is absolutely brilliant. I often find myself ‘ahead’ of myself, living the future in a rather frantic way before it arrives at my feet and attempting to keep things controlled in a particular way. A few months ago, it was quite hilarious, as I even found all my clocks running fast – what an incredible reflection of what I was doing. My iPhone clock was at times running 20 minutes ahead of time (not something under my control – or so I thought!), my car clock would creep gradually faster and mostly was about 10-15 minutes ahead of time (even if I adjusted it every couple of weeks) and my oven clock did the same! But since I actually got the message and have been really seriously working on the issue (and I don’t mean that I had to get the clocks fixed or the oven thrown out), I have found that the clocks are ‘behaving’ again and showing the real time! Much of what you have shared is similar to what I am still working on putting in place and living each day – I certainly don’t claim to have it down perfect, and even tonight as I was driving home I caught myself trying to rush home. But the key for me is to catch myself when that happens and just make the choice to slow down and realise that (a) I am complete as I am, that ‘I AM everything before I even DO anything’ and (b) rushing gets me nowhere, so it is about being with me and the quality of what I do that matters the most. Of course this is not always easy to take on board as I still have days where I try to squeeze a lot into the day, and when I am frantic then it feels impossible, but when I am with myself it is like the waters of time part magically to the side, creating the space for me to complete exactly what is needed in just the way that is needed. To me this is the lesson, to surrender to ourselves and allow the space to unfold. It appears this is a lesson I am learning and then re-learning each day. I may be a slow learner, but I have to admit that I am not one to give up easily – and I thank God for that! And I thank God for Serge Benhayon for always being there to remind me of this and of showing The Way by Living The Way.

450. ‘”I am everything before I do anything” – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are.’ – this is such a powerful message Rebecca – thank you for the reminder!

451. It is vitally important to connect and consider the depth of what we feel in life. Without this space we allow ourselves to get pushed along in life like a ping pong ball bouncing from one activity to the next. Our bodies are naturally tender and almost glow from the inside out, yet sadly this is not a reality for too many of us.

452. ‘A race with no finish line’ that’s sounds exhausting!! And it is when we live life from drive and constant motion. I know that this was my experience once upon a time and that my body broke down with an auto immune, thyroid issue because of it. Slowly disengaging from this drive and building my connection and recognition of the natural stillness within me, has allowed me a steadiness and a productivity I could have only dreamed of 10 years ago. Yet what I know is that the more I deepen my relationship with my stillness the more I can offer in all aspects of my life – and without a drop of that deadly drive.

453. We are often encouraged to be one ahead of the game, especially in business, but where, in truth, does this get us?

454. If I’m not in drive I can feel as if I’m not going to get anything done. This brings up feelings of not being good enough. I go into drive to cover up my feelings of lack of self-worth.

455. The imagined ‘main race’ is made up of an unlimited amount of ‘mini races’, we try and make it to lunchtime, the end of the day, the end of the week, the next holiday, the end of the year, retirement, believing that then we shall be able to have that illusive break. But not so because as I found out to my detriment, by racing so frantically towards the imagined finish line, my body broke down long before I got there to rest. what I am discovering now is that by living the rest in my body, in as many moments as I can then the race simply disappears and is seen for the utter illusion that it is.

456. I can feel more space within my body after reading your blog Rebecca – so lovely to feel. Thank you.

457. Yes, Rebecca, anxiousness is something that the majority of humanity has running to some extent, which is a very effective way to keep us out of touch with what we truly feel and moving at a pace that is not harmonious in our bodies. Addressing this pattern is key to feeling how powerful we are in our embodied presence.

458. An inspirational blog Rebecca, thank you. I love the way you were willing to unravel the raciness to uncover what was underneath and the amazing changes this has brought as a result.

459. Sometimes I see a day as a race to the finish line, which is absolutely crazy because you get to the end of the day and you feeling totally tired and then you also realise that you would have gotten to the same point in exactly the same time whether you’d rushed or not. Quality is definitely everything.

460. With a drive to always get things done quickly and move onto the next without stopping throughout the day, it’s easy to think that we’re ‘getting somewhere’ as our to do lists may reduce, work might be getting done, deadlines met etc…. However, in doing this do we also develop our relationship with ourselves? The joy we feel in the day? Our relationships with others? Or is it actually, ‘A Race With No Finish Line’, as in fact we are not evolving or moving forward but instead distracting ourselves with busyness and raciness?

461. This is beautiful Rebecca and brings such an understanding to anxiousness and drive and never feeling enough in life .Making space to feel and be present in our body simply makes sense and allows us the presence needed in life. “I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are” So True and this article brings this alive with appreciation lovingly.

462. I had no idea how racy I was until I came across Universal Medicine. There was a whole world of space and stillness that I was just rushing past. I feel like I’m an ancient explorer on the edges of some undiscovered rain forest. Without Universal Medicine I’d never have even known it was there, let alone stared exploring it.

     1. I agree Otto – my whole life I based myself on thinking that the drive and race was who I was and it wasnt until Universal Medicine that I was supported to see that actually who I am is far more than that.

        1. Ditto, Universal Medicine has shared so much about space and stillness and at times I still catch myself going into too much motion energy.

     2. Haha, I know what you mean, Otto. Re-discovering stillness in the body was so alien at first for me too, yet it has brought me back to a quality in the body that feels so familiar and true.

463. If I don’t allow space when I am eating, I can’t hear what my body is telling me. Thus I eat according to my emotions rather than according to my body.

464. It certainly works for me too ie. to stop and create space to allow what is next to be there. A simple and rewarding act.

465. As I work on addressing the drive, the anxiousness is becoming more apparent because the coping mechanism is no longer being allowed to play out. I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’ This underlying anxiousness is a killer – not feeling enough, only feeling good when I am doing something, especially something for others. I rarely do something for myself, particularly for my body – only occasional exercise or the odd early night, but developing consistency of tender self care is essential to our survival.

466. I like what you say about the hands. I have noticed this too and now often I use them as a real marker of my stillness (or lack of it). What are they doing? Is it necessary? Or are they just in excessive motion? Clocking them and bringing them to a rest is a really great way of bringing my whole body to a rest.

467. I have also found that it is the little things that have a big effect on bringing me back to myself. These small moments become the helmsmen on my rudder throughout my day.

468. It took me a few years of studying with Universal Medicine to realise that I was driven by an underlying anxiousness, so I can appreciate your journey here Rebecca and the power of the realisation that we don’t have to live like this. Learning to observe our behaviour and come back to a tenderness within via our breath and movements is a powerful way to build an inner relationship with our body and our nurturing energy, day-by-day re-constructing a port in a storm for us to return to. And then comes the awesome realisation that not only do we have a very sturdy port to return to, but that the storm is of our own making too and that we can if we really want to, calm the waters and restore harmony to our daily lives.

469. What strikes me as I read this again today is how staying in this state of anxiousness, which means we aren’t able to read a situation, is a way of running on autopilot: a way of staying checked out from the world and not taking responsibility to act: if we can’t feel what is needed, we can’t feel that it’s up to us to act in any given moment. It’s fascinating that once we start to take the drive and busyness away, the anxiousness rises to the surface – just the body’s way of showing us what we’ve been living with, when we allow ourselves to create more space by moving in a different way.

470. Thank you for your article you have described how easily it is to live a lie or what is not true. We don’t necessarily have to be involved in corruption or deceit to not be true to ourselves and those around us.

471. Wow, on my first read I realised that I had raced through this article made a very quick comment so that I could race off to work! On this read I want to thank you for your insights Rebecca this is a great reminder of the truth of who we are . . .” I am everything before I do anything.” Love it!

472. Over the last years I have brought a lot more awareness to when I get into drive and doing and that has substantially reduced. Interestingly as I create more space and am less and less calling in the energy of drive and doing I seem to actually do a lot more but it comes from a completely different quality. I find it to be an ever evolving awareness to not get caught up in the spin of the world!

     1. Recently I have stopped eating fruit and sweet things. This has helped me a lot and further reduced my raciness and again opened up more space!

473. I agree Rebecca, every day is an opportunity to learn and therefore, there is no need for regret and no such thing as making mistakes, because we are given this opportunity to learn and grow all over again in our 24 hour cycle. How amazing is that? Also, I am deeply appreciating this level of love and opportunity available for us all to embrace.

474. “For example, when I close doors, cupboards or drawers, I would often be halfway through closing it and already be turning to do the next thing, or leave it to close on its own as I walk away….”
     Most can relate to this, and yet when we stop this momentum in its tracks, the whole space opens up and can feel like time has slowed down… The push, the rush is a race against time, yet, being with the stillness that is within, one has all the time in the world.

475. “The way I would be so easily scared by someone walking up behind me” – Rebecca i used to get this a lot when i was thinking of something else, on autopilot, though i remember a time when one day i was totally with myself in movement, not thinking about anything, or where i needed to be/or be doing.. but just in the moment, and when someone came around the blind corner and ordinarily would have given me a fright, i didn’t jump. I had felt their arrival before they arrived. Because i clocked i had no usual reaction, it was then that i realised that – when we’re occupying our body, and its space.. that there can be no space for any other occupation such as fright, and a preparation too of what’s ahead by being this present.

476. “When I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people. Being in this raciness stops me reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it.” This shows how this way of living is neither supportive for us or anyone else. And it is well worth turning it round.

477. One of the biggest disadvantages of making ourselves super busy in a racy way is that in this we can easily block developing relationships, because we value what we do more than the quality we are being with others.

478. “Is the decision I am about to make true for myself and other people and what is really needed, or am I just doing what seems to be ‘right’?” What a life lesson to learn at 19 – this, amongst the others, are great questions to be asking at any age but especially at such a young age where you can change a pattern before it becomes too ingrained.

479. ‘…anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.’ Anxiousness is very common in our society, and yet many of us may not even be aware of our anxiousness or see it as that. What drives our anxiousness – as you have shared often it is the lack of being enough in any given situation so we compensate in many ways, going into drive, withdrawing etc etc, all this to continuously reaffirm we are not enough. When in fact we are more than enough, and it is within us, as you have stated, give ourselves the space to feel this ‘more’. Beautiful sharing for us all!

480. This really does reveal some of the tricks we play, the cover-ups and the layers we create – to not know our Divine nature.

481. Life is constantly reflecting back to us the life we are choosing to live – what a gift.

482. And yes – seems ridiculous to take note of how we might close a cupboard door, but it’s oh so much more than that. Reading this makes me realise how often I am always have way through the next task before having completed the first, forever living 2 steps ahead and often not present with the task at hand. It begs the question – what on earth is the rush?

483. Awesome Rebecca and um, did you say you were 19!! Hello role model of the century. Seriously amazing to be so open to allowing yourself to feel what’s actually going rather than just following the masses down a path of complete avoidance. I’m very inspired.

484. Rebecca that very last line of your blog, describing a world where our self worth is defined by what we do and not who we are, is the key to the whole anxiety driven way of living. When we accept responsibility that we have allowed the world to dictate this way of being to us we empower ourselves to say no as we move forward.

485. “I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.” I can relate to this drive. I have a deeper understanding about it now. I didn’t realise how much drive I was in until reading your blog and noticing similar reactions. Amazing how it can creep up and into our every movement.

486. Only by understanding the root cause of the drive ie. anxiousness of not feeling enough and addressing this underlying energy can we make a true change.

487. It is fascinating how when we let go of time and the need to get to a certain point suddenly we have all the time in the world. I know for me constantly wanting things now without actually putting any effort in has always led to my downfall. After all it becomes easy come easy go. Whereas when I do not have a goal in mind, or a finish line suddenly everything slows down and I actually enjoy the journey rather than simply focusing on the end result. I also found when I go for a goal I then want another higher goal or beat myself up for not getting there – whereas when I give it my all anything is possible and regardless of the result I know it is exactly what is needed.

488. Like a dog without a leash, we can run away from ourselves into an anxious state. It is like we get fixated to go to the park or throw a ball or scared of other dogs who are tall. But if we just develop the ways to bring ourselves back, we can start to understand in our body that there is no greater thing than being right here right now. The cool thing is the more we do this consistently the more we get to see what may seem uncomfortable or a big effort is actually natural and our way. Thanks Rebecca for walking us all through this nervousness back to the stillness of the truth.

489. Thank you Rebecca. You remind me that space is created through the way I am not what I do. I have often tried to create space by shirking my responsibilities and I can now see why it never worked. The things I do can support me to make space if I choose to be aware and read what is being reflected to me.

490. Anxiousness is like a silent driver, pushing us along to reach a result or an end point. What if it is not about getting somewhere, but only to remain in conscious presence, with our body and mind in union so the anxiousness has not place there. It is far less exhausting to live this way and the body can harmonise itself more readily.
     “I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve”.

491. I love the fullness I’m reading and receiving when one chooses to be with self while doing what needs to be done, or feel to do. There’s a tenderness, lightness, delicateness and joy when you move around in space.

     I’m also inspired by what you share around the relationship between drive and anxiousness. I’m quite often anxious, have felt that this disconnects me from me, but never really felt its connection with drive. It is quite obvious now that I read about it. For me it’s about allowing myself to feel what’s underneath the anxiousness. What am I anxious of? Why is it that I choose anxiousness over feeling me? Thank you dearly Rebecca!

492. I am everything before I do anything is a great thing to remember and keep with me throughout the day. Beautifully simple reflection thank you Rebecca.

493. Hear! Hear! Rebecca. I so relate to your journey of awakening and I can still get caught looking for that finish line.

494. ‘I realised that this drive and motion was playing out everywhere’ – It is my experience too, that when we start to truly pay attention to details in our day to day living, it heightens the awareness so it also brings attention to other areas where it is needed.

495. It is amazing to feel the difference between giving ourselves time and space compared to the rush and race we have all become accustomed to. Creating the space with each moment takes commitment and practice, but this is so well worth the effort!

496. Rebecca, I can relate to many of those behaviours born of my drive and momentum. It even makes me late because I am trying to fit too much into the time I’ve got. But ah the magic, when I drop into that timeless space where things flow harmoniously, and everything seems to get done effortlessly.

497. “I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life”and that the drive and raciness “stops me reading what is going on.”
     Rebecca, this is empowering for once we see this we can then start to separate from the drive knowing that we are being catapulted into it from something that is not who we are. Once we feel that space it breaks the momentum and we can flow more with what is unfolding in the moment rather than project ourselves into the future from the fears of the past.

498. Stay ahead of the game, look out for the next thing – all designed to keep you on edge. But the moment you stop, it is all there at your fingertips – love, divinity, God.

     1. This blog and your comment is reminding me to give myself and others some space to feel and consider what there is to feel in every moment, instead of going into the drive and raciness. Learn to consistently choose to connect, be in more awareness and appreciation of what is available ‘– love, divinity, God.’ in every moment of my every day.

499. It’s really interesting what you’ve shared about how anxiousness was the overall force behind the raciness and drive you felt throughout the day – when we feel something, such as anxiousness or a lack of confidence, we sometimes develop a way of living that totally masks/tries to hide it, in this case by powering through activities in the day without giving any time to stop and look at how we’re feeling or connect with people.

500. Rebecca, I love the practical nature of what you have written as it has exposed how much I live my life getting half a job done and then abandoning it for the next more interesting job (distraction). By doing this I’m kept firmly in the trap of doing and keeping myself away from surrendering to the being. A simple challenge would be to set myself the task of completing any one job before I start the next without finding something else to distract me with, I feel this is a huge key for me in the way I have been living my life and glaringly obvious only I didn’t want to see it.

501. Ariana, I love this. It highlights how ridiculous it is to focus on the drive to reach a momentary piece of cake so to speak and when we have had the cake we revert back to the drive so we can race to the end of our lives. The ironic thing is that by doing so we are pulling the end of our lives closer and closer to us as no doubt our bodies will eventually cave in and give over to illness and disease if we carry on this way.

502. Amazing blog Rebecca. You share true wisdom here. I have always struggled to feel what truly needs to be done, especially when I am tired and run down (which is when I am desperate to prioritise). I am intrigued by the idea of ‘introducing space’ for me this feels like just allowing myself to be aware of my body, the way I breathe and the way I move.

503. The illusion of the finish line is something that stood out when reading your blog this morning, that we can be driven to a goal, an ending, a finish – when in fact that never really exists. Yet as someone who has been very driven it certainly asks me to focus first on my relationship with myself as then the need to drive through life changes.

504. Rebecca thank you for writing this blog, living in this way is exhausting and a way of shutting people out. What you share about creating more space and having more space for people, letting them in, is indeed I feel
     a beautiful way to live, one that is very simple, joyful, fun and far less draining on the body.

505. It’s a gigantic issue this for so many of us. Definitely for me. But I too have found that the simplest way to deal with it is in the same way that you seem to be – by focussing on the small, everyday rhythms; getting dressed, preparing food, opening the car door….whatever…bringing a presence and steadiness to these small moments ripples that same presence through the rest of my day.

506. There is a simple few words at the beginning of your blog that leapt out at me – “I have been supported to see….” I just think that is so divine and so indicative of the incredible support and love that Universal Medicine offers its students. No imposition, no dogma, no telling, no judgement – just an invitation to take responsibility and see the truth.

507. It’s so interesting that when you dropped the drive your anxiousness became more apparent. I feel that it is anxiousness that drives my drive (so to speak!). I can see that I just need to observe the anxiousness rather than act on it and allow it to control me.

508. I didn’t realize that everybody around me and myself was in constant levels of raciness all of the time. There was more raciness and less raciness, but never the movement of stillness. That was until I met Serge Benhayon, when I was able to re-connect to the natural movement of stillness inside me.

509. ‘I have always been a very driven person. Some would see it as bubbly, excited or motivated, but recently I have been supported to see that actually it is an unnatural drive.’ I find it interesting how we champion drive, celebrating it but not looking too carefully how this drive comes at the expense of the body and where it comes from. Shutting down to how our bodies feel when we are in this momentum means we don’t connect to, or honour how we are really feeling.

     1. Great point michelle819 I have championed drive myself, feeling proud to meet some self created finish line regardless of the way I treated myself to get there. I always found there was a price to pay though, it is as though my body accumulates a debt of disregard and comes to collect payment at inopportune times. ‘Payment’ is often getting sick or being so exhausted that I can’t get out of bed. It took me a long time to be able to admit that there was cause and effect here but the more honest I get about the true price of drive the more I feel inspired to stop it.

510. Rebecca, this is really interesting, ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.’ I noticed recently when I was feeling very low and had not resolved a family issue and was very In my head overthinking things, that I was not able to connect with others, I could feel how I was so caught up in my own stuff that I felt very removed and found it difficult engaging with people, whereas usually I would loved to have engaged and connected with the people I saw.

511. Thank you Rebecca for such a clear and simple view of how anxiety plays out in our bodies and affects our lives. The line I was drawn to when reading this was ‘I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve’.

512. “For example, bringing a focus on my breathing, the way I open and close a door, the way I am sitting or walking. These things may seem simple, but they allow space to be with ‘me’ in what I am doing in that moment, whether it be catching the bus or eating my dinner.” And hence we can create a lot of space throughout our day, even when there is much to achieve. Thank you Rebecca for this timely reminder that taking a moment for our selves is this simple and when done, makes an ordinary working day feel so different.

513. It’s interesting how we use drive, anxiousness, nervous energy and the feeling of having to be constantly in motion in a race against time, to be out of sync with how we truely feel at any given moment in time. Many great points of honesty raised here Rebecca, and with the understanding of checking in with ourselves through our movements and breath to help regain consciousness presence in all that we do, these are precious gifts you have shared in this article.

514. Sometimes in the desire to get something right I can delay to the point that events overtake me and life gets complicated. Having such big expectations of myself means i also have these expectations of others and I am just setting myself up for disappointment. This of course also supports any anxiousness that is already in the body. Continuing to come back to the present moment and what is and appreciating that, allows for space to open up within and around me. “I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough”.

515. A race without a finish line is a journey to discovery. Without competition and drive, we can eliminate our motions that allow more space to become available.

516. Since first being introduced to the concept of ‘conscious presence’ by Serge Benhayon in around 2007, and then a while later embracing the modality of Esoteric Yoga, I’ve learnt much about all that you’ve shared here Rebecca. The realisations of the extent my body has been run on nervous energy continue to unfold in my life – there is no end to deepening the connection and presence we can have with ourselves in all that we ‘go about’ in our day.
     The most amazing thing, is that I am today, capable of ‘doing’ far more in a day, than I was when running on the nervous energy and drive of the past – go figure… Only through such personal experience, have I been able to ‘get it’, that the drive and push the majority of our world runs on, is actually not the ‘correct’ fuel for a committed, productive and engaged life – it has actually run the majority of our population into levels of fatigue and exhaustion that merely APPEAR TO BE sustainable under the veils of caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and the various ways we keep ourselves propped up. As for the long term impacts on our bodies, clearly we are not doing so well…

517. As you’ve so brilliantly shared Rebecca, bringing such awarenesses to our lives may indeed ‘seem simple’ – but having done so myself for several years now (and still learning…!), it becomes more apparent every day that we have neglected the ‘simple’ elements of all that true presence with ourselves brings, and instead opted for a way of living that is not only disconnected, but punishing to our bodies and the tender beings that we are by virtue of the disconnection. This stuff deserves to be ‘101’ for us all in our education and the living of our lives. Thank goodness that Serge Benhayon has once again brought it to the fore.

518. A big one for me Rebecca is being so racy that I cannot read a situation and then under the raciness anxiety is created as there is never enough time. I am working on having more stop moments to feel these feelings so I can read them with more clarity!

519. To discover that anxiousness is the driving force of keeping yourself busy and in ‘drive’ is great, because in addressing the anxiousness, one naturally addresses the behaviour habits associated with it, and this is healing the root cause for good.

520. Often I have started one job only to find that I start on something else without finishing the first! A great reminder to finish one job before starting another! Thank you Rebecca.

521. It truly is a gift to ourselves and everyone involved when we do something from a willing and open body that is fully aligned to the purpose and moves in a way that supports that in full.

522. “I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.” How beautiful to realise that this is possible, and that you are taking steps to change it Rebecca. When we are willing to take responsibility for our lives and to look at what we can change, however simple the changes may be, it is indeed remarkable what can happen as a result.

523. A fabulous blog Rebecca, I particularly found this line helpful “an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.” Beleiving these things about ourselves is a very painful way to live, hence anxiousness comes with these kinds of beliefs. I can also still see the same playing out for me Rebecca, great to have the insight today from your blog.

524. ‘The way I would be so easily scared by someone walking up behind me’ had me wondering, what does this mean? That we are constantly on the alert or so distracted by our thoughts we are not aware of the person coming close? Possibly both. Staying present enables us to feel what’s going on around us and is a far better protection that being in that nervous, anxious state of mind.

525. ‘I am now working on catching when this drive creeps into my day and instead of staying in it, stopping to bring myself back to focus on me and what I am doing right now.’ The simplicity of this really helped me today as I caught myself going into doing and drive and what I noticed by changing my movements is that I felt more stillness throughout my day.

526. When I am not in the race, push and get things done mode, and I allow space, things happen that I could not have even imagined but I am the one that has to stop and allow that to happen. I have to create space and not get carried away. This is something that I have been experimenting with and the results have been awesome. It also has a lot to do with letting go of control. As part of my rushing is all part of trying to control rather than allowing and surrendering to the what is.

527. Love your experiments Rebecca, I find my breath so telling of the quality of energy I am in or have been in. It is the most revealing form of communication.

528. The further I go into drive and nervous energy the further it takes me away from connecting to others. It is like a self-sabotaging tactic that I have cultivated very well over the years to keep people at arms length and/or protect myself from being hurt by others, and of course, there is always the possibility that I deliberately create racy-ness in my body so that I don’t have to read the situation or feel what is truly going on. This I am a master at, but like you Rebecca I am realising the games that I play with myself to stop me connecting to my true self and letting people in, who after all, are not the enemy, they are people just like me who are looking for love and to be met, but are all probably playing the game too.

529. Such a familiar picture you paint Rebecca, all the little ways that raciness keeps us from feeling what is there to be felt. Thanks for the reminder to shut the fridge door with all of me. Just one little thing I know I’ve been skipping yet as to this moment haven’t stopped to feel why this is – what am I avoiding feeling? I’m pretty sure it is because I don’t want to be responsible for my motivation behind my visits to the fridge by there could be other messages just waiting to be asked and considered.

530. When we discover drive and motion in one area of our lives, it is then easy to see how it filtrates into all areas of our lives. To work with clearing this particular pattern, all parts must be addressed, because any area that the energy is left to fester, will keep pulling us back into the motion and drive.

531. This is a great point for me to take on to complete things and in that create space and stop the racy drive that I find so easy to be in. But it is all a ruse to avoid the innate power we all have when we are connected to the divinity around us all.

532. As I experience it inside myself the ‘race’ is on every time I am not feeling enough or in other words when I am not connected in full with who I am to the best that I know to be myself. It is the bit or pocket that is not filled by me that then is filled by something else that creates a sense of ‘unsettlement’, an unrest that produces unnecessary activity that actually increases the unbalanced state as energy seeks more of itself or like the proverb is saying ‘Like will to like.’.

533. “stopping to bring myself back to focus on me and what I am doing right now.” I love to do this as well through feeling my body. I find relaxing my pelvis floor muscles also one that is very supportive as well as not ‘locking’ my knees when I am standing somewhere.

534. I have been working on my drive and nervous energy for years now and my life has changed quite a few times when I noticed another way I used these tools and, over time, stopped using drive or nervous energy in more and more situations. Each change allowed me to have more energy during the day as drive and nervous energy are quite exhausting.

535. Drivenness, which squeezes out space for anything but the momentum of hurtling forward, definitely does prevent connection with ourselves and with others and everything around us. For me it was a railroad track to nowhere, fast.

536. A beautiful honest and so relatable sharing Rebecca, thank you. I have always suffered from anxiousness and the sharing of this offers so much reflection and space to appreciate myself others and all I am simply being me.The anxiousness can dissolve with this and be seen for what it is and how it stops one feeling and reading what is there to see also.

537. Thank you Rebecca for sharing the gold you have!! I could have written this myself, as it is so how I have lived as well. I’ve recently seen that there was very little stop and rest moments in my life growing up, there was always this undercurrent and air of expectation to do more, and the more I did definitely got me the attention I craved. This has helped me to understand the constant drive and anxiousness and feeling of not being enough. We are sold as women that multitasking is the way to go, but what is this doing to our bodies and what are we pushing down and ignoring by doing this? I can feel the simplicity and connection here…”I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.” Space should never be underestimated on how much it supports our lives and all we do.

538. I can really relate to this blog. I can feel that incessant itch to keep moving and doing in me also to avoid just being, because if I’m honest to just be me seems like a bit of a come down. Ouch! So there is an underlying lack of self acceptance or disconnection from ourselves that is so unnecessary and could be driving many of the human behaviours we dislike and find difficult to change.

539. When we busy and distract ourselves with our own inner race, we not only miss out on connecting with people but also with nature and all the miracles that happen around us everyday. In other words, we miss out on the magic of life, and get stuck on a very linear and shallow path/way of living.

540. What a beautiful and loving insight you bring to yourself Rebecca. Most if not all women would relate to this.

541. What I’ve come to know for myself is how a drive comes from an emotion. There’s something to achieve, someone to please, an ideal to be worked towards, etc. But whatever I’m doing, it’s not me doing it. There’s always a heavyness involved. Acknowleding this is crucially important, everytime it happens. Working dedicated is something I’ve always done, but most of the time not connected with me so I missed out on my own joy, playfullness and lightness. Which isn’t to be judged, but is to be acknowledged, be felt and understood. A life from purpose, rather than drive, how lovely, light and joyful that would be.

542. ’I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people.’ Indeed, and there is equally no space to feel your own loveliness and the fact that you are already all you need to be, and that there is no place you need to get to, in order to be ’good enough’.

543. Ah, the introduction of more space into our lives!. Creating space within ourselves is like the best gift we can give ourselves. It deeply supports us to remain tender not only with ourselves but also with others.

544. I used to pride myself on multi-tasking, doing lots of jobs at the same time in a great rush, and juggling many balls in the air simultaneously made me feel very competent. But this understanding that it is driven by anxiety shows it is very inefficient and harmful to us over a period of time. When we bring the focus back to ourselves, our bodies and our breath, the quality of everything we are comes to everything we do in a rhythm with the body and feels very different. I love the way this helps our connection to others by connecting to ourselves.

     1. I agree Gill, I was and am still working on not measuring my life as successful by the number of items I ticked off my list, or how quickly I got things done. What is a truly successful life is not one based on what I did, but on my connection to myself – how much of me was there in my day

     2. Awesome gillrandall – Your comment supported me to feel that I have held a belief that multitasking helps me get more done but I can feel this is absolutely not true. When I do make ‘headway’ on something without presence there is always a price to pay, the biggest one being that joy is impossible to feel when I am not aware of what I am feeling.

545. Creating more space to be present and feel what is there to be felt in each moment is something I will take away to my own life – I know that previously I have let things build up in order to create tension and a challenge which keep some away from what is truly being called for in that moment.

546. It is so interesting how we use various behaviours to mask our true feelings. Whether this be anxiety, not feeling enough or lacking self worth, we develop behaviours that cover up these imperfections which results in it being difficult to address the underlying cause as it is hidden behind a behaviour and this behaviour can often be seen as a positive. It is only when we look deeply at what is happening that we can identify and address the root cause.

547. The space required to spend the small amount of time to meet anyone has always been available for us to use, and these small moments have a ripple effect.

548. A simple thing like just being with what you are doing right now or where the body is at in this moment and not let your thoughts be in the past or future or any story can appear to be very challenging as most people I know report at least in the beginning. But that is only because we have allowed our mind for so long to have the upper hand like a dog we allow to do whatever it wants instead of holding it at the leash and educate and train it how to behave to be truly of service and a sound friend. So we have to train our mind to be part of the whole body not sitting there on top of it in the illusion of being the ‘head’ off who we are but understanding its purpose in the bigger picture.

549. I can relate to this a lot Rebecca – the thing is that it takes honesty to allow this awareness because there are so many things we can use to not feel that we are tired and would benefit from stopping feeling what is going on. When I’m tired I turn to sugary things and they work for the moment but I can also feel that they are a substitute for the energy I normally have when I have a proper and healthy rhythm in life.

550. “As I work on addressing the drive, the anxiousness is becoming more apparent because the coping mechanism is no longer being allowed to play out. I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.” It is so true Rebecca that underneath the drive and push to do well in life, we carry an anxiousness that we are never enough for just being ourselves. This is why so many people in the world are today suffering from anxious even when it may not be that obvious. It will eventually surface either as exhaustion or an illness as we can’t keep pushing our bodies in this un-natural and un-loving way.

551. I can so so relate Rebecca, anxiousness has played out in my life in many differing ways, becoming aware of this and the ways in which I can try to hide it is part of the true healing. Your article is a fantastic reminder to stay present and be aware of those moments we allow the energy of drive to take over from the natural flow and magic of life.

     1. You raise a good point – I never realised how much I tried to hide anxiousness or cover up when I felt unsure of myself until I began to address the drive – now I can tell from my laugh and hand gestures that I am not at ease.

     2. Yes, it is quite surprising how easy it is to have a low level of anxiety as an undercurrent in our lives.

552. Rebecca, this is great, so simple and true, ‘I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough’, I can feel how it is usual in life for us to not appreciate who we are and what we bring, I see so many amazing people, all of who have their unique beauty and all of who have amazing, unique qualities, but rarely do people realise and appreciate who they are and what they bring.

553. Rebecca you have really supported me to become more aware of those moments when I have moved on to the next job without fully completing the one I am doing. Thank you, a great reminder to stay present with my body and task in hand and a superb opportunity to bring my very mercurial mind back to its real job, being in tune with me and my body.

554. ‘A race with no finish line’ sums it up completely. It seems so many of us are racing in and through life with no ‘end’ in sight. The perpetual motion and chasing our tails seems to be the way we have made our norm. From your sharing creating more space has been transformative.

555. An absolute Gift, thanks for sharing Rebecca. It makes a lot of sense and I know from observing my own action as well, there is often an underlying anxiousness in what I’m doing and its coming from “am I feeling enough” – loved your examples about clearing the plates and walking away from dinner, and doing what may seem ‘right’ – Its amazing what could unfold if we gave ourselves more space to be us, and not live in constant worry about how we appear to the outside.

     1. The example of the plates…that’s me, already busy with the next thing. Indeed the dinner is a great opportunity to allow ourselves more space to deepen the moment e.g.the situation/connection. It is a practice to read / feel into each moment what is needed whether is is keep sitting or taking the plates and observe when I go into drive.

556. Great title, A race with no finish line and it could be said no winners either. Even after all I have learnt over the years about coming back to my breath and staying present with what I am doing I still go into rush mode at work when I have a lot to do, even though I know the benefits of creating space by remaining with myself so this blog is a great little reminder.

557. A recent experience, anxiousness seeped into my body just before a change of shift at work- I needed to sort out a few things before hand-over and began to feel racy inside. I misplaced keys and a couple of other items and the washing machine developed a fault. My response was to deliberately slow down. Instead of taking the lift, I walked from fourth to ground floor, touching stair rails tenderly as I did. By the time I made the return trip, I felt different and when I walked into the apartment, sensed where missing items were, walked to them and hey presto!. A few minutes later help was at hand to fix the washing machine. I regained my sense of self, simply because, I chose to pause, slow now, breath differently and walk.

558. Great observations Rebecca. Such simple actions that can support such profound changes.

559. I too am noticing the more present I am with what ever I am doing, the more space opens up for me to get done what ever is needed. The irony of it is that, when we take the time to connect and bring more awareness to our every movement, then we do not run out of time,as we create space.

560. To my experience the anxiousness is from not being connected with my inner most and when I am in that state of being of course my body will go into stress, as I then move in a way that is not supportive and in rhythm with where my body is. My body belongs to that grander order, to the universe and I now understand that when I am living in disconnection with this I live in a self created world that does not belong to that grander whole and because of that is putting stress in my body and is causing my body to suffer the ailments and disease we all commonly now in our nowadays societies.

561. ‘I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people. Being in this raciness stops me reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it’ This was my discovery also Rebecca, and I choose the raciness as a way to hide and as a way to fit in, and because this world did not deserve all I had to bring…… ouch.

562. An awesome blog Rebecca, simple and clear with so many pieces of gold nuggets to ponder on and reflect on. I relate to much you share here especially about introducing more space and how that supports me to be able to feel what is needed in each moment….. and this is becoming stronger the more presence and trust I bring.

563. The world is crumbling under the burden of stress, pressure, competitiveness, conflict and the many ill ways that we pursue the illusion of security yet in this pursuit we are creating the very thing we are seeking protection from. What if we could bring back the truth that every young child knows innately as do we when we truly stop and create the space to observe, understand and reconnect to the oneness that we are all from.

564. A huge thank you to you too Rebecca for sharing so honestly the sabotage and ways we keep ourselves away from the truth of who we are.

565. To have discovered this at your age Rebecca is awesome. It’s taken me many, many years and adding a few life times to that, to see this is how I have been living each day. It’s a constant observation I have on myself, checking in and feeling if I’m racy and if so what is it I don’t want to feel.

566. It is easy to dislike a certain behaviour, or pattern we have been in; however, when we look at why we have been needing and using it to serve us in some way – we can easily let go of the things that have seemingly owned us for years.

567. This is a fantastic read Rebecca, there’s so much in this blog that is relevant to the way we can find ourselves living our day, thank you for sharing… It is quite something to recognise…”I would often be halfway through closing it and already be turning to do the next thing…” as this is the bottom of the “U-turn” in beginning to change the movements and momentum we can be in. Even though on the surface it may appear ‘normal’, the physiology in our body (nervous system) is constantly ‘On’ when moving or rushing in this way which can over time wear the body out as seen in fatigue and exhaustion. A well worth “U-turn” for our health and for the body!

568. Super post Rebecca, much to comment on and very well broken down as to what’s behind anxiousness – that affects everyone in their life to some degree…there isn’t one person i meet in my job of recruiting who doesn’t present this quality irrespective of top education, a great cv, accomplishment or work experiences. The issue is that the anxiousness does indeed as you share too, get hidden by the drive and busyness to make it seem and appear to the person [and those around them] that they are ‘anxious free’ and thereby ‘coping’ ‘being successful in life’, and yet when a ‘stop’ moment comes in, like loss of a job, awaiting to hear on a second interview/securing another job, or undergoing major illness etc., anxiety comes bubbling to the surface. It’s not anything new or ‘developed’ [as a person might think] but something already festering away underneath and that’s not being dealt with – the whip, sting and addiction of recognition…is so completely exhausting. All because we think we’re not good enough, and need to do/be better. Unfortunately because it’s so embedded it takes a while to get rid of such a thick thorn as i’m learning myself; never has appreciation been so self-encouraged.

569. Being called bubbly and applauded for it can be quite a trap; it is interesting to note how much value society puts on characteristics that are in truth deeply revealing of inner turmoil and palpable raciness.

570. ‘I have always been a very driven person. Some would see it as bubbly, excited or motivated…’ Interesting how you say that Rebecca. It’s very true that bubbliness, excitement and motivation can be considered to be so positive but when you feel into these states, in yourself or in others, the anxiety becomes starkly apparent. Furthermore, it is ultimately exhausting to be in that racy place yourself, or be around others who rarely draw breath. It’s like “Stop already!”. An interesting one to investigate.

571. I recall similar, highly anxious dreams – mine were either about my final high school exams (years down the track!) or related to my time working as a chef, never being able to deal with all the orders coming in or getting a big function out properly (I had these intensely for decades). And yes, at their root was the desire to be recognised for what I do rather than who I am. Drive, ambition, call it what you will – either way, I eventually learnt (also through Universal Medicine) that this was not only a false measure of my worth but am extremely debilitating way to live, resulting in adrenal exhaustion and a subsequent endocrine condition (in my case). The body tells all.

572. A great reminder thanks Rebecca, that if there’s no ‘space’ inside us, we don’t read what is truly going on. This means we are far more likely to be in constant reaction to what’s happening around us, however subtly that might be occurring.

573. It is a great start of the conversation looking at what we could be in effect hiding beneath the cloak of busy-ness, drive and being racy. This prompts me to consider all the other repeated patterns of reacting to situations. At times I get upset, at times I get critical with myself, at times I get angry. Are these also a smoke screen for what is really going on that I do not want to face? This blog opens up a whole new way of taking responsibility for the way we respond to life.

574. Hi Rebecca bringing focus to your breathing and the way you are doing all the things you need to do not only allows you the space to be with yourself in what you are doing in that moment, it also allows the grace to BE yourself. Great blog, thank you.

575. In the race to achieve and the push to get things done, we can never feel the beauty of the movements of our body or the gentle touch of our fingers. We lose all sense of our body and override any information it imparts to us. Through the teachings of Serge Benhayon I have experienced first hand, a conscious presence that brings so much more than simply completing the tasks I do.

576. I very much relate to this Rebecca. It’s such a trick to be driven by the identification of what you do. My life has changed dramatically and how I feel in my body is worlds apart, from the support I have received through Universal Medicine. Understanding and embodying true purpose, leaves me no where else to go but inward, towards depth of connection that reflects back to humanity, the love and truth we are all from.

577. What I love about this blog is the great insight that you had Rebecca, realising that “Being in this raciness stops me from reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it”. and also by acknowledging this it has provided more acceptance that you are not what you do that makes you who you are it’s your unique quality you bring with how you are with what you do and that is always going to be enough and also it takes out the complication making things much much simpler . And I have found another great physical difference is one way of moving feels jerky and disconnected in the body and the other way feels more complete, more connected, more harmonious and flowing throughout the body.

578. “A huge thank you to Serge Benhayon and my Universal Medicine practitioners, who have always presented that I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are.” Yes Rebecca this is a most valuable lesson in what is really important in the world not what we do but how we are and what we are connected to – divinity or not.

579. Simply acknowledging raciness when I feel it in me has been hugely revealing. Our society as a whole is very driven, it’s lacking stillness. Far too much motion. And in denying this fact, we’re continuously running away from ourselves, thinking and confirming to ourselves and the world that this is normal, and in doing so depleting our body to such a degree that our natural functions are attacked with illness and disease as a result. Do we dare to turn up the love, live our own lifes, rather than living up to others expactations, ideals and / or beliefs? Are we willing to choose so? Do we allow understanding and space to grow? To surrender to our body? To trust or at least consider the power and intelligence of our precious inner-heart?

580. It is very easy to get caught up in the “management of life” and not feel the consequences of us living in constant disconnection to our bodies, where we are constantly meeting life through the ideals and beliefs of how life needs to be often requiring us to rely purely on mental energy and drive in order to make it through instead of living life from the wisdom and simplicity of the body.

581. Giving ourselves permission to allow the space to connect and come from our bodies is truly a self loving choice to make for yourself, and when I don’t choose that for myself, I know I am out of rhythm and in drive. I am also reminded to appreciate when I choose this self loving support for myself, as the benefits of moving from that love, are absolutely huge.

582. Hello Rebecca and the old 1000 things at once scenario, I know it well. Driving the car while talking on the phone (hands free) and then on the phone already thinking about what you are doing next. How many times and way can we run away from just doing what the next thing is in front of us. We think there’s not enough time, we need to rush, I can’t just do one thing etc. This is all part of the game and I know the only way for me to face what is going on is to actually face what’s going on. What I mean is if you are doing three things at once like my example before then you only have a third of you driving, a third of you on the phone and a third of you in your thoughts and then it’s no wonder you get a surprise or don’t see things coming because two thirds of you is always somewhere else. Take a look next time you are closing a door, are you simply there or are you already somewhere else. As you are saying Rebecca do you close the door right to the latch or are you already walking away when you are closing the door. This is a great blog, it’s all so so true thank you.

583. Hi Rebecca,
     My husband sent me this article to read. Sometimes he sends me things that he thinks might support me. When I was reading I just couldn’t believe that every word wasn’t written directly for me, it was so spot on for what is going on in my life. There was so much for me to consider in this, I feel really inspired, possibly one of the best things I have ever read, thank you for your honesty.

584. Gosh I cried when I read this – “I am everything before I do anything”. I have lived with drive for so so long because I thought i needed to be more and I have also lived with anxiety for most of my life. It was only until I attended a Serge Benhayon presentation that I realised that the statement you wrote, could actually be true and not some empty catch-phrase you say to the mirror. And to learn to be present and bring all of me – to the best of my ability – to all that I do because I am, we are, as as you say, everything before we do anything.

585. Drive is another way in which we keep ourselves separated from the divinity that we are. For me, I know that whilst there is an ounce of drive, I become self-centred and lose connection to the fact that I am ultimately part of a bigger picture, part of humanity, part of the Whole.

586. This is great Rebecca and I am enjoying the comments also. I have been a fast talker most of my life, interrupting and completing people’s sentences for them as I was so racy and ahead of everything. (Motor mouth). Makes me cringe to remember that. I can still do this at times but thankfully notice it. I have been learning and appreciating the value of just being and allowing the correct moment to arise. When I stay with me there is space for everyone and also a right moment which supports the flow and evolution of a conversation. There is value in allowing space and moments.

587. Being in drive can be such a great excuse to not connect with others. When there is something there we do not like or want to feel, putting on the ‘I am too busy for you’ hat is a classic and is often seen as justifiable given that we may in fact have a rather large amount to do. But it is not our truth! Simply because when we avoid connection with others we are also doing so with ourselves.

588. The layers of anxiety I feel in my body have shocked me, there was a time when I felt permenantly stressed and anxious about one thing or another and no amount of massage could release it. Now the anxiety is far less although it feels like there are many more layers which I am becoming more aware of as I allow myself to feel more in my body.

589. To be more present is such a wonderful way to be as it helped me to feel what is next and not to think what I have to do. The thinking can overrides what is really needed and can also keep me in comfort so that I do not have to take my full responsibility.

590. The race without a finish line, such a brilliant analogy that shows the lunacy of our drive to succeed.

591. A movement without stillness is like the sky without the sun, it lacks the very nature of what it is and represents.

592. Rebecca the example that you gave ‘The way I would be the first up from the table at dinner and clearing away the plates even before other people had finished eating’, made me smile and grimace at the same time as I too have whipped plates, chairs, towels, keys, bags, papers and children from others in an attempt to make it to the disappearing finish line before the non existent clock struck 12! It’s actually a very disturbing and ever so slightly mad way of living and worst of all, we have conjured it up out of no-thing!

593. Rebecca, I too have lived in that heightened state for many years, I saw it as an enviable way to be, as I thought that it was a combination of happiness and having abundant energy, little did I realise that it was merely my nerves firing more quickly than they should have. Of course the fact that my nervous system had the equivalent of the NYE fireworks going off in them, meant that I crashed and burned big time. After spending several years working on many different aspects of me, I can now feel the difference between how I used to feel and the natural exuberance of joy: the latter lacks the metallic jangling and has a steady radience to it.

594. I like the title of this blog, it says so aptly how so many of us live. Life – a race that is never ending as there are always more things to do. But as you dissect so artfully it is more an inner race that is then played out in our daily lives. So it is more a running from something as opposed to running towards something. That in itself is a huge revelation.

595. Lovely to read how you have clocked what is happening for you and by bringing the focus back to what you are doing in the moment has allowed you to truly appreciate and feel what is needed at the time.

596. The inner race, turmoil and tension depletes us of energy and needed vitality that we otherwise will have to live life and connect with others.

597. Your blog describes my life exactly and that lifestyle fits so well in our world. But when I collapsed with exustion at 50, I realized that something was not ok with my lifestyle.
     Simple-Living Global and Universal Medicine has supported me to get back on track and helped me understand what was going on, so much appreciation and gratitude to them!
     By living my life with more presence, I have totally changed the quality of my life and now I can show other people another way to live that can truly make a difference in the world.

598. I love the title of the blog Rebecca. We are experts at inventing pressure and living like we are in a race and I for one am very skilled in attempting to cram too much into the day. The more I take a moment to stop and feel my body, open up and ask what is it that my body wants to do, the more spacious my day becomes and strangely enough, the more I accomplish.

599. ‘For example, when I close doors, cupboards or drawers, I would often be halfway through closing it and already be turning to do the next thing, or leave it to close on its own as I walk away.’ – This is a great example of how we can easily loose our own presence in what we do, and that there will always be something new that draws our attention and distracts us from staying present until we have completed what we are doing. It is often a constant demand from the outside or even from ourselves and it is up to ourselves whether we get distracted by the demands or stay present with ourselves in each situation.

600. It is so important especially as women to truly value ourselves. Rebecca you have covered everything in this blog. How we undermine ourselves and how to break free from these behaviours that do not serve. We can trick ourselves in thinking we need to control our behaviours, but as you have presented the true answer lies in allowing more and more appreciation (the quality) into our lives.Thank you for writing such a supportive blog.

601. Appreciation is like the dissolver of everything that is not true and loving by nature. As soon as we start to appreciate ourselves or others how can blame, criticism, judgment, comparison or lack of self-worth survive?

602. Reading this blog has got me questioning about a behaviour in my own life – talking too fast. It’s like so much wants to come out that at times my words become very scattered and choppy as I jump from topic to topic trying to explain everything in words. But at the same time sometimes things don’t need words in order to communicate everything. So then what would happen if I stayed with myself rather than trying to make everything about words. Some deeper exploration I feel is needed and thats what comes across so strongly in the blog, that willingness to go deeper into why we live the way we do. Thank you Rebecca.

603. Ready steady go – for so much of our lives we are taught that the fastest one wins the race. And so much of our lives today is focussed on technology that will give us a quicker way. Yet our health and overall contentment seems to have fallen by the side of the race track, so like a donkey with a carrot what if this whole chase is just a big illusion? For what you show here Rebecca is that it’s the quality we act in that really counts. Like a Grand Prix with no end isn’t it time we saw through the dream that there will be better days ahead if we just push harder?

604. Interesting that you talk about how you move your hands when you speak – they can be very telling. Politicians use hand gestures deliberately to achieve an effect but there will always be tell tale signs of what is truly going on, and the underlying anxiousness, if there is any, or the power, the determination, the dominance. Our bodies speak as we do and, if there is a lack of stillness, our hands will indicate that with an agitated movement, short, sharp, jerky movements and a hardness in the hands. Even typing on a keyboard, our hands can be tense, depending on our intention as we type: they can be clattering noisily or gently, lovingly touching each key, typing words with true meaning. The energy of everything we do can be felt by others but more than anything it goes back into our bodies magnified.

605. Multi tasking is a highly celebrated talent, but is it wise to train ourselves as such? Do we fail in the things that we give worth to and strive for? Isn’t it time for a different form of intelligence? Serge Benhayon definitely has something to say, he presents a lived form of intelligence that serves all equally.

606. This is such a gift to read a Rebecca. This sentence really caught my attention “I am now more open and honest about how I am feeling because I am more present in my day to notice.” . I can see how I have used raciness to avoid knowing how I really feel. In fact there is dishonesty in my raciness…

607. A beautiful blog Rebecca, I am so constantly amazed at the ways we live to ‘cover up’ the anxiousness around believing we are not good enough. It seems this is an underlying belief that lies behind many behaviors. Which is truly alarming when I take a moment to consider this belief runs the lives of many. It begs the question, how much of what we live is about hiding and numbing anxiousness? The steadiness you now live in your life is a gift beyond measure to all.

608. Learning to trust that we are perfect as we are and not needing to appear to be all things to all people. I have done a fair amount of people pleasing and it really wears one out, being constantly on the go.

609. Hi Rebecca. When you describe the raciness and drive it just sounds exhausting, and I can feel how much your body must enjoy the spaciousness in your thoughts and movements that is becoming the new norm. I can really relate to everything you have shared here, thank you.

610. The world is crying out for connection, and therefore our ability to meet someone is 100% crucial. The fact that we can use drive and raciness (to be dismissive of ourselves and others), but that this raciness that “Some would see it as bubbly, excited or motivated” (all rather ‘complimentary’ terms) is very revealing of the whopping misinterpretation of words we are raised on that attempt to keep us blind to our true and natural state of being.

611. Great Blog Rebecca, it’s great to be able to catch ourselves being in a raciness, and when we do it helps us to slow down and stay connected with our body.

612. This is great to bring more awareness to being in a racy body, I know this very well. It comes from a ‘doing’ list and coming from the feeling that I have had a good day if I have ticked lots of things off my list. When we learn that the body has a rhythm and we connect to that, we can be doing everything in that rhythm without the raciness . It brings a very different quality.

613. The sense of inner space goes hand in hand with feeling one´s true rhythm with oneself and everything; we are either in rhythm or out of rhythm with what is harmonious and hence complete or spherical.Being out of rhythm simply means I am governed by impulses from outside my inner true beingness like expectations, reactions, judgements, ideals etc

614. Identifying habitual patterns of behaviour that are not “actually a part of who I am as a person” can be very challenging to acknowledge and then change but in doing so is so self-loving and beneficial. Sharing your personal experiences so openly and honestly is so practical and helpful.

615. ‘I discovered when I am caught up in the drive, there is no space for me to stop and actually feel what is going on with me, or with other people.’ I love this awareness. Part of the game of the raciness for me, when I am in it I feel, is precisely because I don’t want to feel what is going on for me giving me permission to not deal with it, or delay dealing with it at least…

616. This is such a beautiful reminder. I still find myself in a race with the day or with others or with myself. Yes it comes from a need for recognition which stems from a feeling of not being good enough. When I remember this it reminds me to stop and slow down, simply be myself and be present in the moment.

617. ‘I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’ This is huge Rebecca and I can feel how my need to prove myself in so many situations has fuelled the underlying anxiety which has dominated my life. Choosing to appreciate that I am enough is changing this deeply engrained pattern and a consistent commitment to this supports me to bring more spaciousness into my life.

618. Thank you Rebecca. I love the way you have shared in this blog. It was very relatable and simple – I am sure many people will be able to apply what you have shared.

619. Bubbly, excitement and feeling motivated are all heightened emotions that keep us disconnected from our true essence. When we reconnect to living soulfully, there is only love, joy, harmony and stillness.

620. The way of life you speak of Rebecca, seems to be to be the ‘norm’ for many people. Rushing around, living in anxiousness, trying to juggling all balls at once! It is amazing the difference it can make to our lives if we stop and consider the affect this has on our bodies. It is a beautiful exercise in conscious presence to slow down, take your time, and bring yourself back to your breath and your body, and although the momentum of racy-ness may take a while to subside, the choice to do so is well worth, as from what I observe of my own experience, living in nervous energy is exhausting!

621. “I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough,” This is gold Rebecca. Accepting who we are enables us to appreciate ourselves and with understanding we can accept and appreciate others also. We are all one.

622. “What is it that the anxiousness and drive stops me from getting to feel about myself”. To come to this awareness, as you have Rebecca, that there is something that we are trying to hide with our anxiousness, drive, rush, perfection etc, and to want to know what that is, is in my experience, the beginning of a most wonderful opportunity to change how we have been living, one that offers us the space to discover who we truly are.

623. Hey Rebecca, great blog and what you write is very relatable. The more I have checked in with myself about my anxiousness and raciness, the more revealing it is as I’ve found it lives in so many things I do! But that’s pretty awesome because it’s building my self awareness. Bring it on!

624. Rebecca, great article, I love this, ‘And I find I am not getting so caught up in things because I am making more space to step back and look at the situation before responding’, I can feel how often I can react to something that is said or done straight away, rather than allowing space and stepping back and looking at the situation – what a difference this would make.

625. It is fascinating how we use behaviours to cover up things we don’t want to feel. I know I have also been uncovering an insidious anxiety in my body, the more I connect to my body, and have been noticing more the distractions and numbing techniques I use to avoid feeling this fact. When I do admit the anxiousness is there but also know that it is not who I am, I feel much more solid and steady in my body and in my movements.

626. Life is an ongoing experimental lab where we are free to experiment with movement: how to best get away from ourselves and avoid connecting to our body or how to best get back to ourselves and how to re-connect to our breath.

627. Wow Rebecca – such wisdom that I could really relate to! When I started reading this, it could have been me writing this as I’ve experienced much the same thing – the rush to complete, trying to do several things at once (and then some!), forgetting what I’d done because I wasn’t consciously present etc. Over the years, I’ve also been exploring what it is to be much more present in my body and with my movements, rather than off in my head somewhere else totally disconnected from my body and most recently I’ve been exploring in more depth what it is to have more space to consider what I’m really feeling and what is needed next. Lots of stuff has come up because sometimes I still get caught up in thinking about what I ‘should’ or ‘could’ be doing rather than what I ‘am’ actually doing, but I’m loving the process!

628. Learning to observe life is such a vital step in our evolution. When we observe and not absorb we know life as it actually is rather than how we want or wish it to be.

629. “I realised that this drive and motion was playing out everywhere…” This false push plays out everywhere in my life too and it takes real conscious focus to slow down, observe it happening and change the pattern. The feeding impulse is anxiety. When I connect to being enough and create space within myself everything changes and I feel settlement in my own body.

630. I love your honest approach to observe what is going on within you and address it on a very practical way and with a lot of attention to detail, this is the ‘secret’, which is not secret at all, from Universal Medicine and its huge success with people.

631. Isn’t it just mad how we can put down certain behaviours “as just being us” when in actual fact they couldn’t be further from being the real us. And it takes some very trusted friend or practitioner to point these things out sometimes.

632. Rebecca after reading your blog I noticed a few times when driving I was also racing for the finish line, it felt jolted and out of rhythm. This was because I had not allowed space in the day something that I can really appreciate now reading what you’ve shared again.

633. Thank you Rebecca… What you have shared is medicinal treatment for anxiousness… Outstandingly simple and your final statement sums it up perfectly …”I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are….”

634. “I am everything before I do anything”- these 7 words hold the power to change the world if cultivated from an early age. Sadly, we as a society have made it about the opposite, pushing ourselves into drive to ‘get the job done’ at great expense to the body and the being within it. If we start from such an empty place, we cannot bring the fullness of our true selves into whatever it is we may be doing and instead leave ourselves wide open to the vast array of ideals, beliefs and images that seek to fill us up instead. Great blog Rebecca, thankyou.

635. I love your blog and your learnings Rebecca as I can totally relate! The part that stood out to me was where you mentioned your actions and movements were happening in a way that was leaving you and your body behind.. Isn’t this interesting, that there is a way of moving that is actually ahead of and not in presence with the very body we live with in every moment.

636. For me its recognising the times when I go into drive and how taking a pause and connecting back to my breath can instantly change my movements to be more present and expansive in my everyday. The beauty of space is the greater awareness we have of what’s going on around us in the world when we move in this way. Seeing the magic of nature and the wisdom shared in these moments is breathtaking.

637. When I give myself the space to feel form my body what is there an anxiousness reveals itself. It is not the worry I use to distract myself from this underlying anxiety. But the more I stay with my body and allow it to move in a way that it knows to clear the underlying anxiousness the more I get to feel who I am which is beautiful.

638. I have been reflecting about space recently Rebecca, and have realised that although there is a lack of space everywhere in the city I live in, and it is very easy to be convinced by the outer reality that we do not have enough space. But the truth is I choose not to be spacious by making this said choice to not experience the spaciousness within myself. It is very raw to observe that a momentum lived of a lack of self-worth is deeply unsettling and contracting to denseness (no space), but it is also amazing that with choosing to self-love and self-care, the body’s messages can be felt and heard much more acutely, and the reminder to stop, I am choosing now to listen.

639. “I am everything before I do anything” – beautifully said, and I need to remind myself this every now and then. I can feel how I make myself busy with motions, to fill space, to avoid space – and in the back of it it feels as though I am scared of feeling spaciousness and what it means, and how that avoidance feeds my feeling inadequate of insecure even more so, so the raciness goes on. And how beautifully simple is that, it all goes back to us appreciating and surrendering into who/what we naturally are. Thank you, Rebecca, your sharing has brought me much clarity.

640. “A race with no finish line” that itself sounds exhausting. It is amazing the turn on the quality of relationship with self, with life and other people when we crack this ongoing drive, forever chasing and constant inner motion. And like everything else in life the first step is honesty in looking at why such behaviour in the first place and a willingness to healing my issues one layer at a time.

641. This blog rings true for me and how I have lived my life for many years. I can remember opening up all the draws in the kitchen and not stopping to close them when I reached for various cooking utensils as I was driven to not only cook one meal, but five in one session in the kitchen to save on time. Thank you Rebecca for writing a topic that is so prevalent in our world today and has become the cause of much illness and disease that we often over ride with continued drive. It was only when I got a stop moment and the body reminded me of the choices that I was making, that lead me to understand that it was not in the best interest of my long term health.

642. Whoa Rebecca, you are just 19 and realising this, and even better you are writing about it and sharing it with everyone. Go you! Love what you have shared here and I can so relate having often chosen to be racy and ten steps ahead of myself for most of my life but I have only really started being aware of this in the last few years and I am now 37. It is so true, we do so much and have this image that we always have to do more and even that is not enough. Fact is, there will always be more and we just need to love and appreciate that its not about what we do but who we are. We are enough just as we are.

     1. Totally agree and am also cheering ‘Go You’ Rebecca. This blog breaks down the belief that one needs to older to be wise. This sharing oozes wisdom beyond your years.

        1. So many young people are so wise and know so much yet why do we judge them because of their age? is it perhaps that we are afraid that another may know more than us or be better than us? Surely, we all win when we share that knowledge and celebrate each other.

643. Yes it’s so easy to become identified with what you do rather than who we are, as the world confirms and awards achievers. The quality we deliver when we are with ourselves delivers Love and is enduring, when we are driven we lace everything with anxiousness and the body will eventually let us know it’s not loving and will bring us to a stop. How loving is that, the body knows and is our guiding light and is providing the next impulse to support and nurture.

     1. And the sad thing is that when we do become identified with the what we do – we actually think that is who we are. I remember feeling lost and not having any solid knowing of who I was years ago when I was identified with things like doing the perceived ‘right’ thing, pleasing others, being the good daughter, teacher, wife or mother etc. identification can come in many forms and not always the obvious big ones as in being identified by a job title.

644. ‘Being in this raciness stops me reading what is going on in situations and being able to bring my all to it.’ I’ve recently become super-aware that this is a pattern for me too. And that when I go into that place – the raciness and subsequent inability to read what’s going on – I am far more likely to react to the situation, person or life in general rather than simply observe and respond to it… As you later say, it’s the brining in of the spaciousness: ‘I find I am not getting so caught up in things because I am making more space to step back and look at the situation before responding.’

645. ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.’ I love your appreciation of how your life has expanded because of the work you have done and the knock on effect this has on your relationships with others. Your willingness to explore your drivenness and the underlying anxiousness is so inspiring and I can really relate to discovering this pattern of behaviour and how I uncovered an anxiousness that until recently I would have sworn I did not have?!

     1. Me too Helen. And what I also realised when I read this part of the blog is that it is so pointless to take another not being in connection with me personally, when someone is perhaps only talking about themself etc – it brought me understanding that that inner turmoil and self absorption doesn’t allow them to be present with me.

646. We should ask ourselves “what on earth is so ‘attractive’ about entering into a race without a finishing line?” It is frustrating, exhausting and clearly unwinnable! Much like mice running inside the wheel!

     1. Great analogy Tamara. And we are meant to be the intelligent species ???

     2. Well said Tamara – it is a major burn out because even when lying in bed at night the inner hampster wheel is still turning

647. There were times when I would get in the car and drive to a destination only to realise when I got there that I couldn’t remember the many things to be seen along the way. Looking at this globally what does it mean for Humanity if most are living checked-out in their day to day movements and choices, everything is driven and people living by habitual patterns without any depth of being present? Living connected to self brings a quality of love and holding that can be felt and brings that same quality to others in relationship and in what we produce. To live re-connected rids the world of anxiety and tension allowing harmony which is our true way.

     1. This use to be me also Christine. At times when I arrived at a destination I would realise that I could not remember going down roads even though I knew I did because it was the route I went. Now I enjoy feeling my body as I get into the car and drive along, remembering all roads on my journey. What an escape I use to live in.

648. Brilliant blog Rebecca – and not least because I can relate to so much of it myself! Your observation that ‘…what I do and what I bring is enough…’ is such a simple sounding one but for me (and many others) it can seem like the hardest lesson of all to learn, particularly ‘…in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are’.

649. So true Rebecca, we are identified by what we do from such a young age but actually our real worth is the quality we bring to the world. Being encouraged to make space in our lives is a superb way for us to appreciate who we really are before we do anything. I am very blessed to be studying the immensely wise teachings of Serge Benhayon that continue to support me to deal with my anxieties and to connect to and deepen the gorgeous feeling of stillness inside my body, thereby cherishing and honouring my true self worth.

650. This is such a pertinent reading – the fact that we cannot truly be present in a situation and with other people when we are racy and ahead of ourselves, already on to the next thing to do or fix.

651. In the past I would never have described myself as racy. But having let go of a lot of indulgence, I’m actually found out that there’s also quite a lot of raciness in me too. For a long time (and still I catch myself) I fooled myself that I had it under control, but this was (and is) pure illusion and in fact escaping (denying) to feel the raciness running through my body. There’s a vast difference between working or doing life from purpose, rather than from raciness. There’s nothing to achieve, yet there will be eternally a lot of work to do. And how gorgeous is it that life is teaching each and everyone of us out of the seemingly complexity, including the raciness.

652. Beautiful, thank you for sharing this Rebecca, the insight and clarity you offer here is brilliant and so great to have the simple steps we can all take to be more present and connected in our daily lives.

653. The title of this blog really exposes the ridiculousness and futility of being in a rush and being driven in life. There is no end so what are we rushing about for? The answer is beautifully presented here – we rush so we don’t have to feel. But if we do choose to be present instead, life starts to open up and what we were trying to escape from – a relationship with ourselves – becomes the main reason to stay in the moment.

654. Rebecca, the honesty that you bring here is like a cool and delicate breeze. You make it safe to be vulnerable. Thankyou so much.

655. Your willingness to being honest with yourself and pay attention to the details of your movements is very inspiring. I have also discovered that with this willingness to pay attention to our connection to our bodies, brings awareness to how and why we are moving and reveals the truth as to which energy is impulsing our every move. As you have beautifully highlighted our true and Divine power is lived and magnified through our movements and that it is our responsibility to bring the quality of our presence, all that we are, to all that we do and meet.

656. Purposely choosing breathing my own gentle still breathe has been my way of becoming aware of me and mind activity and how I hold myself. When that choice is constantly and consistently made provides the space to allow and see how busy the mind actually is.

657. So many of us can relate to what you share here Rebecca, filling up our lives with things to do and rushing to fit as many things into our time as we could so that we could look back and feel like we were worthy and would get recognition for it. It’s so lovely now to be moving through that exhausting behaviour and catch myself out when I feel that drive start to kick in and feel how my body changes when I choose to breathe my own breath and move in a way that allows me to take my time and feel the quality that I can be in when I do that.

658. Hello Rebecca and love it, love your writing, love the topic, love the delivery, love the approach, love the result and love that you shared it. How huge is anxiety in our lives and here you have an approach that you don’t need a prescription for. As you are saying small changes that have a huge knock on effect and create space. This for me is forever refining and I am still using this approach in other ways. It’s great to have more and more people choosing to live the way you are Rebecca and who knows at some point it maybe the norm.

659. Rebecca, I can so relate to what you share. My bubbly, excited and motivated persona was definitely used to bury anxiousness, but for me there was even more at play. I was radiating the illusion of optimism – smiley and happy – expecting everyone else to smile back and only look on the bright side of life. In my company they were NOT to feel their anxiousness, their sadness, or whatever else was going on for them. I had worked out this game of ‘not-feeling’ so well, that I was now trying to play it for everyone else too. Once I dropped the facade I had to deal with my underlying anxiousness, sadness and the exhaustion I was in from choosing to live in this false way.

660. Very inspiring to read Rebecca and so much I can relate to and I completely agree, appreciation of who you are and what you bring is key in letting go of this pattern of anxiousness about being enough and proving oneself. I know making mistakes is part of our learning and I am not as terrified anymore than I used to be but it still is not always easy to stay with myself and just feel what there is for me to let go and develop. I will always be a loving work in progress.

661. Thank you sharing this learning process with us, Rebecca. This line really touched me – “I am everything before I do anything”. It is so beautiful and inspiring to feel you claim this, because you truly are amazing.

662. Thank you for sharing this insight Rebecca. I see so many similarities between what you have shared and how I have functioned throughout my life. The drive that comes from seeking recognition due to not feeling enough is something that has been a continual refinement for me. Trusting that I am enough when I bring my full presence is very powerful.

663. It’s so true we are valuable before we do anything and each moment we are worthy of the fullness of how precious we are. So cutting anything short is saying no to ourselves and this has a flow on effect – even if it is to the draw. Someone else will come to that draw, that imprint is then there for them to feel and clear if possible or compound. Completion significantly unravels anxiousness to the point where it can feel like an amazing load has been lifted and the sense of spaciousness is present.

664. From someone who has lived much of their adult live in drive, to have these incredible insights and to cease its relentless activity at 19, is one of THE most amazing gifts you can give yourself. You are one very cool 19 year old. I see you are a student of politics – I hope you enter the world of a politician because we need people like you.

665. There is so much in this blog I can relate to the difference I feel at the end of each day says it all for me. When I go into raciness and am clearly disconnected from my body it might appear that I achieved a lot but whatever I did feels awful because of the energy it was done in and I feel exhausted. When I stay with myself choosing to be present with all that I do the steady stillness I move in supports so much more space and flow within time to do the tasks at hand without draining me.

666. I can so relate to the anxiousness coming out when looking at other areas and behaviours in our lives… we can have so many different ‘go to’ behaviours to cover up what is truly going on inside – all to avoid feeling our innate beauty and natural wisdom.

667. A fascinating read Rebecca… as I read through I could feel the raciness, then the anxiousness and finally the settling of you being with you. How we are within ourselves is so very exposing of how we are in life.

668. Sitting here on the couch reading this blog I can totally relate to what you are saying. I noticed how I was not really sitting because I wanted to get a tea, cream my lips and look on Facebook. Like this it is never enough and I will never be just sitting fully with myself – it is a really great learning to just be with what we are doing no matter what else there needs to be done next. Thank you for sharing Rebecca.

669. Thank you for your honest blog Rebecca.

670. “I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.” – I can relate to this. When I’m caught up in my own stuff, then I’m not able to connect with others and our interactions can be superficial rather than when I feel connected within myself and then naturally connect with other people.

671. Super cool blog Rebecca, its shows us the absolute importance of knowing our body and knowing these feelings, not to eliminate them all as quick as possible, but to understand why those feelings are accuring and what might be the underlaying cause of it .. So that we do not only stop the symptoms but actually heal the cause – true health and healing – which is medicine.

672. Conscious presence develops steadiness and stillness in the body and brings a beautiful feelings of completeness in life.

673. Rebecca I can relate to this so much – thank you for sharing this. I too have over compensated and been driven because thats how I thought i was – and everyone put up with it, but the reality is, like you – i was ‘doing’ and rushing so I stopped feeling and being. Its pretty crazy the games we play with ourselves to cover up what we don’t want to look at.

674. This is a great blog Rebecca. I can relate to it too as so many have already in the comments. I have found too that in my race to get there I get nowhere, in effect just around and around in circles chasing my tail. Being present with whatever I am doing instead has a lot going for it.

675. There is an illusion that I know I have bought into it which I think that I am being super efficient and effective by multitasking. Especially if I am running late, I start to try and do as many things as I can in the shortest amount of time and with the fewest number of trips around the flat. My mind races ahead of me trying to plan the next 3 things that I need to do, and not focussing on the thing I am doing at the time. The result is a rush of adrenaline through my body, which leads to exhaustion, and ironically not doing the things I am doing with the care and depth that I would usually bring. It becomes a tick list exercise instead of bringing all of me to what I am doing.

676. I wouldn’t have known I did this till I did one of the online esoteric yoga courses and found myself becoming aware of just leaving things ever so slightly unfinished or not quite completing a job. What it meant was a huge amount of mess as all those ‘slightly’ moments added up. What I had been getting irritated at others for was 75% me! And it came down to racing to the next thing on my list rather than simply being present in the moment.

677. Giving ourselves the space to feel is such a beautiful gift.

678. The drive to avoid feeling anxious is definitely something I can relate too! I love experimenting with life and what can be different rather than just locked in patterns out of habit that don’t serve us.

679. Rebecca great wisdom you share here, so many of us have been caught in this drive to do the next thing, then getting caught in the anxiousness and raciness in the body, not allow space. It does have that underlying thing about trying to prove or become something, getting recognition. How exhausting this is, when in truth we can really bring it back to simplicity of one thing at a time and focusing back on our gentle breath.

680. When we are very capable and can move mountains we may often learn to overdo it just a little, enough to make us extremely busy but also much less effective. It really matters how we do what we do and how we are when we do what we do, far more than I ever thought.

681. Rebecca, I can relate to the anxiousness you feel once the raciness is exposed. I have been fearful of allowing things to unfold naturally and am reluctant to let go this control on life. I always feel amazed at what we find in the layers under many of our behaviours.

682. This is great to read, there is so much in our lives that we use to not feel, and let ourself run without noticing what is truly going on. A constant anxious state isn’t a natural way to live.

683. I am forever becoming aware of how crucial appreciation is in supporting the healing of anxiety and drivenness. Appreciation allows us to slowly re-embrace who we truly are and actually how gorgeous and amazing we are inside and what we bring to the world when connected to such a space. Being busy after all is one of the ultimate ways to avoid feeling this simple truth.

684. “I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.” This is such an amazing realisation to have got to. So often we accept our coping behaviours as us without getting underneath it all.

685. ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment’ I love this. Our lives have gotten so busy and getting on or keeping up or dropping out can become more important than the relationships we have with people. Then when we are with someone we don’t have anything to say because we are caught up in the spin or if we do make conversation it tends to be quite superficial.

686. I can really relate to what unfolded in your experiments Rebecca, and so great to have it here laid out so clearly. This ‘after effect’ of the experiment felt very lovely, and freeing and totally enjoyable; “I am now more open and honest about how I am feeling because I am more present in my day to notice.”

687. Ha! I used to catch myself getting up from the table still chewing my last mouthful, now I at least stay and finish that, but could spend a little longer allowing my food to digest before moving.

688. A very relatable blog – how commonplace it has become to drive and push ourselves and to live in nervous stimulation and anxiety. It is deeply inspiring to see that there is another way, and one that offers space, connection to ourselves and a deeper connection with others.

689. Rebecca it is so uplifting to read this. Such maturity present from a vibrant young woman truly inspires.

690. ‘I am connecting more with people because I am not so caught up in my inner race and so have more space to actually stop and meet them in the moment.’ – You’re making some important points in this blog Rebecca – I agree, how can we truly connect with other people, i.e. truly meeting them and seeing what they bring and who they are, unless we are first present and truly connected with ourselves? I love how you have offered an example on how to go about changing the patterns of inner race and anxiousness.

691. Some great examples Rebecca of ways we keep ourselves in motion. Bringing focus to some of these things like closing doors is a great way to bring presence to what we are doing in any moment. I’ve noticed lately that this is one area I’ve been paying more attention to and actually closing a door rather than letting is close behind me, because it feels more gentle for me, but it also feels more gentle for the next person who will open that door.

     1. I agree. Excessive motion can make us a lot less effective.

692. I can very much relate to living a life from drive. This still continues to be a work in progress for me, but what I am finding is that I now truly value the feeling of spaciousness so that when drive and anxiousness creeps in, it feels so awful that it is a wake up call to come back to the steadiness of being with my body in a gentle and conscious way.

693. Hats off to you Rebecca – this is a superb blog that so forensically details a level of drive and anxiety that I reckon affects the majority of people these days. If people would read and truly connect to what you have written and implement it in their lives it would probably save the government a humongous amount in medical bills and also save businesses greatly in lost productivity and sick days. Awareness is an excellent investment in multiple ways!

694. Absolutely Stunning blog Rebecca. Amazing to hear how your life is changing by becoming more present and connected with yourself. Living from anxiousness is so stressful and draining – the beautiful thing is that when we start to come out of it we see we have been fooling ourselves all along and even if we don’t “do” everything we will still be an amazing person – something our world rarely confirms.

695. “…an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.”
     I can so relate to this Rebecca and also to the dreams about being late or making a mistake, my whole life I lived like this and only recently became aware of this need to prove my worth and initiated a shift thanks to Universal Medicine and Esoteric Women’s Health. So great that you are able to address this with 19 and live your entire life free of it!

696. ‘I am by no means perfect in this, there is a whole lot more space to be made in my life, but I am beginning to see every day as an opportunity to learn.’ ….. well said, Rebecca. It’s never about perfection, rather a willingness to be open and honest, to share the fullness of who we are to the best of our ability.

697. Very inspiring read, Rebecca. Your choice to be honest and look at why you were living your life with such drive is creating the space for you to claim yourself, to feel into what is needed in that moment, rather than delivering what you think is expected, or the ‘right’ thing to do.

698. Underneath the raciness is the anxiousness, the constant running angst that we’re not ever enough. So we live with a constant short breath, a panic grasp for air as we go about our day, running so that we don’t feel this underlying pain. Because as you say Rebecca deeper still than the perennial anxiety is the choice to hide, to hide our awesomeness and grandness from the world and from ourselves.

699. So many people in the world today are living with a level of anxiousness that they are not even aware of. But when it is taken back to the simple things in life, as you have here Rebecca, such as opening doors and getting up from the table before others have finsihed eating, it becomes clear that these are prime examples of how anxiety can override anything else that we are feeling, and how it can prevent us from being aware of anything else that is going on around us. This is a great blog, thank you.

700. Beautiful Rebecca such wisdom and understanding you are sharing on our forever learning journey in life. The fact that we are all enough and everything simply being who we are and the underlying anxiousness from not really believing and living this is huge and highlights so much. The exhaustion from living never enough and the constant rush and striving is so apparent in the world with the lack of true connection to ourselves and others.” A race with no finish line”, says it all and it is understanding that allows a real change to begin.

701. I agree, there is more space felt when we do not go into a raciness or drive to get things done. I have seen this play out in my life, how I clean the house or drive the car, have shown when I reflect on the moment, I can see I am trying to get ahead of myself…and run away from feeling what is present, rather than surrendering to the moment and how I feel within in it.

702. Gosh I love this article and was blown away when I saw that it was written by a 19 year old; that such insight and steady wisdom could be shared by someone so young. Apart from the inspiring content, this fact alone proves to me that we do have an innate wisdom, natural and inherent in us, that has got nothing to do with age.

     1. Hear! Hear! Matilda, I agree, life is a lived wisdom from all our lives as age is no barrier!

703. I recognise this Rebecca. The drive is so easy to get caught up in, and leaves us literally no space for ourselves or others. It’s like a race, but there is actually no finish line, so what do we think we are doing?! Taking time to create space and be present changes everything. Life becomes very different, and our relationship with ourselves and others can transform.

704. Much of what you have written here Rebecca I can relate to, and whilst reading this what came to me was how many times I have injured my body whilst rushing. For instance once I was rushing and put my hand up to turn on the light switch whilst in a hurry down the hallway and something went ping in my shoulder, and then I had two years of pain and physiotherapy. Another time I needed something from the back seat in my car and over stretched without being aware of how my body was positioned and the other shoulder went for ten months. How many injuries occur due to not being fully present with our movements and how much pain can be avoided by being willing to feel the anxiousness.

705. A great blog Rebecca Your title says it all. Most of us chase our tail because there is always something to be done, to be completed, to be achieved. What for? To achieve recognition and a semblance of perfection – ie control. I was so guilty of multi-tasking in the past – and taking pride in that! But nothing got done any faster (or better) – and I certainly want present with any of the things I did do. Universal Medicine enabled me to wake up from that illusion and bring focus, presence and purpose into my day – also to know that there is no such thing as perfection, and accepting things how they are first – in order to allow change.

706. Thank you for sharing Rebecca, it is a great reminder as so often it is easy to be thinking of or looking to the next thing before completing what I am actually doing at the time.

707. “I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.” This I can well relate to Rebecca. Like you I have also been in perpetual drive and on the go, but creating the space to stop, focus on my breathing and the quality of my movements is supporting me no end to break this pattern.

708. ‘What I am beginning to find is that by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment’ – This is awesome Rebecca. ‘Space’ and ‘time’ are two completely different things; having all the time and minutes in the world can still leave us feeling stressed, pressured and driven to get things done, because it’s about quality over quantity and we can only create space in our day if we look at HOW we’re living and the quality of each moment.

709. The line that stood out for me Rebecca was “I can now see that I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough”. This is something I feel that some of us may need reminding of from time to time – so thank you for the reminder.

710. 19 with so much awareness and honesty and not only that but the willingness to change the disharmony you are feeling .. this is really inspiring. I can certainly relate with what you have shared here and I am sure many others can. It is also really interesting to see that behind the drive there is an anxiousness and recognition. ‘I realised that it has been this anxiousness that is the force behind the drive I have in life, an anxiousness based on not feeling enough or being good enough, and so having to drive to prove myself and to get recognition.’ What I love about this is that it looks underneath the drive to see why it is there in the first place … anxiousness and recognition .. it is getting to the root of the reason. I also feel the title of your blog ‘A race with no finish line’ exposes much about humanity and how we are currently living.

711. The title gives it away as well. There is no finish line when we choose to operate like this. We are just in a perpetual race with ourselves. It’s very exhausting. Thanks for sharing how you have started to break this pattern Rebecca.

712. Thank you Rebecca, I really enjoyed reading this today and interesting how you’ve discovered that the rush and drive is a coping mechanism as someone who is constantly achieving in life ‘looks’ like that they’ve got a handle on life whereas what is being exposed here is this may not be the case – we have to always come back to the underlying energy and thus quality of the movements to feel if the actions are true or not. I will return to read again!

713. A great expose on how very used to being always in the doing we are and onto the next thing, but how this is basically being pushed around by something and thank you for showing how it is possible to get out of it by simply observing oneself and being more conscious about what we are doing.

714. How we open and close doors is a great marker to see how we are with ourselves. Are we connected to ourselves and aware of every movement or are we already ahead of ourselves and onto the next thing before the door has finished closing?This has been a great antidote for rushing, because like you say Rebecca there is no ‘Finish line’. Rushing and moving onto the next thing before completing the last movement sets us up for perpetual motion, and a feeling that we have no time or space for anything.

715. Spot on Rebecca. I recognise a lot of this in myself especially not finishing one task before I’m onto the next.

716. The fact that we are everything before we do anything is so simple but yet very much profound. If we claim that we not have to become anything but are everything and expand our expression from here – we find ourselves in the position of service.

717. “I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are.” Most definitely a prized lesson.

718. I love and can appreciate the simplicity of coming back to your breath, movement or posture as a way of coming back to you when you feel that you have gone into drive. I can feel how doing these things will bring presence and us back to connection and was pondering on this yesterday – thank you for your timely reminder.

719. Wow! A short and very powerful sentence Rebecca – “I am everything before I do anything”. How exposing of the lies of long held ideals and beliefs of ‘what we do’ as being the only measurement and defining factor or our value and worth in the world. This understanding completely turns this old consciousness upside-down and inside-out. “A huge thank you to Serge Benhayon and my Universal Medicine practitioners, who have always presented that I am everything before I do anything – a valuable lesson in a world where your worth is defined by what you do, and not who you are”.

720. What I also feel is that appreciation is key in letting go of the constant drive and anxiety. If we don’t appreciate ourselves and our innate qualities, then we’re constantly stuck in this need to prove our self worth by getting recognition for absolutely everything that we do – an exhausting and debilitating way to live.

721. Great blog, Rebecca, and much to consider. Am I stopping to feel what is truly needed, or just doing what I think is ‘right’, and never stopping to allow the space to feel? What’s beautiful is that as we slow down and focus on being present, aware and ‘with ourselves’, the space to feel more naturally opens up – and so do our connections with others.

     1. I totally agree, Bryony. In my race with time I compress space and when I stop this race (drive, anxiousness, need to ‘get on’) space expands. There is definitely some science in there!

722. I love the title of this blog too – it says so much in one line. How many of us are in a rush to get to…well, to get there – wherever there is? What a powerful reflection this is of the possibility that ‘getting there’ is an illusion. Perhaps our true work is to know we are already everything we need to be and to live this instead.

723. Such wisdom Rebecca – thank you. Judging by my discomfort whilst reading the blog, I’d say there is much for me to look at here. What you share is very familiar – always seeking the next thing in life and not knowing that I am already enough. What a great lesson this is to get. More work to do!

724. I love this blog Rebecca – you have beautifully and humbly exposed how anxiousness, drive and rush are deeply ingrained behaviours that we accept as ‘normal’, when in fact, they compromise our true and natural way of being. What an inspiration you are to all. 💞

725. Your last point on the list Rebecca about focussing on anything other than the moment is so true. I clocked that recently where I was in a moment where I lost focus and thoughts drifted, and I remembered how I have done this in so many situations and it really stuck how it was such a waste of my potential. As it means I am never really giving the quality to what I am doing at the time I drift away, over and over again. And it made me stop and just give all I had to what I was doing, and when that happens life is so simple, not ahead or behind the game, just being and living and letting life unfold.

726. What a great thing to be aware of so early on in life, I have spent my life on the go without giving myself space or stopping to feel the anxiousness I run on to get things done. A great reminder that we are everything before we make a move or say anything.

727. Rebecca, this is great to read, ‘I need to begin to appreciate that what I do and what I bring is enough, for then and only then will the anxiousness and the need to prove myself resolve.’ I have found that the more I accept and appreciate myself the more settled and at ease i feel in my body.

728. The opening pace of this blog reflects how many of us have lived (and still do at times) and offers a great reflection on the futility of anxiousness and drive. I’m aware how drive can be fuelled by an inner restlessness and its the inner that must be stilled before we can be present with ourselves in each movement and not constantly racing ahead.

729. This is a great blog Rebecca – its a race we can continue for 19 years, 44 years or a whole lifetime. Something for us all to deeply ponder on, and a lovely reminder that it is the small moments in life that create all the space and connection that are so vital to a rich and connected way of living.

730. Rebecca I can very much relate to drive – from the moment I get up, straight after my last mouthful of dinner I’m cleaning the plates, this relates to an anxiousness from childhood, of someone shouting a lot if the kitchen wasn’t clean straight away. But I don’t have to choose that for myself or live it anymore. It’s also very exhausting to live in drive, for me it is a precise choice I go to stop me reading everything and from that evolving. I also question if it’s a game I play – yes – to stay small and not live in my power and authority. When I have my period this is very very different, my body instantly becomes still, I come out of my head and there is little to no motion or drive. Everything is very simple and clear. So if I can live like this then, then it is there for me to live easily all the time. It’s a matter of choice.

731. Rebecca this is simply a brilliant article to read for me at the moment, as a person that has also been very driven all my life I can really appreciate what you are saying about allowing more space. It will also help the cupboards in my home as they will be closed and not left ajar as i move onto the next thing too quickly.

732. It’s true Rebecca, stepping off the treadmill of self driven existence, offers us so much more. We begin to feel our own bodies and everyone else’s. And this is pure gold, ‘What I am beginning to find is that by introducing more space, I am more able to feel what is needed in each moment’

     1. Great comment – I love the treadmill reference. And what a great quote – I’ve been feeling and noticing space in my life more and more too.

733. ‘I am everything before I do anything’ A beautiful reminder that we don’t have to do anything or go anywhere but just allow ourselves to appreciate all that we already are and by looking at the underlying causes of our distracting behaviours we become reacquainted with who we truly are.

734. Yes beautiful Rebecca, it is easy to say ‘I am everything before I do anything’ but the livingness of that, is another thing. Thanks for sharing the way you’ve gone about it… very relatable and supportive for those who are caught up running themselves in a similar manner.

735. Rebecca this blog is so wonderful and easy to connect to. So many of the practical examples ring true in my life and many of the lives around me. The world is missing out on all of us that get so caught up in being driven to achieve or meet unrealistic demands and whilst we allow these expectations to govern us, they will continue. The anxiety levels we all fight to keep are bay are increasing. I loved your comment – ‘ ..who have always presented that I am everything before I do anything’ – this is truly beautiful. Thank you.

736. For most of my life I lived in constant motion and to ensure this motion, I would never fully complete anything; there was always one small bit that needed to be finished. It was always about the journey and never the destination. The wake of my life was littered with unfinished everything, which included taking responsibility for myself! I no longer do deadlines. An old restaurant I worked at in my teens and this was on their menu ‘quality takes time… our service is fast no matter how long it takes’. When we make our self, important first, everything else just flows.

737. Yes Rebecca anxiety is a very common theme and I’m sure many can relate to your article, thanks for the expression your tips are awesome

738. Incredible changes you have made Rebecca and from what you’ve shared you inspire us all. I can totally relate to the raciness I sometimes choose but it certainly doesn’t have to be this way. I notice with going into raciness how this disconnects me from myself and also others. Choosing to be present and connected to what I am doing, the way I move supports me hugely in every way. These small choices impact on us a lot more than we allow ourselves to acknowledge.

739. Great blog Rebecca, there are many points I can relate to personally. For the obvious enthusiasm on the surface isn’t always how we would naturally behave if an underlying drive wasn’t present.

     I think that idea is gold.

740. Beautifully expressed Rebecca. I love how your piece gently takes the reader by the hand and invites them to explore the layers of wisdom you present.

741. ‘I am everything before I do anything’ that is such a great way to see and live life Rebecca. I understand the drive you speak of, as I have my own version of it, which I’m still unpicking each day – I find there is an underlying angst or a feeling of having to keep moving just in case I get caught out, which is anxiousness in face. And what you share here is super supportive, in that if I let go of those coping mechanisms then I can more readily address the underlying root without their interference.

742. The title of this blog alone makes me feel exhausted Rebecca! We are the ultimate of nature’s miracles as human beings and I have never seen any aspect of nature in a rush. It can be fierce and have devastating effects but in essence it has rhythm and cycles that we forget are also occurring with us. The drive and tension that is caused is so anti rhythm and I love how you have clocked this. I’m inspired by you today Rebecca!

     1. Well said Bernadette – the rush and drive really is man made, for no plant ever is in a hurry to grow and blossom, nor is any bird driven to migrate until the time is absolutely right – we can all take a leaf out of nature’s book and realise that there might be a natural rhythm to life we can adhere to.

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