Here I am, on a white sandy beach, lounging under an umbrella, gazing out onto the sparkling ocean. And here’s  what I’m thinking.

 

 

• I’ve been working too hard.
• I’m not having enough fun.  
• I need to make more time to nurture me.
• Why can’t I feel like I’m on vacation everyday?”

Does this dialog sound familiar? 

When Tim Ferris came out with the 4-Hour Work Week I thought to myself, of all the people who are set up to actually do this, I can. I need to do this. I must do this. But that was 10 years ago and nope, I never mastered that dreamy 4-hour work week.   

Sitting peacefully under my umbrella, I began a little inquiry.  Is this habit of working hard some kind of unbridled ambition, desperation, fear, anxiety, what?

The first answer that came is that I’m a slave to my creativity. When I want to create something, I just do it. Unfortunately, I’m a slave to all the things I create. I discovered that I need to be the master of my creativity, not it’s victim. That’s only a little piece of my story, but a big piece of inner work that I need to do.  I share this because no matter how many great books we read, or classes we take, or inspirational visions we have, nothing changes until we pinpoint the underlying motivations, habits and beliefs that drive our behavior. 

We need to know what we are slaves to, before we can be set free.

Contemplate what you are a slave to, what drives you, what controls you. 

Now I’m musing on how to become a slave to joy.  More on that next time…