What’s your motivation?

Today I listened to a podcast (Michael Singer: Let Go of Yourself and Surrender to Life – YouTube) hosted by Mayim Bialik and available on YouTube that was recommended by a friend who knows I’ve been reading Michael Singer’s work. In the midst of the conversation, Michael Singer asked, “What’s your motivation?”

It made me ask myself the same question, what is my motivation? He was inviting the listener (in this case, me) to put that question to the work that’s right in front of us – which for me is a set of chores that have for months aroused in me a set of emotions like anxiety, worry and fear of failing.

So, I asked myself that question, what is my motivation for this work? The answer that was clear to me is simply this:

My motivation is to help caregivers live their lives with joy, in spite of the truth that what’s right in front of them is difficult or challenging (or touches their samskara) in ways that can paralyze them and cause them pain and suffering.

Wow! I was struck by the pure, and loving energy that IS my motivation for the work I know I need to do, but have been consistently avoiding (procrastinating, delaying, etc.). If my motivation is so honestly pure and loving – WHY do I get so stuck?

One could ask THAT about a lot of things in life! Why don’t I do the obvious work that’s right in front of me and that would make my life so much better?

If my motivation to lose weight is to honor my body and give it the nutrition, flexibility, and freedom it needs and deserves to function well, why am I stuck?
If my motivation to exercise more consistently is to build physical strength, combat stress and the physical ailments compounded by sitting still, why am I stuck?
If my motivation to clean up my clutter is to live a less-encumbered lifestyle, free from the piles of debris that annoy and exhaust me, why am I stuck?

Self-care is every conscious action you take that feeds your soul, nourishes your body, nurtures your spirit, or replenishes your relationship with yourself!

We all get stuck in our stuff!

We all encounter emotions that get in the way of our accomplishing the work we intend to do – work that would make us healthier, work that would make us happier, work that would, when completed, make our lives so much better!

Our “stuck-ness” (as I discussed in an earlier blog) is the result of our samskara – the patterns or programming we both inherit and accumulate in life that form familiar ways of being which we repeat when acting on auto-pilot, without intention, insight, or integration (of mind and body). They form our common Modus Operandi – our usual way of going about life – and they are the basis for our tendency as humans to both get and stay STUCK.

Michael Singer’s conversation in the podcast made me hone-in on my motivation for the chores I’ve been putting off (way too long) and gave me the courage to invite fresh commitment into my summer for the accomplishment of the work I need to do. . .

I am committed to the life in front of me, and I’m willing to LET GO of myself in order to richly experience my life with love.

To LET GO OF MYSELF simply means, to notice that it is ME getting in my own way – to admit that I slip into auto-pilot when those emotions (anxiety, worry and fear of failing) well up in me and I allow them to have power over me, power that gets and keeps me STUCK.

So, to get out of my own stuck-ness, I am using the commitment above to move through the summer, to finish my work, to achieve my goals and to live into my motivation to make the lives of caregivers more joyful by introducing them to their opportunities to choose differently than in the past.

Whatever YOUR stuck-ness, I invite you to investigate your motivation. I invite you to ask, what is my motivation for this work in front of me? What will it take for you to GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY in order to achieve the best goals you’ve set for yourself?

Once again, I have to admit that I’m right on this journey with you – learning about my own foibles and going through my own trial-and-error path of life-improvement. All humans get stuck in our old, familiar ways of being, but we can change – with intention and mindfulness – and with a commitment to live into our purest motivations.

What do you need for your journey? Let me know if I can help!

1 thought on “What’s your motivation?”

Laura
August 8, 2022 at 4:01 pm

We all get stuck in our stuff.
Um, you are such a bright light, and the humble wisdom in this sentiment that you wrote is one of the many reasons your path is bright. You truly get it. We are all connected in the ways in which we get stuck in our stuff. We are all also connected in the ways we can help “walk each other home” to our best selves.
Reply

About Paula

I help other caregivers – both professionals and family caregivers – acknowledge their pain and learn to practice the many small skills of self-care that can sustain them through the challenges of wholeheartedly caring for others.

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