Lose this day loitering – ‘twill be the same story
To-morrow and the next more dilatory;each decision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days.
Are you in ernest?  Seize this very minute –
Boldness has genious, power and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated –
Begin it, and then the work will be completed.― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Isn’t this often how we operate? It is not just a question of seizing the moment or carpe diem. With that force and push or ‘motivation’, as we have come to use as habit, we slowly develop inner resistance to that very force that had been used to getting into action! In the end, the job may or may not get completed, we may or may not feel as if we are alive while doing the task, and we are focused on outcome and reward, which may or may not happen.

How do we measure success? Is it just the outcome and reward? What about our sense of ourselves, our presence to the task and daily moments, and all of the other aspects of life? If we continue to allow ourselves to be consumed by projects that we use to propel ourselves into, for the hope of some good feeling and reward at the end, we are living life as if we are sprinting to a finish line, not paying attention to the ground, the body, the steps we are taking, the people around us, the smells and sights and sounds and minutes that pass during that race – we are only aware of the push to the end point – and that may or may not bring us the joy we are anticipating!

There is nothing wrong with achieving our goals, but in the process, the awareness of self and all of what each moment brings, allows us to open up to all of the limitations and holdbacks that will surely surface, in the various events that each moment holds, allowing us to release and be free and fine the actual path to that very goal.  And in each step of the way, we find lighter and happier feelings – the joy of the process and what is learned, the awareness gained, becomes more fulfilling than the goal itself – which again, may or may not be yours to have.  Love, Karyn