As many of us wander through life and find ourselves feeling bogged down and uninspired by daily obligations—things we take on as responsibilities even though we don’t necessarily enjoy doing them—we may begin to feel like zombies, always busy but never really doing things we truly enjoy. If this sounds like you, then you may have a somewhat simple dilemma on your hands: you’re disconnected from your spirit or inner being, your core essence. It isn’t that you’ve lost your soul or that it went somewhere; it’s just that you aren’t in tune with it (because it is pure love and positive energy, not in alignment with apathy or depression) and your spirit is calling out through your emotions and intuition for you to come back and live a happier, more fulfilled physical life. You may also find that you have physical symptoms or ailments due to this disconnect, which is the way that your emotional state (also referred to as your vibrational state of being in more esoteric terms) can affect the manifestation that is your body. Your systems and each part of your being is connected and has to work together to be in optimal condition, and the essence of yourself can be tapped into or connected with through something very simple and amazing: creativity, especially when you’re inspired. In this article, I’d like to share some of the ways in which you can tap into your creativity intentionally, and how taking inspired action can lead you to exactly what you need, usually in exactly the ways that you need it to.
So, what exactly is inspired action, and how does it help you to connect with your soul? The best way to recognize inspiration and follow it up with action is to pay attention in every moment by practicing mindfulness. You know what inspiration feels like… a pull, like a call to go and do something very specific based on your unique ideas and experiences. Now, the question is, are you the type of person who ignores this inspiration and puts it off, cutting yourself off from your soul by choosing exhausting obligations instead? Or are you the type of person who eagerly goes to clean out your car or take it to the car wash, smiling the whole way because this is exactly what you need to be doing at that moment? It seems to go by extremely fast, and one thing may lead you to another step, and another, and another, eventually bringing you to something you want or need in your life that is absolutely perfect. These steps are the process of manifestation, of being in alignment with something that you desire and then having it come into your life effortlessly.
You may find that you have experiential evidence already for this kind of thing, but the evidence is also only perceivable if you’re paying attention, so I’d like to share a short personal story of experiential evidence with you.
My mom and I were going for a walk and decided to take a different route than usual to see where it would lead us. Along the way, she was worried that the train tracks we were walking on were still active, so I assured her that they weren’t. I pointed out the overgrowth and cracks in the tracks, the broken ties and fallen branches, and it hit me: nature always wins. So I said that out loud… no matter what happens or what human beings build and create, eventually nature always wins. It was a fun thought, I enjoyed it for a few moments, and then let it go out into the ether, ready to continue our walking adventure.
We chose where we wanted to go seemingly at random, and I was just happy to be outside and walking. We ended up at a river across town from where we began, and we decided to climb down to the banks where the bridge was. At the bottom, underneath the bridge and partially in the water, was a huge cement wall with graffiti all over it. In letters clear as day on that wall, it said: “Nature Always Wins.”
This may seem insignificant to some (it was to my mom, but I felt like it was a little miracle), but it’s a perfect illustration of how following your intuition and trusting the process can lead you to the desires you are attempting to manifest. It also illustrates that putting in too much effort or conflicting emotion will actually slow down your progress on your journey.
So, how do you tap into inspiration and allow things like this to come to you effortlessly, whether you know you want them to or not? Little things like this are often memorable and can be helpful in reassessing your own emotional state. If you have child-like fascination and wonder at these types of little experiences in your own life, you’re on the right track! All it takes to appreciate these little things is mindfulness and paying attention, that way you don’t miss it as it’s happening.
Here are a few ideas to help you shift your focus more toward inspiration and connecting with your spirit.
- Don’t overthink it. The key is to be inspired and take action before your ego and/or critical mind has a chance to tell you it’s stupid or not worth it. If you’re inspired to do something, go do it… you will find the answers you seek. I can attest from various personal circumstances and seemingly dire situations that you don’t have to inundate yourself with information from all sides in order to make the best decision. Sometimes the best decision finds you at exactly the right time, through exactly the right means, and with exactly what you need.
- Don’t worry about the how; leave that to the universe! If you get too stuck on how something is going to happen, you may inadvertently push away an idea or method that is trying to find its way to you that you may not ever think of on your own. Your limited perspective as a human being is nothing in comparison to the infinite perspective of your eternal soul, so trusting the wiser and more experienced part of your being is not a bad thing. Imagine all of the opportunities you may have found indirectly by allowing the universe and your inner being to direct you. No matter your desire, your inner being or soul is always calling to you from that vibration and is trying to bring you closer to your desires made manifest. This is another reason why trust in yourself and your intuition is so important, and mindfulness can help you to achieve this level of trust.
- Trust in your own journey. I won’t lie; it can be especially challenging to have this level of trust during trying life circumstances, but as long as you know that everything is always working out exactly the way it is supposed to, for the greatest good and the growth and evolution of existence on all levels (from the tiniest cells to the universe as a whole). Everything happens for a reason, whether we choose to see that reason or not, and oftentimes we are incapable of perceiving a reason that makes sense to us until much later, after we have achieved a sense of peace about what happened and are able to see clearly. Imagine if you were able to maintain a sense of inner peace during trying times, and how much your stress levels and therefore your resistance would diminish.
- Follow your inspiration. Even if you’re inspired to do something mundane or something that seems like it’s a weird thing to be inspired to do, that’s okay. No matter what it is, as long as it doesn’t cause harm to anyone, you should follow that call and go for it. Whatever it is that you do that makes you feel truly joyous… time disappears, it’s effortless, and you’re in the flow, and these are the types of feelings to pay attention to and bask in those emotions for a little while. Create what you want to create, and watch as your entire existence begins to flourish with amazing possibilities.
- Take inspired action. Inspired action is way more powerful than any other kind of action, which is why you see some people forcing and struggling their way through life, working 80+ hours a week and not getting to where they want to be. Spinning their wheels and displacing energy. Abraham-Hicks has an incredible analogy about this: let go and stop going against the current! It’s like putting a raft into a river and pushing upstream, then wondering why you’re not getting anywhere. If you simply hop onto the raft and allow the current to pull you, then you’ll find yourself getting to where you’re going much faster and without all the effort and struggle.
As a side note, when good things happen to you, take credit for them! Don’t call it luck or miracles or anything else that takes the credit away from you and the powerful being that you are. It’s important to take responsibility for the so-called negative things in your life, sure, but don’t throw yourself off balance by focusing only on those. You also manifested all of the amazing good things that have come and will come into your life, so don’t sell yourself short by only taking credit for the “bad.” While it’s good to take that responsibility, refusing to take credit for the good things can be very disempowering because you’re essentially saying that it wasn’t you who manifested these good things, it was just luck or happenstance. This actually perpetuates a victim mentality, and to truly overcome that you must take credit for everything, your entire life, not just one side of the coin.
I certainly hope that some of these insights get you well on your way to nurturing your creativity, and therefore nurturing your soul! I hope you join us here on the Mindful Leader Blog next month for more mindfulness and inner work articles. Thanks so much for reading!
For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:
http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement
