Follow Your Bliss

Follow your bliss, words attributed to Joseph Campbell philosopher, writer, explorer and a man way ahead of his time. I’ve always loved the sentiment – but sometimes; bliss feels like its a million miles away and it’s pretty hard to follow at that distance.

For years now I’ve been intent on choosing where I spend my energy. I deliberately look for the positive side to situations and that change of focus often is all it takes for me to feel a shift in both my physiology and my psyche. A physical and mental balance that feels infinitely better then staying in the negative spaces. Every now and again though, I come up against something where this desire seems to fall flat on its face. No matter how hard I try to shift the perspective I find myself stuck and it doesn’t feel good.

I know enough that when I feel like I’m spinning; when I feel caught in one of those futile cycles of thought; I am looking at the situation from the finite perspective of my logical, linear, left-hemispheric mind; the half of my brain interested in facts, data, statistics and history. The part of my brain easily caught in repetitive loops in its desire to be efficient. It jumps to conclusions and balks when things don’t fit into tidy little boxes. Even though it’s often referred to as the problem-solver in my experience it seems much more inclined to be the problem-finder.

I know from experience that bliss is not found by thinking about it – it’s found in allowing! It’s found in the non-judgmental place of accepting my self where I am. Hmmm – so there it is! That’s what’s giving me the trouble. I’m thinking about this reoccurring issue. I’m beating myself up because I’m still working through this stuff. I’m disappointed that I haven’t “got it” yet. I’m locked into the mode of not being satisfied with my progress. I’m caught in analyzing it all and all that does is make matters worse.

It’s not like I haven’t been here before. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been disappointed with myself, but I am seeing the pattern more quickly these days. So, now I’m in a position to change it. It begins with admitting where I am. I’m frustrated. I’m frustrated that the idea of “following my bliss” seems ludicrous in light of what my life feels like at this moment. And in the very act of admitting this authentic emotion I feel a weight being lifted off of my chest.

It’s okay when I feel frustrated, angry, depressed, hopeless or overwhelmed. They are just emotions. They are by their very nature malleable and moving; which in itself is filled with hope.

As I work through my desire to change my feelings it serves me well to understand that emotions have a bit of a hierarchy; an order of sorts, and bliss and happiness aren’t side by side with anger and frustration. Some days they are miles apart. If I want to follow my bliss I first need to know what I’m feeling and reach for something a couple of emotions up the scale.

For instance; from this feeling of disappointment in myself I can begin to make these kinds of statements; I feel better when I realize that I’ve actually made tons of progress in my life in regards to changing my old belief patterns. I feel better when I notice that as a rule; I am filled with more joy than depression or discouragement. I feel better when I am aware of how often I speak from love rather than judgment. So, what’s wrong with still having some areas to work on? We’re never finished. There’s always room to grow and learn and change. I love that it bothers me when I’m not feeling great. I’m excited that I want to feel better.

All of a sudden I am standing in hope and I know I am closer to understanding what a beautiful being I am. Hope if filled with possibilities and contains a momentum that can carry me forward easily. It would serve me well on days like this to remember that I am where I am, and that’s okay. There is no value in judging it – it’s simply where I am at this moment. I can do myself a huge favor in letting myself know there are certain unconscious (self-sabotaging) beliefs that have a stronger foothold than others – they’re just a bit deeper, a little more engrained. My work is in UNlearning and letting go of these old habitual thought patterns. And even though it sometimes feels like I haven’t made much headway in this area; I suddenly realize that when I first started this work it would have taken me days and days to move through these thought patterns and now it takes about the same amount of time as it did to write this article about following my bliss.

I feel better already.

Do you want to develop your ability to follow your bliss and take control of your emotions? Do you want to believe more fully in yourself? Are there areas of your life where you know you’re not where you want to be? RubyShuze has all kinds of resources to help you work through this type of stuff; perhaps it’s time to let go and create a better life for you and the ones you love!