{"id":2808,"date":"2019-12-16T09:41:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T09:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/?p=2808"},"modified":"2021-09-19T16:25:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T16:25:29","slug":"you-are-exactly-where-you-need-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/you-are-exactly-where-you-need-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"You Are Exactly Where You Need to Be (With Caveats)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Worry about whether you are exactly where you need to be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To achieve your goals<\/a>, aims or ambitions that is…<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s often hard to know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Frequently, we feel we\u2019re not making sufficient progress or that we’re treading the wrong path entirely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a common feeling everyone encounters, as this little story illustrates…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there’.\u201d – Eckhart Tolle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a cold and wet in London, the darkness enveloping me like an impending cloud as I left my block of flats at 6am in the morning to make my morning walk to the train station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only a few hours before I\u2019d been awake, kept up by a gang of kids hanging out beneath my bedroom window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was tired and grumpy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neon streetlights cast an ominous glow on the frosty ground, a sign of things to come…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would soon be trapped in a neon-lit, windowless room for the next 10 hours of my working day. In a job I hated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I wondered (as I did most mornings); is this where I\u2019m meant to be? <\/p>\n\n\n\n (To be concluded shortly\u2026) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps you have a career ambition or personal aim… <\/p>\n\n\n\n That could be getting a promotion or securing your dream job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On a personal level, it could be a question of losing weight or travelling somewhere exotic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Two main things usually emerge in these quests: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The fallout from these sensations is, unsurprisingly, psychological pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And the consequences are pretty universal, as you wonder whether you are exactly where you need to be in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s the thing though, lack of progress and pain aren’t always bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all know deep down that achieving anything worthwhile requires sacrifice and a degree of discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s just that popular media glorifies the overnight success, making us impatient little humans who do our best to avoid pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, true mastery takes years of hard work, pain and persistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are some caveats, which we’ll investigate now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, most articles like this launch into an overwhelming flowery waterfall of re-assurance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the thing though. Maybe change is needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not that you\u2019re in the wrong place per se (as we\u2019ll explore shortly), but consider the following smoke signals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though these might appear as harbingers of doom, they’re not negative at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re experiencing any of the above, you are exactly where you need to be, as you\u2019ll discover shortly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, circling back to the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After working that job I disliked, I decided I wasn’t in the right place, physically or psychologically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That night I got back to my house and told my flatmates I was moving out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Vietnam was the plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d decided that escape was the only option and teaching English in Asia was the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After some incredible experiences abroad, however, the same malaise began to surface, reminiscent of my experiences in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed my feelings were following me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Wherever you go, there you are” – Jon Kabat-Zinn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Was another change needed or should I disregard these rumbles of discontent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately for me, a teacher soon emerged, providing a unique insight into my predicament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That teacher was meditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meditation taught me that too often our psychological wellbeing hinges on external factors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We overemphasise form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of changing our externals, we simply need to redefine our relationship with the world around us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than preemptively abandoning our current path for what may seem like a better opportunity, we can neutralise our subjective reactiveness to our situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So often we judge events as being good or bad, but Buddhism teaches us that these interpretations are mind-made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.\u201d – Eckhart Tolle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The desire to escape our negative interpretation of events is the root of suffering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And remember the caveats from earlier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s often the struggles we encounter in life that lead us to these very insights…<\/p>\n\n\n\n To question the validity of our transient thoughts and feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When everything is awesome, we have little reason to delve deeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But any pain you experience provides a counterbalance; an invitation for self-reflection and questioning your fundamental labels and assumptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So even in those toughest of times, you are exactly where you need to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no wrong place to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All the suffering you have or might be experiencing are teachers…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guiding you to the realisation that you can step back and impartially observe your thoughts and feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoiding that which feels bad or chasing that which feels good is no longer necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can finally redefine your relationship with the present moment and simply chop wood, carry water<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Worry about whether you are exactly where you need to be?<\/p>\n To achieve your goals, aims or ambitions that is…<\/p>\n It\u2019s often hard to know. <\/p>\n Click on the this digital ramble to learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLondon part one <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your path <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Caveats <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
London part two <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Externals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You are exactly where you need to be <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n