When we take a step back and look at the whole picture, it's hard not to wonder, "Is success today worth the cost?"
Is the fear and anxiety we feel in the present moment worth the promise of some perfect moment to come? If we look objectively at the fruit of our stressful days, and the deteriorating state of the world, we begin to realize that this is not a profitable trade. Compromising ourselves in the Now to insure a positive moment to come is a flawed formula for success.
On the other hand, in those rare moments when we happen upon a pure moment of peace and contentment — a glorious sunrise, holding the hand of the one we love, the clarity of an insight or epiphany — it is obvious that success itself is an integral part of life. It is in these moments that we can hear a faint voice whispering from deep down inside our hearts, telling us that we were born to be successful; and as human beings it is our natural right to strive toward excellence and enjoy the fruits of achievement.
This is the voice of intuition telling us that striving toward success is not supposed to be a drag — it's supposed to be light, bright, happy and fun!
Life itself is trying to reveal the beautiful truth that success without stress is possible. The only problem we really have is that we have ceased to listen to its wise counsel because we have been conditioned by society to place our attention on the objects of success, instead of on the principle of success itself. When we realize this simple misdirection that has taken place, we take the first step in learning to attract everything our heart desires.
And that's the main point of this article: It is possible for us to learn to attract success, instead of trying to chase it down though years of toil, disappointment, and heartache!
So how to we do it? How do we learn to attract the success we want instead of letting the desire for the objects of success push us around from problem to problem?
The answer is simple: We begin to doubt what compromises us.
This means that we will no longer automatically obey those conditioned, negative inner voices that continuously comment on us and the world around us. Instead, we begin to doubt stress when it tells us we have to rush through our day. We begin to doubt fearful thoughts when they tell us we need to worry. We begin to doubt feelings of greed and inadequacy that bully us around by telling us that who we are isn't enough.
The reason that beginning to doubt our negative states is such a great key along the path to gaining our heart's true wish, is that this action separates our true self — who we really are — from whatever dark thought or feeling happens to be passing through us in the moment. We realize that we don't have to listen to dark thoughts and feelings; instead we understand that there is a choice, whenever we remember it, to not sacrifice happiness now for a future happy time that may never come!
One specific technique you can use to begin doubting these dark states is to ask yourself this question whenever you find yourself trying to overcome any person or situation that stands in the way of winning some imagined future success: "What would happen right now if I were to want what Life wants, instead of wanting what I want?" This may sound like a strange idea at first because we are so used to trying to get hold of what we want. But, when we begin to experiment with the power contained in this question, we realize that this simple action has the power to raise the level of our entire life!
Everyone wonders whether or not there is one great secret for truly successful living. There is. And it is not a secret. It has been quietly, steadily telling itself right in front of us all along. We just couldn't hear it over the clatter and chatter of our own secret demands. Listen quietly for a moment. Everything can change right now.
Listen to it now. It is saying, "Want What Life Wants." Locked within these four simple words is the secret of an uncompromising power for effortless living; a new kind of power that never fails to place you on the winning side of any situation. Why? Because when you want what Life wants, your wish is for Life itself.
Learning to hear this supreme secret is no more difficult than choosing whether to swim against a current or to let it carry you safely to the shore. Let it speak its wisdom to that secret part of you that can not only hear what it is saying but that is, in reality, its very voice.
Here are two lists that will not only make these life-healing ideas more personal for you, but they will also help you to help yourself make a higher choice when it comes to what you really want from life.
First, let's look at what happens When We Want What We Want:
We are often stressed and unsettled because life may not go the way we want it to
We are often tired because we spend our energy struggling against the natural flow of events
We are unable to sit quietly or go to sleep peacefully because our mind is always busy trying to resolve problems that stand in the way of our desires
We are easily agitated when someone or something interrupts our plans
We harbor resentment toward those who have "wronged" us in the past
We lose sight of our true nature, because we mistake what we possess for who we really are
Now lets look at what happens When We Want What Life Wants:
We are always on the winning side
We are free from stress, anger, and anxiety
We maintain confident self-command in any situation
We are never sad or disappointed because things didn't go our way
We always know the right thing to do
We can never be taken advantage of
We are fluid and responsive to what the moment asks
We are free to be kind and compassionate, even in the presence of perceived "enemies"
We are never bored, because we are perfectly happy just being ourself
Our mind becomes quiet, peaceful, clear, and sharp
But now you may ask, "What if I don't like what life brings to me?" Try to see that it is not what life has brought to you that you don't like. It is your reactions that turn the gift of life into the resentment of it. Life isn't denying you happiness. It is your ideas about life that have failed you. Give up these wrong ideas instead of giving up on life.
Can you see the power in this simple idea! When we invite life — instead of resisting it — we are freed from the stress and negativity that drains the positive energy required to be truly successful. We are given the ability to participate more deeply in the present moment, which allows us to access the higher mental and emotional states required to be more kind, creative, intelligent, and loving human beings…everything our heart truly longs for.
The Twelve Secrets to Living Stress Free
As you embrace the idea of learning to want what life wants, you will find yourself letting go of stress again and again. Here are twelve additional guides to help you enter a life of true success without stress:
1. Real success is not measured by what you are driven to achieve, but by what you can quietly understand.
2. Letting go is the natural release which always follows the realization that holding on hurts.
3. Why seek answers to tormenting questions when it is possible to realize there is no intelligence in torment? So simply drop those painful questions.
4. See the upset not as an exterior circumstance to be remedied, but as an interior condition to be understood.
5. Your secret strength knows that your secret weakness isn't really yours at all.
6. Letting go is all about finding out what you are not, and then having the courage to leave it at that.
7. Instead of always asking how to get others to approve of you ... learn to ask: What do I really want, the applause of the crowds or to quietly have my own life?
8. Chasing after a pleasure to ease a pain is like running after a breeze to cool you down.
9. Real freedom is the absence of the self that feels trapped, not the trappings that the self requires to make it feel free.
10. Letting go of yourself is letting go of your problems, for they are one and the same.
11. The only thing you lose when you let go of something you are afraid to live without is the fear itself.
12. Go along with your longing to be limitless.
Work with these ideas, and watch as your heart grows lighter and brighter. Your progress toward becoming free of stress will be even more sure if you always remember the following: If any want is the source of anxiety or sorrow, that want is yours and not Life's. Never accept the presence of any mental or emotional suffering as necessary, no matter how much importance these impostors lend to a particularly pressing want. By refusing their dark presence, you make space for the present moment to give you its indefinable presence. This is where the Life that you want – and that wants you – is waiting.
Let life bring you itself. Welcome it. Discover how, at each instant, it is new, full, untouched and undiminished by any moment before it. To enter into this deeper relationship with Life is to give yourself the greatest of gifts. Want what life wants, and discover the true heart of real and lasting success. Share this idea-rich article with friends and colleagues
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