Stay Detached from Outcomes – one of the essential principles for finding your way to an Inspired Life, and according to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, a key element for living fully in the moment.
“Our purpose in life isn’t to arrive at a destination where we find inspiration, just as the purpose of dancing isn’t to end up at a particular spot on the floor,” Dyer writes. “The purpose of dancing – and of life – is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where we are when the music ends.”
This section in Dyer’s book, Inspiration, really spoke to me on a number of levels. As he writes, many of us are seduced into believing that having goals is necessary for a successful life. Too much focus on the goal, or on the prize can in all actuality keep us from feeling inspired because we are living a life of striving while foregoing arriving.
A huge spiritual truth, discussed by Dyer, Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now, and many, many other spiritual teachers, is that there is only Now. Think about it, just this moment.
I had a teacher share that with me once during a session, while exploring my fears. He simply looked at me and said, “You are too worried about the past, too fearful of the future when in all reality you have only this moment, and this one, and this one and this one. Moment by moment we live our lives and it is our responsibility to savor each moment and to celebrate and live it fully.”
Goals, if we place too much emphasis on them, can rob us of that ability. If we have our eye on the prize continually, if we are driven by our to-do lists, and we measure our worth at the end of each day by the amount of tasks we were able to accomplish, we are striving, not arriving.
If we instead take a moment, a Now moment, meditate, dream, and listen for our direction, we will naturally go there. If we make goals less about measurable accomplishment and more about the love of the journey, things will naturally fall into place. If we trust that the same force that brought us here and has supported us each and every day of our lives will not fail us now, we will be amazed at the outcome.
Think for a moment about goals. They are fluid and ever-changing.
When I get this or that, I will be happy…
When I get a promotion, I can start working a few less hours and enjoy life a bit more…
When the kids are in school, I will write that book…
When I get two books published, I will go to Europe…
When the house is paid for, I will look at getting this or that…
When I…When I…When I…
By the time you arrive at a When I, chances are, there are three more When I’s that have been put in place, so the happy, or the inspiration, or the this or that can’t happen yet, because another goal or When I has to be accomplished first.
Goals can be worthwhile, and are definitely useful to help us move with direction along our path…as long as they don’t rob us of our worth and take away from the enjoyment of the journey.
Goals and dreams can serve as guides, but should not define us, and should not take away from the moment.
Take a moment to look around you. What do you see? Can you take a deep breath, stretch, and savor this moment, and the next one, and the next? Can you focus on the dance and enjoy the journey? Or do you have too many things on your to-do list?
Put the list down and listen to the music – dance the dance yet again, that’s the essence of the journey. Choose this moment to arrive.
“Our purpose in life isn’t to arrive at a destination where we find inspiration, just as the purpose of dancing isn’t to end up at a particular spot on the floor,” Dyer writes. “The purpose of dancing – and of life – is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where we are when the music ends.”
This section in Dyer’s book, Inspiration, really spoke to me on a number of levels. As he writes, many of us are seduced into believing that having goals is necessary for a successful life. Too much focus on the goal, or on the prize can in all actuality keep us from feeling inspired because we are living a life of striving while foregoing arriving.
A huge spiritual truth, discussed by Dyer, Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now, and many, many other spiritual teachers, is that there is only Now. Think about it, just this moment.
I had a teacher share that with me once during a session, while exploring my fears. He simply looked at me and said, “You are too worried about the past, too fearful of the future when in all reality you have only this moment, and this one, and this one and this one. Moment by moment we live our lives and it is our responsibility to savor each moment and to celebrate and live it fully.”
Goals, if we place too much emphasis on them, can rob us of that ability. If we have our eye on the prize continually, if we are driven by our to-do lists, and we measure our worth at the end of each day by the amount of tasks we were able to accomplish, we are striving, not arriving.
If we instead take a moment, a Now moment, meditate, dream, and listen for our direction, we will naturally go there. If we make goals less about measurable accomplishment and more about the love of the journey, things will naturally fall into place. If we trust that the same force that brought us here and has supported us each and every day of our lives will not fail us now, we will be amazed at the outcome.
Think for a moment about goals. They are fluid and ever-changing.
When I get this or that, I will be happy…
When I get a promotion, I can start working a few less hours and enjoy life a bit more…
When the kids are in school, I will write that book…
When I get two books published, I will go to Europe…
When the house is paid for, I will look at getting this or that…
When I…When I…When I…
By the time you arrive at a When I, chances are, there are three more When I’s that have been put in place, so the happy, or the inspiration, or the this or that can’t happen yet, because another goal or When I has to be accomplished first.
Goals can be worthwhile, and are definitely useful to help us move with direction along our path…as long as they don’t rob us of our worth and take away from the enjoyment of the journey.
Goals and dreams can serve as guides, but should not define us, and should not take away from the moment.
Take a moment to look around you. What do you see? Can you take a deep breath, stretch, and savor this moment, and the next one, and the next? Can you focus on the dance and enjoy the journey? Or do you have too many things on your to-do list?
Put the list down and listen to the music – dance the dance yet again, that’s the essence of the journey. Choose this moment to arrive.
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