Life is ever expanding – just at a different pace at different times says Jessica McGregor Johnson
Have you ever had the experience of that moment when you have been rolling along with brilliant things in your life, or success is really happening, and then feel that things are slowing down and so you begin to feel flat?
You have put in the work, broken your limiting patterns, questioned your thinking, got clear on what you want, and then things take off. You not only know what your right T-shirt looks like, you are starting to wear it! This new life is exhilarating – you expand into this new place and experience yourself and your world anew. But at some point, that huge amount of shift can slow down. No longer are you getting insight after insight or exciting new things happen every week. Suddenly it all feels a bit samey, a bit flat.
What now?
It is rather like the thrill of falling in love. Your awareness is heightened, everything looks and feels amazing and in that moment you want nothing more than that wonderful feeling to continue – forever. Who wouldn’t? But, as with love, things change and the focus changes too. After that first flush of intense feeling you begin to learn about that person who is your total focus. The feeling changes and that’s not wrong – it is just the progression of life. Having moved past that first flush of love your relationship deepens and you see them and yourself in a different light.
It is the same with the relationship you have with yourself. After ‘falling in love’ with yourself again – making those changes that bring your life back to where your heart and soul wants you to be – you do fall in love with your life again. In the beginning it is very exciting, the world is your oyster and you feel that you are riding that wave.
However at some point this new relationship with yourself will change and it is at that point that it can feel like ‘nothing is happening any more’, you ‘feel flat’. It can be very tempting at this point to try and change things up, try to get back the first flush of excitement. Just as some people go from relationship to relationship to always experience that falling in love sensation.
But if you do that, you miss out on the best bits; the deepening of the love – with yourself and your new life. In this next stage of a relationship you consolidate it, learn more about the person you are in love with and make plans for the future together. And simply enjoy each other.
Same for your relationship with your new life too. Now you have learnt about yourself, what makes you tick, expanded who you are and how you operate in the world – where do you want to take this? How can you build upon what you have achieved so far? Life is ever expanding – just at a different pace at different times. It may feel like nothing is happening but in truth there is always movement forward.
These highs and lows are normal in life – in fact we need both, because without one we would not experience the other. It is about learning to flow with life and be open to what is moving towards us.
If you have hit that plateau where you believe that nothing is happening maybe you just need to be looking at your life from a different perspective. The key is instead of looking for something different, build on what you have created. You can use all that wonderful learning you have gone through to build something even bigger and better if you feel that is the direction you want to go in.
We are often driven in our Western society to think that we always have to be striving forward, but instead how about simply being where we are and being very present in the experience. Enjoying it simply for what it is without anywhere else to go.
It might not feel like it has that rush of excitement, but it will hold that quiet depth of contentment of listening to your soul and following your heart.
