I have a close European friend who always felt “different’ than the people in his country. He has felt his countrymen were rigid and inflexible. He left his native country and finally landed in Australia. He is a “free spirit;” a person who does not care about job titles or working in a company. He does not respond well to hierarchy and structure, and is not interested in managing people. That does not mean he is not responsible; when he takes on a task he does it very well. He loves being outdoors. He goes fishing or camping on the weekends. He loves freedom, independence and flexibility. He is an extremely clever and creative mechanic and can fix anything! If he can’t find the objector equipment he is looking for –he invents it! He loves finding old pieces of furniture, old appliances, other odd pieces, and fixing them up again. He is the kind of person who makes a “treasure” out of something that someone else has thrown away. He has found a job he loves, and he has done very well at it. This job has given him responsibility, freedom, the ability to be outdoors, the opportunity to repair occasional mechanical failures, and the chance to pick up odd bits of furniture and other “treasures” no longer needed or wanted by their previous owners. It suits all of his personal needs, he enjoys it, and has fun!
Can you guess what he is doing? + (see the end of this article).
Eckhart Tolle has spoken of the “joys of awakened doing”—the characteristics of which he says are acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm. These qualities he says, come from within –not from the activity itself. He says we do not have to wait for something “meaningful” to come into our lives, but essentially can CREATE THE MEANING ourselves; we can enjoy any pastime, with those qualities. It is our ability to be “present” in these moments, which determine our ability to do so. Tolle says, “The true or primary purpose of your life cannot be found on the outer level. It does not concern what you do but what you are—that is to say, your state of consciousness.”
What this means for us in career search is that our emphasis needs to be first on our inner state of presence in the moment, and secondly on those “outer” activities that inspire those feeling in us: acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm. When we learn to become more “present” in our lives, enjoying each moment for what it is, we begin to find a variety of personal interests that feel good to us. More and more in fact!
In fact, this approach is very different than most career-search strategies of the past. What it says is this: find your inner presence and balance, and the outer-world-self will take care of itself! That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look at what we each individually love to do. But it does mean the focus of our search first must be our own “inner worlds.” As we learn to be more focused on the present moment, our interests and joys-of-doing will become even more obvious --and meaningful to us. And, interestingly, there will be more pastimes from which we can find pleasure, because our ability to enjoy individual moments expands as well!
This particular time of the world is offering us the opportunity, and encouraging us to listen carefully to our own desires, rather than to concern ourselves with the “trappings” of our careers –the job titles, the salary and (ego-gratification) “status”. The truth is those elements will come quite naturally to us when we refocus on our own internal needs, and realize that our well being comes from following our hearts, not from listening to the outer world and what it tells us we “should” be or do. The "trappings" come as a result of doing what we love -- they cannot inspire us to love any pastime.
There is no “formula” for this personal change. We must learn to be patient and follow our own natural rhythms. Marsha Sinetar in her book “Do What You Love the Money will follow” says:
“Rushed, forced, pre-programmed formulas for growth are unnatural and do not consider individual temperaments, needs and styles of changing …Rushing headlong into some preconceived notion of what we “should” be not only implies disrespect for self but we then wrongly assume to know what we need better than the inner self…”
Following our heart’s desire can’t be found in some “system,”but only by us—in our own ways-- at our own speeds. The way to START though is by beginning to engage in quiet, non-thought time, focusing on just being present in the moment. As we develop this habit, we find we don’t have to “look” for the answers; they will quite naturally come to us. We will also find that we can enjoy more and more of the pastimes life has to offer. perhpas more than we ever thought possible. We expand our ability to enjoy life, careers, and all the possibilites they hold!
Wishing you all best during these interesting times!
Warm regards, Jill
+ (my friend in Australia drives a garbage collection truck. The truck has a mechanical "arm" which picks up the garbage bins and throw contents into the truck. High tech, indeed!)
Books References:
Tolle, Eckhart A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
Sinetar, Marsha Do What You Love the Money Will Follow
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