Heavy Expectations

“If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.” ~Tony Robbins

I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that a high quality of life has to do with what you take off your plate than what you add onto it. I agreed with the statement at the time I read it, and as I’ve gotten older, it’s become much more relevant to my own life and also the lives of the people I coach and teach.

Removing things off your plate both externally in your outer world, and internally in your inner world is truly the KEY to living authentically. We all know how awesome it feels to purge, clear out your closets and clear space on your calendar for new things to show up in your life. And how great it feels to begin to integrate and let go of limiting beliefs so you can begin to live the vision that is meant for you to live.

Yet, what most often happens is – the space that gets cleared off your plate, can cause all sorts of emotions and anxiety. And, the first inclination – without even being aware it’s happening – is to quickly and effectively get those empty spaces filled-up with more stuff. More to do’s, more have to’s, more places to be, more people to see.

Does this sound familiar?

If it does I understand. I’ve been a long-time member of the ‘heavy expectation’ club too. A club whose members feel if you’re not striving, chasing, and staying motivated and on-track towards something better, then something must be wrong.

What causes this ‘never enough’ syndrome? Well, I’ve found it to be all about expectations- expecting things to be different than what they are – and making it your goal to change that. I joked at the Retreat I recently taught that when I discovered that my modus operandi has always been to try to change ‘what is’ for as long as I can remember, I felt like my reason for being/living was pulled away.

If I’m not supposed to change the present – and make the future better than the past – then what am I supposed to be doing?

To give you an example, this really hit home for me a few weeks back as I was looking at a vision board I had created last year. I wake-up each morning to the sight of these images that I pasted all over a big white piece of poster board – mainly representing things I yearn to do, places I yearn to see, and people I yearn to meet.

And all of a sudden, looking at all the images, I got anxious.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of vision boards and am constantly encouraging clients to leverage images, words, and colors to give a voice to your soul. Yet, what I didn’t consider, was, there wasn’t any white space on that vision board for what The Divine had in store for me. I had planned out my whole future – exactly the way it should look and exactly the way I wanted it – leaving no room for The Divine to bring forth a Vision that I could never imagine on my own.

And this is what having balance is all about. Not balance equaling perfection – and having everything be ‘just so’. But balance from the perspective of living everyday with peace of mind knowing that ‘what is’ is what is meant to be right now for your highest good and your future aspirations are about you evolving into your highest potential – and discovering what you’ve been made for.

So, the lesson of this week’s article is to consider what future expectations are weighing you down and feeling heavy – and how much responsibility and pressure you’re putting on yourself to make them happen.

Then, consider relying on a much higher power to begin to orchestrate the vision for your life and work so you can breathe, relax and allow what is next to find you.

Check-out this week’s Worth Work for some action-items to make this practical in your life.

To Your Worth!
Brenda

To Your Worth!
Brenda