Not Following Your Bliss: The Consequences

My suspicions are that if we are not 'following our bliss'--for any number of different reasons--then we will not be able to continue on in the midst of the challenges and trials that will inevitably come our way. We will falter. We will break-down. We will likely collapse in the face of those challenges.

On the flip-side, though, if we are following our bliss it seems that we are empowered to overcome any challenge that we are confronted with. We are able to persevere that much more when we are pursuing that which we are passionate about. We won't cave. We won't collapse. We won't give in or throw in the towel when the going gets tough... and yes, the going always gets tough somewhere along the way.

Tibetan Buddhist Lamas and Rinpoches, when considering the validity of why someone wants to take up 'spiritual practice,' usually focus on that person's motivation: why does this person want to take up spiritual practice? why does this person want to go on retreat? what is this person's primary motivation for coming to see me? want are they here for? The reason motivation is taken into account is because the Lamas and Rinpoches know from personal experience that if the practitioners motivation is not pur and noble then they will falter. For instance, if someone is practicing to have specific experiences of the 'spritual' or 'mystical' variety then they will probably not endure the inevitable hardships of spiritual practice that are simply part and parcel of the journey being undertaken. They will grow discouraged and frustrated if such experiences do not come. They will start to lack motivation to practice... because practice is not giving them what they think they want from it!

Applied to work--and what I am calling Integral Work here, in these pieces--an inability to align with one's bliss, in order to be empowered and motivated by such an alignment, will tend to result in some failure of motivation. We just won't be able to get up and go to work. The money will not be worth it anymore. We will become physically and/or psychologically unwell. We will feel like our ass is dragging all day long... and we won't seem to know why! A total lethargy will set in. Our whole being will feel as if it has gone on strike: physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually depleted we will feel.

The result is that even the smallest thing can set us off. The tiniest challenge at work will feel like we are staring Mt.Everest in the face. We just don't seem to have that passion to tackle the big jobs given to us. Why? Because our heart is probably not in it!!

That is the thing about 'following your bliss'--no one has to convince you to do anything! Empowerment comes from within. Our very soul becomes an unending source of encouragement so that mountains seems to us like moleholes. That is the beauty of aligning with your bliss... with pursuing the progress of your own peculiar passion: the journey feels as if it is blessed--like you have already succeeded, because you are on a path where your Heart is also.

(Pray everyone could be so fortunate.)