“Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”
This is one of my favourite quotes by Joseph Campbell and I often simplify it by saying ‘find what you love doing and are passionate about and do more of it’. That is my definition of bliss. Waking up every day and regardless of what happens, knowing that I am pursuing the things that I love doing that make a difference and spending time with the people that I love and enjoy while doing them.
The world is full of people who are unhappy in their jobs and their relationships who can’t even imagine a life that is different. People who spend their days looking forward to the weekend and dreading Mondays. Creating eco-systems and environments that are screaming at them to make a change until eventually the decision is made for them. They are so fearful of taking a step into the unknown that it often takes a serious illness or dramatic catalyst for them to take notice and make the change.
Do you think that the person who is made redundant, demoted or sacked really loves their job and has been working to their full potential with enthusiasm and bliss?
Most people know someone in their life who has been through something ‘traumatic’ or ‘life threatening’ forcing them to rethink everything and choose a different path and the majority of them when looking back say ‘I am so glad that happened because now I love my life and am doing what I always wanted to do’.
Our conscious mind is constantly making decisions based on our subconscious fears, patterns and beliefs. So for example if we have been brought up to believe that we should be earning a certain amount of money by a specific age or own a house / be married / have children etc, this will inform the decisions that we make.
We may stay in a job that we don’t really enjoy and convince ourselves that we are ‘lucky’ and ‘happy’ because everyone else sees us as successful and congratulates us on doing so well. The thought of stepping away from a well paid, secure job, especially when you have a family and bills to pay can be unimaginable or seem impossible but ultimately if we are subconsciously hiding the truth from ourselves and not listening to our intuition – we will eventually create a catalyst for change.
Living these philosophies and setting an intention towards following my bliss means that I am constantly seeking to listen to what my body and environment is telling me. If I am late for something, miss my plane, get sick or have someone change plans on me – I ask myself the question why I have created it and what it is enabling me to do or preventing me from doing.
I don’t believe that there is such a thing as self sabotage, I think our subconscious is constantly creating experiences to show us what we really want in our lives and it is up to us to listen.
I know people who have recovered from cancer and as a result completely changed their lifestyle and diet and also allowed themselves to do what they love doing without any guilt.
I know people who’s partners have ‘cheated’ on them and come to the realisation that they no longer wanted to be in the relationship but were fearful of being the ‘bad’ person by leaving. They realised that they energetically pushed their partner away so that they would fulfil their role perfectly and create a situation where they could both be free of the relationship.
As humans we are extremely good at hiding how we really feel from ourselves and not listening to what our bodies and environments are telling us.
When you are in fear-less flow you can effortlessly attract in exactly what you need to continue in that space. It is your fears and limiting beliefs that create the glass ceilings and block your ability to create.
In the short term if you can identify what you love doing and are passionate about and do more of it while still continuing with your current reality, you will start attracting opportunities and people that will assist on your journey into following your bliss and being in your authentic flow.
From Shine eBook – Effortless Abundance and Unconditional Love.