But what do we do instead? We try to plan it all out. We look ahead in our life, not considering how valuable it would be if we looked within instead. We are asked to “map out” the next 10 years of our life when we’re just children. We’re asked to commit to a job, relationship, home mortgage, and some other tangible thing, when we don’t know if that is really what we want… or will want in 10 years time.
We have no idea who we are, where we came from, what makes us tick, what we love or what our passions are, yet we are asked to commit to a “goal.”
We spend years and heaps of money going to college, while taking no time at all exploring the depths of our soul. We compare ourselves to other things people have done, what other people have accomplished, and try and “get to” a point in our life that is … “something like that”.
We are programmed from a very early age that we “need to know” what’s next. We “need to know” what we want, how to get it, and when it will come. And God forbid it doesn’t come the way we want, how we planned, or wrapped up in a pretty little package. Then all hell breaks loose, or worse yet, we label ourselves as a failure.
This is ludicrous.
I’ve been playing a lot with the idea of letting go of the need to know over the last couple of years. And I’ve been talking to a lot of people who are having issues with this need to know illness.
I’ve witnessed miracles in letting go, experienced joy in just BEing, and felt a sense of calm when I allowed the nothingness to take over. I’m a self-admitted Recovering Type-A, which means I may never “get over” my need to know, I just catch myself much quicker now and relax into the not knowing without fighting it.
I took a huge leap into the unknown a few years ago. Everything turned out just fine; actually, better than I could have imagined. What I want to share is: if you actually adapt “not knowing” into your daily life, you may only need to make 2-5 degree turns in direction in order to stay on “course” instead of 180 degrees leaps into an abyss.
The truth is, we have no idea what is next.
The truth is, our brain is so friggin’ small in comparison to the Universe. How on Earth can we think that we can even THINK we know what’s next? And HOW to get there? And that we have control?
Are you flippin’ kidding me?
So I say, we stop with the whole need to know and just be for a hot little minute. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t plan, or think, or intend, or manifest. What I am saying though, is that we should allow for the magic of the unknown to take hold and send us somewhere totally unplanned. That we should allow for our paths to be altered and shifted according to the Universal plan instead of our pea-sized brain.
Here’s the deal: The brain works in patterns; the Universe works in magical spirals that there are no formulas for. Magic spirals sound way more fun, dont’cha think?
By Dana Damara
“My passion on the mat is proper alignment, powerful breath and effortless flow so you feel that off your mat. Your practice becomes sacred space where you arrive to find more meaning, depth, authenticity and integrity in your life."
- Dana Damara: mother, author, yoga instructor, speaker and yogini. Visit DanaDamara.com for more inspiration from Dana.
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