There’s an art to figuring out what you really want. Most people think that it’s a science and it’s logical and so their left brain gets involved and things go something like this: A) Feeling that something is missing or not quite right. General dissatisfaction or nagging feeling. B) Logic brain states that we don’t have time for this and unloads a heap of s__t to do. Feelings of frustration and guilt ensue swamping all other feelings for a time. C) There could be exhaustion physical and emotional. They may or may not happen at the same time as B. D) Dissatisfaction and or nagging feeling returns. A bit stronger. E) Logic brain throws up its hands and decides it needs to DO something about it. It must be a problem to be solved. F) Logic brain starts listing all the things that might possibly solve this issue somewhat like a pet owner trying to figure out what the shiznitz their pet is alerting about. “Is it this?…no…How about this?…no…Well what about this…no….” G) Either something gets chosen and satisfies the issue for a while, but not quite or nothing works and frustration, confusion, and growing unrest get added to the nagging feelings.
So logicing our way into what we want doesn’t often work. Sometimes it does. Sometimes we actually win the lottery. It’s the odds, I tell ya. However, there are simpler ways to figure these things out. Well, actually, we don’t have to figure them out. That’s part of the art. We already know. So what we actually need to do is listen. To make space. Yes, meditating can do that, although large numbers of people just get a focus on not wanting to meditate when they meditate. Their senses get very attuned to everything going on in their body, in the room, what they should be doing, etc. That’s not helpful other than to tune into the fact that they don’t actually want to be meditating. *sigh* Getting out in nature in an unplugged way will do that, but you pretty much have to stop paying attention to nature in order to hear your inner self talk about anything other than nature and the bigger questions of things. This is problematic since, you know, cliffs-bears-the occasional antagonistic moose-enthusiastic snake-large bird taking issue with your existence. What I’m saying is when you’re in nature, pay attention to the nature because it assuredly is paying attention to you.
No, one of the most artful ways to tune into what you want is the simplest and you can pretty much do it anywhere. 1) Find something to read or do which is amazingly dull. Possibly repetitive. Watching something that is so dry you need to hydrate while sitting there. 2) Put everything else aside and set yourself the task of doing this thing. Really dry books are great for this. Nothing complicated that makes you frustrated. You should be able to read it without a problem, but just really not want to. Think about being in school when you were a kid and it was sunny out. Think about sitting through a history lecture. Remember what happened besides the squirming? It was like the subject matter was a magnet and your brain was another magnet and they were facing each other the wrong way so they repel instead of attract. Every time you focus your mind and heart skitter off somewhere else. 3) Pay attention to where you mind skitters off to. This will be what your really want. It’s that simple. Why? Because your logic brain with all the shoulds and the have tos is engaged in the dull/dry/repetitive thing you’re doing. It’s busy and won’t notice that other sides of you are speaking up. What you’ll find is your heart opens when your mind skitters and you find yourself with something that makes you smile and happy just thinking about it.
So here’s the thing. Figuring out what you want is an artful process. Doing what you want is an act of rebellion and revolution. It’s transformative. The question isn’t are you willing to hear, it’s are you willing to act?