Are you noticing some interesting shifts in the way you live your life? I know that I am.
It seems that many of us are being prodded into living a life more aligned with our heart center, being asked to question our "quick fix" patterns that used to fulfill us.
Are you noticing that what once gave you an adrenaline rush, dopamine release, and short-lived excitement no longer works for you?
Are you feeling as if you're running out of places to escape or numb out?
No matter what the perpetual cycle was, whether alcohol or drugs, food, shopping, sex, porn, relationship drama, or the need for excessive outward validation, these things are no longer working, and we know it! In fact, while it may seem disappointing as we mourn the reality that we can no longer rely on outward sources to fulfill us, it's also an amazing and empowering shift!
When we fully understand that our fulfillment, satisfaction, and wholeness is an inside job, and when we can challenge the old ways of being i.e. quit the addiction or outward source of our personal "rush", then and only then can we find peace and contentment with our life.
This is not to say that we're unhealthy because we yearn to escape, after all, we are human, and desires are natural. But if we look closer, perhaps our biggest fear is that of complacency and boredom.
The fact is, healthy can feel boring for those of us who have relied on living in fight and flight. Our nervous systems have literally been programmed this way. Like any program, it takes consistent time, energy, and commitment to re-wire our circuitry and begin living in a new way.
Let me be clear and say that no pattern in unhealthy UNLESS it is interfering with your life, hurting yourself or others, or bringing up shame, guilt, or other heavy emotions.
A few journal prompts to challenge the patterns that may be draining your life force:
1. Make a list of the ways you escape or numb out.
2. Where do you feel this energy in your body?
3. Is this pattern interfering in your life? Does it bring up shame, guilt or self-judgment?
4. Are your actions hurting others?
5. Does this pattern give you an adrenaline rush only to have you crash soon after?
6. Are you noticing yourself feeling drained or exhausted?
We're all doing the best that we can, and the most important thing is that we be gentle with ourselves as we uncover the various ways we've been "checking out."
It might just be time for you to show up for yourself fully and completely. Perhaps this means working at clarifying some of the ways you've been mis-aligned with your higher self and purpose, and then getting busy to acknowledge, befriend, and clear some of these things once and for all.
Maybe boring can be sexy as fuck!😉
Love, Jay