We’re all terribly busy.  For many of us, our weekdays are tightly scheduled, filled to the brim with work, errands, trips to the gym, family dinner, a little TV time to unwind, and off to bed, only to do it all again the next day.  Our weekends may be equally full of pre-planned activities as we try to fit in our hobbies and social activities.

With all this activity, it’s easy to fall into a routine.  Routine may be the only way we can handle the amount of activity we “have to” engage in.  Our days organize themselves into predictable patterns that we find comfort in. 

But with all this routine and scheduling, is there still room for Spirit to move us towards our highest path and purpose?  When inspiration and guidance comes, is there space in our day to act on it?   Or do the brilliant ideas and sudden flashes of inspiration, the book recommendations, the excellent pieces of advice we receive, get relegated to the back burner only to be forgotten by the end of the day?  Are we too locked into our routine to make room for Spirit to guide us towards the change necessary for continued growth and learning?

Tune In to Your Routine

How many of your activities do you do simply because they are what you do every day?  Do you get up and immediately check your emails – with no intention of actually replying to any of them?  Do you have three cups of coffee every morning, not because you are tired, but because that’s what you always do?  Do you order the same thing every time you go to a certain restaurant?  Do you engage in the same leisure and social activities every single weekend?  Do you do the same exact spiritual practice, day in and day out?

There is nothing wrong with any of these routine activities.  Routine gives us a sense of security.  When we do what we’ve done before, our mind can indulge itself in the illusion that we know the outcome of our actions.  If we do what we’ve always done, we get what we’ve always gotten, right?  But if routine governs your life, where is growth and change going to come from?

Do Something Different

Try cooking something else for dinner.  Take a different route home.  Do your shopping at a new grocery store.  Call instead of emailing.  Try out a new hobby.  Put yourself into situations in which you cannot know the outcome of your actions.  Suddenly you are in a state of detachment, because you have stepped outside of your current frame of reference.  You are open and receptive to what the Universe may manifest in your life, even in small ways.

Or perhaps – don’t be surprised! – you suddenly find yourself in a state of fear or insecurity.  Be open and receptive to this, too.  Discomfort in the face of change is excellent information, allowing you to address limitations of which you may not previously have been aware.

Gather information as you try new things.  We cannot know a path until we have walked it for a few steps!  Perhaps you will discover new passions.  Perhaps you will uncover what truly does not serve you.  Perhaps you will transcend yourself in ways you never considered possible.

Create Space for Spirit

Set aside a little unscheduled time every day.  Embrace an hour or so of your time with the conscious assertion of “I don’t know what I am going to do next.” Resist mentally filling this block of time with activity until you actually get there.  Allow yourself the freedom to act out of inspiration.  Perhaps this will result in a walk around the block, a journal entry, or couch potato time in front of the television.  Either way, be present to how you feel and what energies you are creating within yourself.

Loosen Up Your “To-Do” List

If you keep a daily “to-do” list, loosen up the time constraints.  Does it really matter if you get an item done today or tomorrow?  Sometimes we have very real deadlines to meet, of course.  But often we impose deadlines upon ourselves.  If inspiration is lacking, we are creating struggle.  I’m not advocating laziness.  I’m advocating moving within the flow of inspiration as much as possible.  Try a weekly “to-do” list and see what happens.

Confession time – I don’t keep a “to-do” list at all.  I have a calendar of my scheduled appointments, and that’s it.  Surprisingly, I still get a great deal more done than a lot of people I know.

Chaos Is Creative

We unfold our lives out of a balance of chaos and order.  Order gives us a sense of stability, security, and linear progression.  Order allows us to build.  Too much order, however, creates stagnation.  Chaos, on the other hand, is the creative element in our lives.  In the face of too much order, it becomes seemingly destructive.  Have you ever watched someone’s well-structured life appear to suddenly crumble, only to have something far better emerge from that chaos?  Perhaps this has even happened to you in your own life. 

 Too much chaos, of course, causes us to become ungrounded.  But when we introduce a balanced amount of uncertainty into our every day, we allow inspiration and guidance to work creatively within our lives.

Give up the Illusion

We all like to believe that we can change our lives in a controlled, predictable manner.  This is why we make plans.  We like to think that we know the outcomes of our actions.  The truth is, however, that if you do something you have never done before, you cannot foresee the consequences of your actions.  And that is a good thing!  Through change, Spirit can move us forward into a reality that is far better than anything we could have possibly imagined for ourselves.

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Filed under: Embrace Your Highest Path and Purpose • How To Develop Your Intuition • Spiritual Development

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