If you follow me at all, then you’ve probably heard me take on the problems that arise from being ambitious, trying to get to the “next level” and other kinds of push. In a heart-centered business, we end up talking a lot about humility, being small, taking bite-sized steps.
Which can seem a little… boring. Maybe you like driving fast. Is there any room in a heart-centered business for really going for it all-out? Can you go from zero to Super-Big? Should you? Or will it cost you your soul?
This needs digging into, and in order to do it, I think I finally need to admit something that I’m nervous about admitting here in public.
I believe in fate.
Power to the People
There’s a whole huge crowd of people who talk about taking power, being empowered, power power power to the people, y’all! Take charge of your life, be your own pilot, and other sorts of happy thoughts.
It’s tricky, though. That isn’t fully my experience. I don’t know about you, but sometimes things seem to happen that are totally out of my control. Like, all the time. Sometimes it seems as if the number of things that I can actually control are pretty small. As in microscopic. Like, what should I eat for lunch?
If life is in my hands, then I probably should just go for it. If life isn’t in my hands, then maybe I should just sit down in a big papasan chair and watch Hulu.com till my eyeballs glaze over.
What’s really going on? Is there a fate? Is there not a fate? Is there sometimes a fate, and other times not?
The whole topic feels awkward. And admitting that I believe in fate sounds like I live my life in some kind of revival tent or back in the seventh century. But I don’t. I’ve just been doing some reading.
Already Written Down
The trouble in understanding fate comes in because there is a difference between Divine perspective and ordinary human perspective. Normally we live our lives from one moment to the next, remembering some parts of the past, wondering what’s coming in the future, and hopefully at least a little bit aware of the present.
The Divine, Source, All-That-Is, exists outside of time and space, and comprises everything. The Divine encompasses the entirety of time. Whatever you’re about to do in the next five minutes, five years, fifty years, already exists within time. The Divine already knows. And no, you can’t change your mind at the last second to fool the Divine. That last-minute change was already included.
This can be disheartening for the ego, because the ego wants to believe it’s in control and can accomplish something, when in fact the only power the ego has is to muddy the waters. Not that muddying the waters is so terribly bad. It’s just harder to access truth, wisdom and love with the waters muddy.
This teaching is encompassed in Sufism through the term “makhtub” meaning “it is written.”
From a heart perspective it means that life becomes a real page-turner. Surrender the ego, and the heart keeps turning the page to read what’s written. What’s next? And then what? And then what happened?
The page-turning is not because the heart is wondering about how the story ends. The heart already knows how the story ends- in love. Truth be told, any movie or book you read, you probably already know how it ends, at least in general. You don’t watch the movie or read the book to know how it ends.
You want to experience getting there, don’t you?
Some of my favorite stories, either movies or books, transport me. I often don’t want to arrive at the end, because the story itself is so nourishing to me in some way. I love being there, and I want to keep turning the pages because my heart wants to keep being there. In fact, coming to the end can be a bit of a let-down.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Your heart wants to keep turning the pages because of the incredible experience of love that’s available from The Book, if you want to refer to it like that.
Which brings me back to the original question: Can you go all out?
What’s the Book Say?
Here’s the important part: if your heart really is reading the signs and gets that it’s time to go full-out, then by all means go full-out. Who knows where that wild ride is going to take you?
The problem comes when your ego thinks the chapter you’re reading should be different than it is. Because your ego wants bigger, faster, more, because that gives your ego the illusion of control.
What is your heart reading in the book of your life and your business’ life? Does it see a fast-action chapter coming up that wants you to immerse yourself and go for it? Or are you reading something a little slower-paced at the moment?
Whatever your heart is reading, remember that love is available in every chapter. And that your business doesn’t have to run at 120 percent to thrive.
11 Responses
Umphf, I only just asked this question of myself before getting online this morning.
My answer wasn’t what my ego wanted to hear.
Now I’m working on being okay with that because I do want the experience of getting there. That’s the fun, scary, unpredictably exciting part.
Hey Mark,
Just the fact that you even ask the question re “going all out” is a mercy. I feel really pounded by all the messages to “go for it” have a “breakout year” and “explode your sales.”
It’s funny too because I tend to want to make my ego the bad guy. But the ego comes from the Divine as well!
I tend to think of my ego as a teenager (since I currently have a teenage son this is pretty easy):
my ego thinks it knows everything, that there can’t possibly be any wisdom it doesn’t have. If there’s a problem it can “figure it all out” and do it alone.
My journey as of late has been around just being aware of when my ego is trying to drive and to turn back to my heart. Not real easy. Often humbling. But I feel better in general about my decisions and actions.
Peace,
Judy
.-= Judy Murdoch´s last blog ..What Marketing Do You REALLY Need Right Now? =-.
Mark, why wouldn’t your understanding of Fate (almost) necessitate what’s commonly called “fatalism?”
When I am in particular thrall to the perspective you delineate, a purely passive watchfulness seems the only, um, authentic posture. I sit. I do nothing.
Soon enough, this feels miserable, and so I “budge.” But only when I believe “I’m driving the bus” (which you seem to say is delusional) am I impelled to try anything whatsoever.
I suspect something keeps me from reading you closely enough to understand; that your post already answers this question, although I’m unable to see it.
.-= Mark V. McDonnell´s last blog ..Four Steps to Sports Success – What to strive for in training =-.
In my business right now, my heart is reading exactly what you describe here, Mark. Everything is unfolding in it’s right time and in the right way. I never dreamed I’d say that, but it’s true.
Does that mean I’m swimming in money? Nope. Does it mean I’m “booked solid” with clients? Good God, no (and thank God!). Does it mean that my ego doesn’t get wrapped around the axle periodically stressing about something or other related to control? No again.
My business’ growth can no more be pushed or bent to my will than I can force a flower to bloom by willing it so. I’m at peace with the process (today, anyway) of the small, incremental, wholly unremarkable changes that take place every day… that grow into the “happy ending” of the work I love.
🙂 Jen
.-= Jennifer Hofmann´s last blog ..Preventing holiday insanity for you and your biz =-.
@LaShae- sometimes it’s so much better not knowing the future, eh? Makes it exciting. 🙂
@Judy- Serious. Teenager loose in the heart! Not necessarily bad- just have to know how to be gentle and firm with it, right?
@Mark- That is such an excellent question. It’s exactly the thing that theologians and philosophers have wrestled with through the ages.
The mystic’s answer to this question is that when we surrender the ego, we don’t fall into “sit and watch” mode. We instead feel the breath and movement of the Divine within us, within our heart, and it moves us, engages us with life. We become part of the flow, taking action and participating. We just drop the pretense that as a single drop of water we have the power to change the flow of the river.
Dropping into the “sit and watch Hulu” mode is not surrender. It’s actually just the other side of the coin to trying to take control.
Does that help? It’s something that I taste in my heart and have experienced at times in my life, but it’s not something that words always do justice to.
@Jennifer- Good one! I love the flower analogy. it’s so true. And I’m glad you’re reading your heart. I feel a resonance of truth when I read what you wrote.
Hi Mark,
Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone… I believe in fate, too, and am only too aware that I am just along for the ride in my life!!
Which doesn’t mean that I don’t have the power to make certain choices… like choosing to have veggies instead of chocolate for lunch… at least most days. But the really big stuff? There’s NO WAY that my poor little ego could have engineered any of it although it likes to think otherwise!
Thanks again for a wonderfully insightful article.
Big hugs,
Chris
Thanks, Chris- it’s good to know I have other lovely aliens out here with me. 🙂
This is excellent advice and I decided to share it with my twitter followers! You are absolutely right – we can’t always be pushing and forcing ourselves to the next level. By doing that we may fast-forward through an important learning experience. If life is moving slow, let it move slowly. Indulge in it. Take your time to read the chapter and make sure you absorb it completely before moving on. The end will come, and there is no rush.
.-= Steven Handel´s last blog ..33 Questions from Dragos Roua =-.
Thanks for sharing it, Steven. I’m glad it clicked with you.
Hi Mark,
Well, I write about power — my blog’s tagline reads, “Lightworker’s Empowerment & Ascension” 😉
For me, living as a soul (from the heart) is empowerment, as opposed to living as my ego. Our ego is a crazy driver. It loves speed. Then it gets scared easily and hits the brake hard. And overall, it doesn’t really know where it wants to go. It’s just … driving.
Our soul, on the other hand, knows the overall plan. Let our soul be the driver, and our life may just as well speed up naturally.
By the way, I was pleasantly surprised to see you mention Akashic Records (also called the book of life, or just “the book”). That’s my speciality.
Akemi
.-= Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog ..My eBook On Spiritual Entrepreneurship =-.
Sure, that’s one way to look at it. In many ways, language is so far from the actual experience. I’m glad it clicked for you.