As I write this I’m on day eight of our ten-day family trip, and I’m eating a cookie while the rest of my family naps in the hotel room. In between visiting my family in Maryland, and then visiting our adopted twin sons’ birth family in Ohio, we all spent a lovely short visit in Pennsylvania at the Farm of Peace.
The Farm of Peace is one of two U.S. residential communities maintained by my Sufi order, which means two things: one is that teachers, students, and friends of ours live there, and second it is totally awash in the Love.
It couldn’t have been timelier, because although we love my family and the boys’ birth family, there are definitely uncomfortable moments in our times together, God love us all. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then consider this my official application to do an internship within your family. 🙂
This is a good time to digress and define a bit of minor lingo. In my Sufi order we tend to say, “the love” rather than “love.” It’s a small thing to distinguish between being in the caffeinated-jolt-fix sensation of squishy-love versus The Love, meaning deep in an ocean of Oneness, mercy, and caring. Kinda an important difference.
Both are good, and yet the first one fades, returns, fades again, and the other one just Is. The squishy-love is the one we’re usually familiar with. The other one seems perhaps less accessible, or a fantasy, or somehow woo-woo, even though it’s the Most Real Thing there is.
Why am I talking about these two kinds of love? I’m a-gittin’ thar, but let me first tell you about my fear.
My Fear of Running Heart of Business Into the Ground
I look around at many people preaching “don’t associate with the negative” or “don’t drag yourself down with what’s not working.” I look around at many marketers promising “the quick three steps to six-figures.”
And I get scared twice over. The first time I get scared because I’m thinking that people don’t want the love-and-spirit-infused dose of reality and business sense that Heart of Business is presenting. I’m wondering if people just want to go to sleep, think happy thoughts, while trying to get rich quickly.
But I get over that because my heart knows better. There are too many squishy love signs telling me that people respond strongly to the same message I do, that I’m not alone in that, and that our entire team here at Heart of Business is being of service. Whew!
The second fear hits me harder. In this nightmare, I worry that we’re too late. That people like you, who are doing great work in the world, who are part of changing our economy and culture to one that affirms life, love and relationships are a day late and a dollar short. I fear that the environmental and economic tipping points have already been passed or are just about to be, and we can’t turn this thing away from the cliff edge before it all goes.
This fear of “too late” is a harder one, because squishy love isn’t available here. When I look around, signs are that things may or may not be too late. All of our efforts at economic, environmental and social re-enlivening may be too late to heal things as we know it.
Anchoring Where It Holds
Thankfully, my heart isn’t anchored in squishy love. It’s anchored in the Love, that deeper place of connection and trust. It’s the anchor that knows my soul and spirit will be okay no matter how things turn out. That love and mercy is available in every moment, in any situation.
It’s not a complacency. The trust that my heart knows here doesn’t let me go to sleep or stop doing the work I know I must do. It’s a trust that keeps me from being paralyzed with fear, or to fall into the old skinhead punk mentality of “the world is cr@p and I might as well just party it out” (Note: I was straight edge punk.)
And this is why I think the notion of avoiding the negative can be a big problem: you can end up asleep and complacent.
Instead, what I think is a far more effective solution is to combine these two things: looking squarely at the entirety of creation around us, the beautiful and the ugly, the painful and the ecstatic, all the while anchoring your heart deeply in the Love.
This two-part approach means you can:
- Have real empathy for the people you are wanting to serve, seeing their troubles and problems without feeling dragged down;
- Face issues in your business and your income squarely, without becoming paralyzed with fear or just doing a lot of hopeful wishing while your business’ single candle sputters out;
- Avoid just chasing the money in business, but instead doing great work, caring about people, while still including yourself and your business in the loop so you can be taken care of, too; and
- Let the waves of current events and dramas crash around you, while you remain steady, connected, and moving forward with your work.
Spiritual people are often accused of not looking at the harder side of life. Actually, those who do have their heart anchored in the deeper Love are often more connected to the whole picture of life, include the hard parts, and yet are able to find and witness love in every nook and corner.
Anchor Your Business
There are plenty of details to learn about running your business. There are uncomfortable new places to stretch into, whether it’s marketing, cash flow management, or systems and infrastructure.
In the journey to serve the people you are meant to help, in the effort to bring help and healing to whatever corner of the world you are working on, there will be many times squishy love is scarce. There may be times your heart drags and catches on the sharp corners around you.
Three things to do:
1) Anchor your heart deeply in the Love, and return to it again and again. I don’t know any way to do this that doesn’t involve connecting to spirit, because of the simple truth that this entire world is impermanent and changing. Having a truly solid anchor involves anchoring in Something Larger. If you’re interested in the Sufi approach to anchoring your heart, check out the Remembrance in Getting to the Core of Your Business and take the Challenge.
2) Open your heart to learning effective business practices. Learn what you need to do to make your business thrive with integrity in this dysfunctional culture we’re living in. We’re offering the Momentum course, to teach you both the big picture and the nitty-gritty of business momentum within the context of spirit and love.
3) Keep doing your work in the world. With your heart and eyes both open, with a simple and profound love, do the small things that add up to big changes. If we all keep working together in a commitment of love and service, we’ll heal in the way we long for.
The past two years as a new parent has found me struggling with finding a new way to be with my spiritual practices. At times, my practices have fallen far off. As my boys get closer to their second birthday, in this month of Ramadan, I’m finding a new commitment to re-anchor my heart deeply in the Love. I’m committing to work more closely with my own teachers and to bring that connection to my work.
How about you? Of these three things, which are you already strong in, and which are you committing more deeply to?
