It started as a slight shift in language and the way I speak to myself. Words became more inclusive as opposed to restrictive.
This morning, for instance, upon waking, I asked myself not “What do I need to get done today,” but “What do I need right now?” The difference in how I chose to word these statements might seem subtle, but this particular evolution is quite monumental.
Can you relate to being a habitual “doer?” A different me would have woken up and jumped straight into “doing” and checking things off my mental to-do list.
My body would tense, breath constricting, as my mind started to race, trying to formulate a plan of attack for the day. Just under the surface, I was asking myself,
“How much would I have to achieve to feel like I had been productive?”
What I didn’t come to realize until much later on, is that on an even deeper level, my desire for productivity was translating as, “What would I need to achieve to feel worthy, lovable, desirable, or successful?”
A wiser and more integrated “me” has learned that taking the time to connect, tune in, and assess for the most aligned next action from a profound space of listening is non-negotiable.
It has been a process to unlearn years of conditioning around living from a space of deficit.
No longer denying my needs until I feel deserving or worthy of fulfilling them and receiving, my orientation towards work and life, in general, has become about pleasure.
Operating from pleasure requires a great deal of vulnerability.
It takes courage to deviate from our programming and the beliefs that have historically afforded us acceptance and validation from those around us and kept us safe. Living from pleasure requires a willingness to stand equally in our yes’s and no’s.
Pleasurable living asks us to work smarter and not necessarily harder.
When we orient from pleasure as our foundation, we widen our lens of discernment, becoming more selective with the ways in which we wield our time, energy, attention, and resources.
We might lean into an ongoing inquiry of what turns us on and invites us to feel expansive, connected, and open, as well as notice where contraction, stagnancy, and incongruence still exist in our lives.
Pleasure-full living invites us to connect with the truth of our deepest essence in every moment and honor how our energy most longs to flow and naturally express itself.
