Why life circles back ...
... doing the hustle!
Hustle: to obtain by energetic activity.
Despite the anti-hustle I’m up for, hustle happens, which clocked and took me down two days ago. No matter, I pressed on until I hit the wall last night.
As you may or may not know, I am currently writing a reference book on essential oils. The hustle has less to do with getting it completed and more to do with the gathering of information and feeling completely at odds with what I’m doing and why.
The very same thing happened while writing an article for a pharmacology journal. Initially, I delighted in the idea of getting a peer-reviewed technical article published to suddenly feel like someone slammed me against the wall.
Headaches. Exhaustion. Excessive exercise. Restless energy. Brain fog.
Looking back, the outcome to feeling this way varied depending on the motivation. Sometimes I quit. Other times I pushed myself because I knew I would get something out of it.
We always do … whether it was something we hoped for and possibly better OR a total disappointment.
The definition of hustle is a bit more than just obtaining something by energetic activity. It’s a hurried and forceful energy. A process of being fast and furious. Yet with my recent experience, I wonder … is it honestly our behavior? Or … is it possibly a mindset that drives and pushes our actions?
Which prompts the question: ‘is this energy contagious and provoking the hustle culture?’ What’s more, ‘what’s the True payoff to the hustle?’
Asked another way, ‘what’s the value to exhausting and burning ourselves out?’
Hang with me … perception is the mother of healing!
As humans, we only do things that give us what we need. You may not like the outcome of certain things, or repeating a familiar experience at work, in relationships, with money OR as in my case, working hard for something only to hit the wall.
You may not believe there’s any good reason to rinse and repeat circumstances and I completely understand YET, there is a significant purpose.
Culturally, we dismiss what we don’t like. Quick to say ‘it’s ok’ because it appears as if you’re handling something. Consideration for ‘what’s the reason I keep going through the same thing?’ is wise. However, I encourage looking beyond the idea that you are the common denominator.
Even with my nose pressed firmly against the wall, I came to see the light.
The hustle in my head was spiraling out of control. I was following the lead of science rather than the lead of my inner wisdom / knowing.
Knowledge, like everything in this world, is double sided.
On one hand, it’s used to inform and dictate lines of thinking that lead us to believe we’re sitting ducks in the dark without someone to tell us how to conduct ourselves and our lives.
On the other, knowledge exposes the wisdom of the world and in the words of Anais Nin: ‘The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.’
Becoming intrigued by the mystery honors the Nature of our existence.
Forget about being clued in. Try being humbled.
What I know … because I KNOW better … is control, although beneficial as needed such as with your thoughts, emotional interpretations and actions, is typically rooted in fear AND the root cause of dis-ease.
Control does not KNOW better. Control believes it knows better.
And this is what I was running myself ragged over. Following the breadcrumbs of control attempting to create reference material that substantiated what I KNOW.
I promise, this is not said with arrogance.About 10 years ago, I was struck by a thought. Blinded by the sunset because the visor cannot block the entire windshield, I heard ‘essential oils breathe life into the cells’. I had absolutely no idea what to do with this statement. Besides that, where did it come from???
Today, I have come to understand what this means although science hasn’t fully uncovered the specifics. They recognize the outcomes of various constituents and continue to invest a lot of time, money and energy into figuring out how to replicate the way these chemicals affect cellular processes. BUT, they can’t quite get their finger on the pulse … making such statements as ‘further research is required’. Yet, I doubt their investigations ever will provide the knowledge they seek. Nature is a mysterious Life force that cannot be controlled.
Hustle happens and in my feverish attempt to produce something that played into the trappings of how to improve health, I discovered I was disregarding the mysterious energy of wisdom contained within essential oils.
To use them as a stress reliever or as a treatment for symptoms (which stress is a symptom), you’re not connecting into the wisdom of the body. You might be tapping it, but you’re still aiming to control something you don’t like.
The opportunity is to sit with whatever is disturbing you. Disrupt the automatic patterns of relief and be with what you already embody. Of course, symptom relief is important, but health issues aren’t physical problems they’re energetic hiccups that are calling for you to take a deep breath and be still.
Being with the system is where you benefit from the wisdom waiting for you to tune in.
Hustle happens when we’re concerned with what’s wrong, what needs to be fixed, what needs to filled.
Rather than wrong, what if you asked: what’s right about this?
Instead of trying to fix something, what if you settled into the moment and accept it ‘as is’ without an agenda?
Rather than looking at what’s missing, what if you simply connected with and fully loved what you feel compelled to bring forward without being attached to whether or not it happened?
This doesn’t mean change won’t happen. It doesn’t mean you don’t do anything. Change is the only constant, and chances are you will do what you feel called to do. The difference is the energy behind the actions.
There’s a peace … an ease to the undertaking.
It’s an about face to the coaching that’s out there motivating urgency and lighting a fire under the masses to take action.
Yesterday a client with colon cancer contacted me regarding several supplements being suggested. She wanted to know my thoughts. The thinking that went into everything she mentioned was designed to stimulate the immune system.
As I said, hustle happens.
Stimulating the immune system when it’s already doing what it can do to combat aggressive cancer cells has the potential to damage or destroy other necessary cells. Hence the development of co-occurring infections.
What’s the story around this? The body is weak and unable to take care of itself, prompting the need to do more in hopes we can fix the problem.
Dis-eased thinking triggers dis-ease
And I get it which is why I am writing this post.
There is a lot of noise out there telling us what to do and how to do it. It’s overwhelming AND it’s all rooted in the need to control. To be free, we must be willing to tune in rather that out.
Yes, there is wisdom in the mix. However, in order to hear the wisdom from someone else’s lips you must be willing to return to silence to determine if it empowers you.
We all have filters. Our past which our eyes and ears tune into and then there’s the present which is a gift that is unwrapped and processed through the ‘gut’. The center of the Will.
The foods you eat are digested and assimilated not to fill a void but to source you for what’s to come.
The gut / brain relationship is inseparable and within your brain is the home of wisdom … your Mind.
It’s ok to hustle. Do what you can do to catch the energetic hiccup. Become curious about both yourself and the wisdom that’s waiting for your attention. While it is always present, wisdom will not beg you to tune in. You must be willing to honor which you are free to choose at any time!
I’m happy to say the Physician’s Desk Reference: Essential Oils in Healthcare is available for preorder which you can check out by clicking here. And if you would like to learn my way of using essential oils which transcends common practices, email me and let’s talk! For a limited time, I’m taking on beta students to learn from me 1:1. I’m happy to chat about the details.