Chances are you have crossed paths with a self-help book that talks of our ability to create either abundance or scarcity, depending upon our mindset. The mind is indeed a very powerful tool; what we focus on becomes our experience.
When I catch myself envying another’s good fortune, their creative wellspring, the act of envy causes a chain reaction of mental and physical deflation that is immediately noticeable. If I continue on the path of envy, it descends into jealousy, bitterness, insecurity, deficit consciousness, and eventually depression. My body feels tired, overwhelmed with the invisible weight of all my unrealized dreams and expectations.
This is not uncommon. Most of us have been there at one time or another. The trick is to recognize envy as our subconscious’ way of letting us know it sees something in the envied person’s experience that, if we allow ourselves to seek out a similar experience, we will feel that same creative wellspring in our own lives. We will benefit mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Once we flip that switch from envy to affirmation, we feel an immediate reversal of all the ill our minds and bodies have conjured. We can feel a burst of energy that sustains and perpetuates itself as long as we continue on the path of affirmation and positive action. Focus on what would make each of us happy, and we gain healthy minds and bodies as a result.
Having said that, there is still the risk of overdoing it with the enthusiasm and goal setting. In As You Like It, Shakespeare asks the very important question, “Can one desire too much of a good thing?” The short answer is “Yes.” The long answer is “Hell, yes.”
What many of those self-help books don’t tell you is how rich that creative wellspring is, to the point of overflowing – and overwhelming. Opening ourselves to our true goals doesn’t just flood us with energy, it floods us with new ideas – lots of new ideas. I don’t want to make it sound like a bad thing, but there should be a caution label attached to abundance that reads, “Proceed with Care.”
When we make a conscious, consistent effort to allow ourselves to pursue what we love with optimism and positive expectation, we open the floodgates to more creative possibilities than we can shake a stick at. And if we’ve been without possibilities for any length of time, we are the proverbial starving man at the banquet, not always adequately prepared to manage that which is set before us. We run the risk of overindulgence and all the side effects attached to it.
If we’ve previously been in a positivity drought, our tendency can be to want to overdose on good because it feels so good, and we might unwittingly move from abundance to excess. We want to do it all and we want to do it all right now. Or, if we’ve procrastinated working toward our true goals, letting ourselves get distracted, or pulled into fulfilling others’ wishes instead of our own, there is the tendency to burn the candle at both ends in an effort to make up for what we perceive to be lost time.
I would say that I fall somewhere in between the two examples listed above. I am ambitious by nature, geared toward grand plans and long-term goals right from the start. I want to think big and achieve big, thus my goals lists tend to be very detailed and complex – sometimes too complex.
I often forget that I am but one mere human, not an army. I also often forget that I don’t have to go it alone, don’t have to shoulder all the responsibility myself. There is no stopwatch keeping track of my time and threatening to shut me out of the flow of abundance if I don’t work fast enough. If I were to assign myself a daily affirmation, it would read, “It’s okay to take it one step at a time.”
The surge of positive energy which comes from pursuing my goals can easily turn into excess, and I might initially feel drunk with vigor and excitement. However, if I don’t moderate that enthusiasm, recognize my human limitations, a switch will flip and suddenly I’ll find myself no longer enjoying the process – the hangover from too much ambition begins. Somewhere along the way, I pause to take a breath, take a good look at my goals list, become overwhelmed at the prospect of tackling it all (because I have the optimism and enthusiasm of a child and can’t fathom saying no to any creative idea that piques my interest), and soon thereafter find myself on the couch with a glass of wine and a bag of Cheetos, draining my brain while marathoning some TV series I normally couldn’t care less about.
I can put myself at risk of paralyzation from abundance overload, unsure where to begin or how to tackle it all. I can put myself at risk for doubting if I am even capable of achieving any of the lovely goals I’ve set for myself. If I’m not careful, I can turn the positive into a negative, going right back to being the person who feels like I’m on the outside of the creative wellspring, looking in. Ultimately, it’s better for me to practice moderation. That way, I don’t get to the point where I’m second-guessing myself and sitting on the couch with junk food and bad TV.
In speaking with fellow creatives, I have discovered this is not unique to me. It may be unique to creatives, I don’t know. We are a rather passionate bunch with grand, romantic visions, steered by empathy and emotion. But I suspect all humans can relate in one way or another; it’s universally applicable. The desires to achieve, to succeed, and to find true happiness are well-documented throughout history.
If I were going to offer any advice on how to avoid finding yourself paralyzed by the weight of all your expectations, it would be rather simple advice:
• Be kind to yourself. Find balance - make time for all that daily life requires of you AND make time to do something that is for you and you alone. Even if it is only for 15 minutes to an hour per day, begin the process of fulfilling a personal dream. And don’t feel the need to apologize for it.
• Expect the ideas to begin flowing like a river. Creativity breeds creativity. Once you give yourself permission to pursue something you feel passionate about, it is inevitable that opportunities and ideas you had never considered will present themselves to you in rapid succession. It is not that they weren’t there before. Rather, it’s that you never noticed them until now because your focus was elsewhere.
• Keep an ideas journal, not just for when you are overflowing with them, but also when you find yourself in a rut, a creative block. Having fresh, untapped ideas at the ready serves a dual purpose of both keeping us from being overwhelmed (writing it down gets it out of your head so you have more room to think clearly and plot a reasonable course) as well as keeping us from feeling like there’s a limited number of creative ideas available to us.
• Remember that time is not your enemy. Give yourself the freedom to pursue your goals at your own pace. There is no time limit to abundance other than what we tell ourselves. If we say we want to pursue an idea, and we want time to pursue it thoroughly, we will have that time. A goal pursued in joy and peace, not rushed or peppered with anxious moments, is a thing of beauty. It is our best effort and it has the best chance for success. We do our creative wellspring no favors by letting our fears or insecurities take control. And the fear of time, or the lack thereof, is usually at the top of the anxiety list for most.
• No man is an island. Share your goals and make yourself accountable to close friends, peers, and loved ones who can keep you from crashing and burning. Or, if you’re simply prone to starting and stopping due to general insecurity, let them be there to help you focus and to cheer you on. I am eternally grateful and indebted to my friends and loved ones for lending me their ears and helping me to stay both grounded and afloat, whichever is necessary in the given moment.
In summation, don’t be afraid to open yourself to the creative wellspring of abundance. And don’t be afraid to take it slow when you do. The most successful people I’ve known have understood the value of balance and moderation, even of their most passionate pursuits. I’m inclined to follow their example. I hope you will, too.
