Have you ever felt like your life is just one big juggling act? ...

Trying to keep all the balls in the air... God forbid you drop one. Something terrible might happen, like the spontaneous combustion of millions of baby kittens.

Here's something which I think can really help you start living life more like you want to -- less worrying, more simply flowing. Let's get started.

One of my favorite little principles I've kept whirring around my head for several years now is the idea that "there is only flow and obstruction."

This goes into some "weird stuff" (as I affectionately refer to it), but if you look at what it really is... it's fundamental "life stuff," crucial to navigating through this weird journey called life and maintaining some degree of sanity.

So what I just said above means this: let go of all you think you know is "real" ... let go of even your beliefs about time and space... there is ONLY flow and obstruction. Either you're in flow, or you're in obstruction.

And, by the way... if life sometimes feels like an elaborate circus show... not in the happy-happy balloons, elephants and trampolines sense... but in the stressed out, turbo-hectic anxious kind of sense... then you're probably in obstruction.

When you're clinging onto the idea of juggling, keeping all your balls in the air, you're effectively putting yourself in obstruction... which means OBSTRUCTING the natural flow of simply experiencing and interacting with the universe.

I could have a whole long discussion of the nature of ego and identity, and how the reason you're juggling these balls in the first place is because you're associating your identity (who you are) with keeping the balls in the air (or rather, with the juggling balls themselves), and dropping them would mean acting in violation to the idea of who (you think) you are, your identity... and I could have an even longer discussion of how this ties into effective copywriting (*wink) ... but I'll save all that for another post. Just hang with me for a moment here...

What "juggling" basically comes down to is imposing your ego on the natural process of interacting with the universe.

And when you let go of egoic demands... something amazing starts to happen.

You'll go into flow. This means a clear two-way communication channel between you and universe. If you read the post I linked to a few paragraphs up (and also my earlier post about How Change Happens), it roughly illustrates the process of how this typically looks. Three steps: 1 - A seed is sown, 2 - Seed is watered, 3 - The tipping point.

Here's what that means: You become aware of something in your life. Your context of reality, if you want to get technical about it. You become aware of something depending on how sensitive your awareness is... but usually, if the universe (Also known as God, Allah, your higher self, the unknown whatever) really wants you to stop being an idiot and REALLY GET something - it will keep sending the same message over and over.

What you have to do is act on it. The universe will keep sending you little signposts. What you have to do is act on them. Follow them down the rabbit hole, see where it takes you.

As an example, right now... I can clearly see that The Big Unknown Whatever clearly wants me to talk more about this sort of weird stuff. My guess is... that for someone reading this right now... this post will be exactly what you need, right at this moment, and something is just going to click for you. The right thing at the right time. When the student is ready, the teacher appears, and all that.

How do I know? Well, I was acting like a complete dweeb the first few indications. Now I've received this same message from about four COMPLETELY different sources within a very short space of time (I'm talking days).

• Flow and obstruction
• Being a player in life vs being a spectator ... watching your movie vs starring in your movie
• Living in the moment
• Acting through your own intentions
• Being proactive versus reactive
• Living life according to your standards and not living your life through the eyes of others
• Being a producer vs being a consumer

...

These are all various twists of the same main theme. Can you see the pattern?

Also, here's a MAJOR hint... all the best of anything comes from a state of flow. The best copy is written in flow. I guarantee the winner of every Olympic gold medal was in a state of flow, even if only very briefly. Every good man-to-woman interaction comes from flow... (ever been on one of those dreadfully awkward, stifled dates? That's just about the opposite of flow...)

So, how do you get out of the hellish Juggling Act of Despair?

It's a vicious chain, isn't it?

The first step is to simply NOT resist it. Accept it for what it is. Try to see your situation clearly, without imposing your subjective thoughts and feelings on it.

Be willing to let bad things happen.

Sure, some short term damage and wreckage can happen when you just drop a couple of balls.

How bad is that damage compared to the LONG TERM damage of NOT living life on your terms and acting through YOUR own intentions?

Stop juggling... and just let go. Let the chips fall where they may.

All this juggling comes from a place of thinking that you have something to lose by dropping them. The idea that you do have something to lose quickly falls apart under any serious scrutiny.

When you finally come to the realization that reality is wholly fictitious and you really, truly have nothing to lose... that will be the most liberating feeling you'll ever feel in your life.

When you do, you'll notice that you start interacting with the world in a whole new, more authentic way. You'll start seeing the world through a set of eyes you never knew you had.

...

As I popped open Reeder for iPad this morning, this little nugget jumped out at me. From Leo: The Wisdom of Allowing Things To Happen -- this is more or less exactly what I'm talking about here. Central to all of this stuff is non-resistance, unconditional surrender to what is, allowing and accepting. You should check out his post, it's very good, and could help you understand what I'm talking about here from a different perspective.

There's (probably) more stuff like this coming down the pipeline. And I just crossed the 1100 word mark. So with that...

Carpe Vitae -- Seize Your Life

- Linus