Carleton Place Positive Change Centre
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Thank you for your business!You should be receiving an order confirmation from Paypal shortly.Exit Shopping CartAllison Adamovits M.S.W, R.S.W.
Blog
What is Our Task
| Posted on July 21, 2014 at 9:03 PM |
What if our task is the journey? Our western society is very task-oriented. This was ‘the new
world’; our ancestors came here pursuing change; to start a new life that was different and
hopefully better than the one they had left behind. We are by nature, a forward looking people. We anticipate
the next new development, next season, next scientific advancement. We teach our
children to move forward, to strive, to achieve. All these things are important and necessary goals, but the
flip side of all this drive towards progress, is that sometimes, we are so
focused on moving forward, we totally miss the joys of where we are presently. We’re like the child who doesn’t stop to enjoy one birthday
gift, before he is opening the next! The child misses the joy, the importance
of each special gift, because he’s dashed on to the next . We struggle
to feel satisfied and at peace; to feel complete, because we are always
pressing forward –/chasing/worrying about/planning-scheming our next move,
toward the illusive goal. We never
notice how far we’ve come, let alone enjoy the experience. I was
recently speaking with a client who has always been a ‘task-oriented’ person.
This has served them well in many ways and they have achieved success in their
profession. But they now feel empty and a little lost, because the pursuit of
the next achievement, is becoming unsatisfying. They are finding, that climbing
the corporate ladder/getting to a higher pay grade is no longer satisfying or
even important. If that’s the case, what is there to strive for? Where do we find
our direction, purpose and motivation? If you are a
task-oriented personality type, you don’t need to change that, but try looking
at how you define your task. What if we decided that the task was not the
accepted outcome or goal, but rather the journey to that goal? What if we chose to focus, not on pushing
ahead to achieve that stated goal, but rather on this and each moment of the
journey toward the goal? What could
we experience and learn in this moment that we might otherwise have raced right
by, and how might that change the direction of our journey? I suggest this, because we are all pushing/racing
toward/pursuing the future goal, to the point that we are missing the joy and
growth and contentment of the present moment. We may or may not be able to achieve all the goals we have
set for ourselves, but we can celebrate and be proud of the moments we have
created and experienced along the way.
Don’t miss these little moments that enrich life – the touch of a hand,
the trust of a child, finding the next puzzle piece. When our child takes a
first step, we celebrate – we don’t bemoan that there are thousands more to be
taken and push them forward. If we do, they are sure to fall. Don’t set
yourself up for disappointment, by only recognizing the outcome as achievement. Strangely enough, if we practise being present in this
moment instead of worrying about getting to the future goal, we will in fact,
strengthen, support and speed our journey toward that goal. And we will enjoy the journey instead of
always struggling toward an outcome that
may in the end, not be fulfilling. |
Categories: Positive Personal Change
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