I just heard a great quote from Tom Ford, the famous fashion designer: "I'm not doing anything in my life anymore that's not fun." I love that! If that's what a wise man who has lived many successes has learned, it really validates my life philosophy which is mostly just that - I'm not going to do anything that isn't fun. I don't see anything wrong with this philosophy. I don't know why so many people think there's something wrong with aspiring to feel great all the time. Obviously, things are not great & fun all the time, but that's fine. It doesn't mean you can't continue to aspire to feel good and have fun. Why do people feel guilty for wanting to do what feels good? I think it's because deep down inside, they don't feel they deserve it.
Feelings are your spirit's way of telling you yes, you're on the right track, or no, that's not right for you. So heed your feelings! If you don't have positive feelings, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT (something positive that is, not turning to a vice like alcohol or drugs). As I've said before, it's not normal and should not be acceptable to you to continuously feel blah or icky or anxiety or stress or anger, etc.... You might be lucky and know exactly what is making you feel not great (or at least have a pretty good idea). Or, you might need to do some deep introspection, some soul searching (meditation/prayer is also great) to figure out why you're feeling this way. Many times, the answer might be that you need to change what you're doing or where you're going in life. (Side note: I had this feeling and came to this conclusion when I decided I had to move to Nashville - it takes a lot of courage to trust and follow your instincts and make such a major life change but it's always worth it!!)
The more spiritually advanced (for lack of a better word) people I talk to, the more I hear the same story. They all were not on their right path and their bodies were telling them through stress, anxiety and/or other negative feelings or even through physical issues. Many of them did what many people do when they don't like feeling negative feelings all the time - they used alcohol, drugs, food, or other vices or compulsions to quiet those negative feelings. We've all seen what happens when you rely on negative vices to self-medicate. Eventually, your body will get the message (that you're not on the right track) across but it will be in a more severe way.
Some people need to hit rock bottom or for their lives to fall apart before they come to a spiritual awakening. That doesn't have to be you. Listen to your feelings (and intuition - that gut instinct).
People often ask, how do I know I'm on the right path? I think the answer is simple. Listen to your feelings. If it feels good, if it feels right, it probably is. If you used this decision-making technique, you'd make the best decisions all the time. The best decisions for you at that time, that is. Sometimes we need to make a decision that might show us the way NOT to go. We can't grow and learn if we don't make mistakes. Actually most successful businessmen (I mean highly successful, like Steve Jobs, Dale Carnege, Tom Ford, etc...) use this decision-making technique. Funny, I never read about it in the scholarly literature in grad school. People who don't realize or acknowledge the spirit's important role in business, science, politics, or anything for that matter, need to wake up.
I'd like to hear from anyone who does use this technique, or tries it. What was the outcome?
