“If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.” ~ Carlos Castaneda from The Wheel of Time
I love that --> “With a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.”
We usually wind up on one extreme or the other: we’re either REALLY goal-driven and obsessed and stressed OR we’re on a beach somewhere or in meditation trying to breathe/relax ourselves out of the stress through NON-action.
The challenge, of course, is to be FULLY engaged and totally calm. (Fun!)
Lao-tzu and the Taoists call this “effortless effort.” It’s not NO effort. It’s effortless effort. It’s like water moving downstream—incredibly active and powerful but without stress—it’s simply moving with it’s built-in purpose: downstream.
Deepak has a great line about this: “One-pointed intention means holding your attention to the intended outcome with such unbending purpose that you absolutely refuse to allow obstacles to consume and dissipate the focused quality of your attention. There is a total and complete exclusion of all obstacles from your consciousness. You are able to maintain an unshakable serenity while being committed to your goal with intense passion.”
I love that. I call it “dynamic equanimity”—that place where you’re totally engaged and totally balanced.
How are you showing up? Are you stressed or are you flowing? Are you totally disengaged and timid about setting exciting goals because you don’t want to become imbalanced or are you having fun finding your center while playing at the edge?!?
Make it a game. Play full out. Put in a great deal of effort and let go of your attachment to the results and just let it flow, my friend!!!
To bringing out the Toltec Warrior within as we live with more personal power, impeccability, and fearlessness.
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