We’ve been taught that we must wait and receive experiences of pleasure from another person, from succeeding at a goal, acquiring a material object, or from experiences circumstances conforming to our preferences and going perfectly our way…
Which leaves us always searching, outsourcing our power, wandering aimlessly, empty, chasing…
When the more that we’re seeking…
The fulfillment we’re desiring…
And the accomplishment and success we’re working really hard to achieve…
All seems to be “out there”.
Not only are we not taught to discover where our pleasure lives, but we’re taught to avoid it, hide it, be afraid of it, shut it down, and put others needs and desires and happiness first to the point where we don’t even know what we want for ourselves
Or what feels good to US anymore.
This state of being perpetually turned off becomes our new normal that leaves us completely dried up and ravenous and anxiously seeking that which will never truly satisfy us at the deepest level
It’s no wonder we can fall into the trap of running around like a headless chicken to make sure we stay on task and keep moving in the direction to accomplish all that we believe is necessary in order to connect the dots and get “there”.
But how easily we lose touch with our original purpose, our original desire, and intention in the first place, along with our pleasure and happiness along the way…
And then forget that our presence is required in order for us to even be “there” and available to receive and fully enjoy the rewards of whatever it is we’re chasing and racing towards.
Rather than letting our selves feel joy in the present moment, we leave ourselves, leave our bodies, and leave the moment, which is the only place we can actually receive what it is we desire in the first place.
One of my favorite go-to strategies for downshifting into presence and, therefore, pleasure (because after all presence = pleasure in my book), is to make a 180 degree turn from racing to an imaginary finish line – whether that be the end of your to-do list OR the relationship, lifestyle, and success of your dreams –
And place it all instead onto your breath and your body….
And specifically on to what feels good – onto all the pleasurable sensations.
Your only task is to allow yourself to feel as good as you can possibly feel in this moment and in the very life that you’re living now.
Your very own breath is the gateway to that presence and that pleasure that lies at the heart of any desire and intention….the experience of landing into the fulfillment of already having that which you seek.
The only question is whether or not you postpone that presence and pleasure while doing everything that needs to be done to “get it” OR you choose to simply open to it now…
Knowing that your now is what determines the quality of your later.
When you find pleasure and presence now, you’re already “there”.
You’re already home.
Free of the need to go anywhere or get anything else.
Go ahead, give yourself permission to feel good right here – right now…and allow the nourishment of pleasure to feed your deep, relentless hunger for more without having to go anywhere or get anything.
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