Ask & Receive

If you know me, then you probably know that I don't do traditional goal setting. I find it constrictive and just another reason to judge how I am falling short.  And I am well aware that to create a future that I love and a today that works for me, I need to take action and be clear on what the heck I want my future to be like.

When you look at the etymology of the word "goal" you find words like obstacle, barrier, hinder, limit and more.  Those all sound so fun don't they?! 

I remember once setting a goal for the year regarding my weight.  I dove in full force and really went for it.  I ate well, I worked out no matter how I feeling.  I did it all and little more. It was paying off, I was right on schedule and then I got to the day that I was to actually achieve my goal weight.  I got on the scale and sure enough I had gained 2 lbs.  I burst into tears.  Every feeling I ever had of being a failure crashed down on me and solidified.  This goal of mine had actually validated every fear I had about being a failure.  

One of the phrases in the etymology of goal is "object of an effort" so if we go from that definition, I succeeded.  I gave all my effort.  But maybe I wasn't the problem, maybe goals, right at the root of them, are kinda messed up.

  For me a is goal is more like a jail than a source of inspiration.

Ever heard "Ask and you will receive?"  That's where I create from now

Let me share with you what I did this year to begin to lean into that energy of ask & receive.  

I sat down with a blank page at the back of my gorgeous Passion Planner and set a timer for 5 minutes.  My planner gave me the prompt of "If I could be anything, do anything, or have anything, what would it be?"  and from that question, I just starting listing for those 5 minutes.  That list has things that are really tangible like a new car and others that are more of a sense like luxury.  It has small things like comfy jeans that look good and big things like change the world.  These are my asks.  The things that I am asking to show up in my life.

From there, I set my timer for 1 minute and went back to my list from the questions: which ones are for now? which ones will be the biggest contribute to creating a future I love? Then I just picked the ones that popped, the ones that seemed the most fun, the ones that sparked joy.  I did it fast so I couldn't think about but just had trust my knowing.  I had about 5 things that I ticked in that 1 minute.

I am now asking questions about those things.  What would take for them to show up in my life? I notice that there is  one of those items has stepped to front of line energetically.  I think about it a lot, I look it up on the internet all the time, I often reach out with my energy and look for the money to show up.   It's present in my life in a tangible way now.  I didn't plan it that way, my interest just landed there naturally.  I had "planned" to have it paid for by February 1st but I know now that I am going to pay for it this week.  Maybe even today.  

There are other things on that short list that I haven't thought about since the day I initially ticked them off.  I was only reminded right now as I revisited to write this blog.  One of them even made me raise my eyebrows and think WTF!  How did that even make the list?!  Another item on the "tick list" made me smile because while I haven't taken any action, I am dreaming about this thing at night.  That tells me I am engaged with it on some level, in some plane of existence I am flowing creative energy into it. 

I will continue to add to my list of asks through out the year.  I often find that when I circle back to read an old list, I will be able to cross off a number of the items because they will have shown up in my life without me even remembering that I had asked for them.  Other things will have lost the joy, I won't even desire them anymore.  That's ask & receive.  You ask and you begin to receive the life that you actually desire which includes becoming aware of where you're asking for things you don't really want to have. 

A post-it question for your mirror:

What do I desire that I don't even know I desire?

Because you might as well be creating the life you actually desire and not just the life you think you should have...

xo Linda