To Feel Full
To feel full, one must first have a hunger. A desire that one wishes to fulfill. A hungry person feels full only after feeling empty.
The new year of 2021 is a time to reflect on where we feel hungry; where we feel scarcity and lack.
The goals we create must align with the sense of lack.
There is value in having excitement in our lives, but excitement is fleeting. In the world of climbing, there are those who go into the gym after fresh routes have been put on the wall. They climb the routes they expect to climb and try to do routes that are perhaps more challenging to complete. Success on something that is expected doesn’t really create excitement, but success on something that seems perhaps harder than what one should be able to do does create excitement. But that excitement is forgotten as soon as the climber is presented with another unsuccessfully climbed route.
Fulfillment is deeper. Fulfillment reeks of hard work and continuous applied effort and failure. It is not achieved in a brief moment, it requires persistence and repeated failure before the eventual desired outcome.
Fulfillment comes only when one has experienced the pain of scarcity and failure. Take a moment to reflect on what is scarce in your life. Are you feeling disconnected from others, perhaps you feel a lack of joy or maybe a lack of security. These are concepts that are not a specific item or person. When we scroll through our social media feed we often come face to face with our sense of lack. Not as popular, don’t look as beautiful, not travelling like so-and-so.
Fulfillment is the freedom from the sense that we are lacking. Fulfillment is the satisfaction of knowing our own power, bravery and skills. Fulfillment does not come with things, it comes with overcoming the fear of not BEING enough.
If you recognize where you feel YOU are not enough, you have unearthed a clue to how to pursue something fulfilling. Consider Brené Brown’s definition of guilt versus shame. Guilt is, I did something bad. Shame is, I am bad. Excitement is, I accomplished something great. Fulfillment is, I am great.
Getting to I am great means being in alignment with one’s values. Hop on over to this link and figure out what you value. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm
Then check back for a follow up blog on confirming your values and understanding how you uniquely get in your own way.
