The Soul’s Pace
“Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil.” Carl Jung
Life wasn’t meant to be lived like this. Our modern ways of striving for identity lead us to a competitive setting ourselves apart from one another with what we have, what we do, and how impressive we can be. Endlessly going after the stuff and doing the things in order to show the world we have value and worth; chasing our tails hoping we might momentarily silence the inner voice that constantly reminds us that we are fakes, we’ll never be enough, and if we don’t keep going at this pace we’ll be found out.
We leave no room for our souls. Only the shoulds- I should be doing this thing . . . I should be going here . . . I should be improving upon this . . . I should be making more . . . I should be spending more time on this . . .
Culture teaches nothing about how to build a meaningful life apart from career and education, influence and attention, and the attainments and titles the world considers impressive. Culture misleads us into thinking fulfillment comes in the things and in the images we work so hard to curate. We need to change this.
What would happen if we made space for our souls? What would happen if we slowed down?
The first thing that would happen might be a little scary. We’d feel. We’d feel what our constant motion and constant chasing keep us from feeling. We’d also get more honest and clear. We might realize the emptiness of our pursuits and sense the truth that no matter what we add to what we do, what we have, and how impressive we are- the inside stuff isn’t changing for the better. It’s still there. Not only that, when misplaced priorities lead us, we end up neglecting and damaging our relationships with others and ourselves.
We lost our way when we started making the means we need to support our existence false markers of our status and identity, rather than the tools they are meant to be in building a stable and secure landscape for ourselves and those we love.
Mostly though, if we’d be courageous enough to slow down, we’d be more attuned to our core longings. We’d create space between us and the clock and the to-dos and the artificial timelines that have us blindly sprinting toward achievements and gains – and in that space, we would return to the first longings of our existence, the primary longing of our soul, our wish to be connected. Connected to Self. Connected to God. Connected to our most important others.
And that’s my greatest hope for you- that you could slow yourself down- to feel, to take inventory, to create some space for your most precious heart. We have cluttered our lives with pursuits and schedules that will amount to so little at the end of our days. Our enduring and most valuable investments will be proportional to the quality relationships we cultivate in our time here on earth. This includes our relationship to Self.
Be encouraged to approach the year ahead with brave gentleness, permitting your soft and quiet heart to speak in ways it hasn’t since childhood. It’s okay to slow down, making room to feel and be moved by your deepest longings- the longing to love and be loved- the longing to belong.
Dive Deeper…
Our course on attachment explores the concept of slowing down and becoming more in tune with God, yourself, and others. Learn more about the course by clicking the button below.