Am I a Workaholic? Learned Thinking and Our Processing

How are you today? Does your heart feel full? Are you mentally and emotionally peaceful? Do you feel as if there is no time for the things in life that matter to you? Are there times when you feel as if there is no one really listening and just going through the motions of life? Did you know there is a choice? Perhaps there is first a need for an awareness of what we are doing to ourselves, before we realize what or where our choice lies. There is further support in the links you will find throughout this article, so feel free to fully explore all avenues as well follow along together. Come explore this vision with me.

In today's world of vast activity we manage to busy ourselves from every aspect of our lives beginning early in life to groom our children in school with three educational forms of schooling and finite details of curriculum. Then we forage on into career training mixed with further education; be it a technical field, college or university and field work and on into the work force, if one hasn't already tackled it in between somewhere. Let us not forget, those activities that invite sports, religious or other curricular activities that busy a person or family; maybe even a part-time job in between or working a family business or farm.

Now we enter the work force where we forage into details, deadlines, working up the corporate ladder and demands of ensuring your level of education, which generally means more education and keeping up with the latest information, regulations or technology in your field; ergo, more research, studies, conferences and debates with various politic aspects to fit whatever agenda each corporation or new policy wants to hold. We may have began working early in life; taken on many projects and do not tolerate criticism well from others with our own work, or view other as slacking if they do not keep up the same pace or work at the same rate and hours we do and sacrifice their families, activities, etc for the sake "of deadlines, getting a project rectified or mainstreaming their career," and just work even when it hurts/walk it off - attitude, etc.

And this is what we want to grow up to do and to be? So engrossed in our consumerism and over development of mentally processing each dynamic of living and doing and being -that we have almost literally talked ourselves right of remembering what it means to just be; to just let go; to just let live and to just be okay as is? Are we... are you absolutely sure this was your intention for your life? Just working hard or are we now taking a look at how much your family, relationships and perhaps your health is being affected? We may be discussing workaholism. Its okay, you are taking a step towards awareness now, so let's keep exploring.

No, no one quite envisions a life such as that. Many, for the most part, have child hood dreams that provide them with a sense of comfort and not as much demand and certainly not full of stress or forgetting how beautiful life really is -at least how it seemed at times when you were a child.

Now, I know, some are already saying, that is always the state of a child and I am grown now. Perhaps; and is it not also true that we were reminded by a great master to also be as a child to recognize and enter the kingdom. And also that the kingdom referred to was not that which one would point out afar and oh, alas it is out there, but yet -it is in fact right here and now, within you. We only have to stop and realize it. If we cannot understand this of the world then we shall not be privileged to understand anything greater which is of heaven or of the Creator.

So when we pause together and take a deep breathe, let us take a look together once again; shall we?

We have now noticed that we busy our self with many details, activities and things we think we must do. That in itself is our first step; our first choice -awareness, to notice what we are doing. Next we can also choose not to impede our self, with shame, guilt or judgment of what we observe, especially if we intend to make change. That is our next step; another opportunity to experience that sense of freedom we may have felt as a child. So, we see how are choosing to act in any given moment and then we chose not to judge self for it, so that we can change it and then we can simple change it. You are empowered by this act, because you are aware. You have a sense of inner or deeper peace, regardless if the surrounding events were not peaceful - because you had clarity to act, because you were aware enough to be present in the moment to act in the manner in which you preferred to attain a preferred result or at least closer to a preferred result, changing your current circumstance more effectively.

Had you remained in the frame of mind that was overly busy or overwhelmed and in effect, triggering emotions that respond to those thoughts; such as, anger, frustration, sadness and/or anxiety- you would not have the insight, aware or clarity to know to just stop and make what ever change (even if it was that act of just being still and not stirring those emotions that cloud your ability to have creative thinking and manage your time/space, health, communication, etc effectively) necessary.

So, once again, as we travel together, let us take a deep breathe and allow the body to also relax just for this moment. You have a choice. Each moment when you feel or notice that emotions may begin to arise that is a negative emotion in the rush of your day - over event, conversation or just sitting a red light that is an inanimate object; this is your body signaling you to become aware. You may choose. Choose to notice; choose to see that you can change that feeling just by becoming aware of it. You can notice that some thoughts are very random and may choose to question them.

For example, that red light shouldn't make me late! Is that true? No, not really. In reality, I should not make me late; the light can't do it, it's just a light. That is truer. Choose to question the mind and its thoughts and you will return to clarity and know when to listen.

It takes all kinds of your time to worry, to overload yourself with insurmountable task upon task and expectation as a result of mental thoughts of what you should or shouldn't accomplish. It requires no effort or time to notice those thoughts or to be aware of them. In that very act, you begin to change a life time of habits at an unconscious and conscious level, all by choosing this moment to notice what your thinking; notice what your doing; notice what your saying. You are after all, life itself; just be it. You are already breathing and you don't have to think about it or you would die. Your heart beats on its own; blood flows; the nervous system allows you to feel, sense, touch, etc... you are life. Notice your breathing; follow it in and out... feel it surge through every cell of your body... you are life.

You have a choice. Choose well, be aware and just notice your self; you are life. Live well.