Motives
Decide before you act: does your desire to do this come from a place of love and wholeness?
base your actions on what you know about your Big Loves; if you’re uncertain why you want to do something, it’s worth taking a close look at what is motivating you.
Many of us dive headlong into a project without thinking too hard about it, and more often than not, we either lose our motivation or discover that our motives were less than honorable.
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You likely have many motives for just about everything you do, especially if it’s something that’s important to you. Maybe it sounds fun or interesting. Maybe you think you can do a good job where others may not. Maybe you believe that if you do it, people will like you more. Or maybe, like Pinky and the Brain, you just want to take over the world! Bwah ha ha ha!
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You probably have a collection of motives, some of them laudable and others more questionable. It’s important that you at least admit them to yourself. Be honest with yourself. Hidden motives are much more likely to get in your way or suddenly disappear if things get tough, causing you to scrap the effort.
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Once you have a list, give each motive the Sense of Livingness test: first, quiet your mind, and try to feel yourself growing in your wholeness. Imagine your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, your emotions, your potential and your life experiences as part of that wholeness. Then ask yourself “which motives would deepen my wholeness and which ones would lessen it?”
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During this process, you may find that some of your motives go deeper than you originally thought. At our core, we all have strong desires to create and to experience life. If you feel those connections, let them infuse your motives with extra energy.
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If you find that some of your motives are more selfish or might actually make you less whole, that is an opportunity to explore those motives further. What would it be like if you let them go? Would you really miss them? How would your life be different? The goal here is simply to be aware. With awareness, you’ll be able to recognize when some of these lesser motives are trying to steer the ship.
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Motive meditation: “I’m wanting to do this thing. Why?”
Therefore:
Take the time to very deeply and earnestly inquire into your motives. Decide, before you act, whether your desire to do something comes from a place of love and wholeness.
You can use an Inquiry practice to explore your motives if that works better for you