Alignment

If you have been on this mailing list for a while, you may remember several missives about peace and purpose. Peace, to me, is simply having your head where your feet are. The myth of work/life balance can cause us to have our feet in one place while our head is in another. We agree to one more night at the office which puts our feet in the office, but our head is worried about our family at home. This search for a mythical balance can destroy peace. Peace is simply having your head where your feet are.

But peace is at the leading edge of something even more important: alignment. You see, when we are in total alignment with our purpose and our values, peace is the result. Think about your work: Do you have hours that just fly by because you are totally in flow and deep in your work? Those are the times of perfect alignment. Those are the times when we are doing exactly what we were put on this earth to do.  Do you have hours that are slow and unengaging, that seem to drag and perhaps even cause physical discomfort? This is a symptom of misalignment.

I believe our subconscious sends us messages in any way that it can. Though these messages may feel painful, they are actually a gift to warn us that we have left the path. In my personal history, there were times when my actor training would allow me to “put on the show” when a job required it, but there were also times that, deep down, I knew that this was more “show” than I wanted to admit. My heart was not in it. If our work is in perfect alignment with our purpose, we can withstand any temporary discomfort on the way to achieving alignment. But if our work does not align with our purpose, the subliminal messages will continue to appear at an increasing rate.

There is no such thing as work without any discomfort but when our work aligns with our purpose, discomfort is brief and peace is abundant. Think about all the things you agree to do. Do those things align with your purpose? If they do, keep going. If they don't, find an exit ramp. We are all going to die with a full inbox so we should be very purposeful in deciding what will be left there and what will have gotten done. When something comes to us it should not simply be yes or no. It should be “hell yes!” or no. Things that align with our purpose are always “hell yes!” and we look forward to doing them. The time flies when we are doing them. This is alignment. And alignment brings peace.

Sometimes, misalignment is created by ambiguity around what “the boss” wants. Be brave enough to talk it out and get clear. Sometimes misalignment is created by our inability to say no. Sometimes misalignment is created by ambiguity about our purpose—about what we really want in life. I’ve never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. You are not going to take it with you. Work for and toward what really matters. The answer to chronic pain is acute pain even though I wish that wasn’t true. Be brave enough to ask yourself the hard questions to get to the peace on the other side.

If we are living a life in alignment, we are perfectly at peace even when doing nothing at all. We know that we are doing the work we are meant to do and that what we are doing in this moment is exactly what we are supposed to be doing. Our feet are not propped up on the couch while our head is spinning through a million problems at work. We are content to just be. We are, after all, human beings, not human doings. Are you at peace when doing nothing at all?

I truly believe that life is plumbed in such a way then you can have anything you want. But you can't have everything you want. While good leaders monitor their to-do list, great leaders monitor their “to-don’t” list. Saying no to things that do not align with our purpose and delegating things that do but that take time away from the most important things are two ways to stay in alignment.

I am blessed to be able to say that the work I do aligns with my purpose. My days fly by. Every chance to speak to or work with you is a “hell yes!” to me. Thank you for making it so.

I wish you peace, purpose, and alignment.