why asking why doesn't serve you
This was an essay I wrote that ended up on the editing room floor under my desk and was nearly chewed on by Haiku, the pup.
See, much of what I wrote didn’t make it into my new book being released this month nor any of the books to come.
But given the month of January I just had, it seems fitting to share it here and now.
And if you missed my Wednesday Words article where I shared just how the shit-it-the-fan and I was all but covered in sewerage, a restraining order and bandages, well, you might want to get yourself on my email list today.
Keep reading if you’ve ever yourself stared into the rabbit hole of why? and felt yourself start to sink down, down . . . down.
inner-connected
It’s important to tap into this three letter word—why?
As it’s a trap I myself have fallen victim to for decades.
A deep sinkhole with a never ending spin.
One that spirals
down
down
down.
So many to focus on.
Why did this happen?
Why me?
Which often leads to more questions that, if you stop a beat, you too will see have no answer.
What’s wrong with me?
Imagine if you could see
a blueprint
of why some event happened
laid out before you.
It would blanket the state you're in, the country, perhaps even the entire continent.
Who are you to even attempt to read it let alone understand its inner-connectedness to all?
All things are connected.
When I got that, I saw that why has no understandable answer to me in the larger-than-me scale of all things.
Asking Why? wastes my energy, drains me, forces me to tap out of creating what I desire in my life.
When I uncovered, discovered that the past no longer exists—it’s gone, done, finito—and only lives on within me if, how and when I choose to see it, feel it, express it . . .
I had freedom to begin to let go.
More on that seldom practiced, yet so very important, art to come.
But for now, let’s sink in together and imagine for a moment, a crossroads.
One direction you have Why Way and the other you have Delicious Life Lane.
They don’t tend to intersect, but run on opposite tracks.
One may have you looking back, back, back even as you press forward.
Only you know if that feels heavy or light.
The other may have you
floating,
stumbling,
skipping,
succeeding.
A path less traveled, as Robert Frost would likely say,
As this DL Lane is specific to you and only you.
Simply step forward and enJOY the journey.
And allow this path to be one for you—
a Down Low Lane
where you don’t need permission to just be you.
One perhaps more rocky than the other—
You may assume Why Way is the road unpaved
But is it?
There is only one way to see . . .
Choose
Either path is divinely laid out for you.
There is no right
no wrong
There is simply your way.
And hey,
you may say screw it,
cut through the field
in front of you,
the one with no signs,
no already-paved path.
Doing it completely,
Utterly
your way.
Good on you.
That’s all I have to say.
If you enJOYed this editing-room essay,
you may just want to dive deep into my new book.
It’s coming out this month and you can get first dips by joining the waitlist today.
You might even have the opportunity to become a first-look reader.
Post Image By Johannes Plenio @jplenio