Creative Life Series - Rushing
By Steve GillmanAlthough I don’t do it as much as I used to, I still rush around at times. Rushing isn’t really about moving fast, but about a state of mind. After all you don’t call it rushing if you are relaxing in you car listening to good music while going eighty-miles-per-hour down the highway. You don’t consider it rushing if you just know how to do things efficiently and so get them done faster.
To rush is to be mentally compelled to do things faster. It is an anxious state of mind that can’t honestly be said to be necessary. Lets look at how it arises and then consider a new perspective that can help us get past this stress-causing habit. The words and understanding are mine, but the following explanation is inspired by the writings of Guy Finley.
Anxiety about things not yet done or about what might happen if you don’t get moving faster isn’t caused by those things or events or potential bad consequences. You’ll be able to see this when you can “turn around” and watch your own mind at work. There are parts of us internally, in our minds, that cause the anxiety and stress. You can call this what you like, but I’ll use the term “lower self” in order to explain.
The lower self is a mind within your mind, full of beliefs that cause you pain and suffering. In the case of rushing, it tells you that things outside you are the problem, the real cause of your anxiety. It says you have to answer to the things it points to, meaning you have to move faster, get this or that done now - or else! It hints, suggests or screams that something valuable will be lost if you don’t participate in this self-created drama.
There are ways to gain insight into the functioning of this lower self, to become more self aware. One of them that Guy Finley recommends is to purposely stop or slow down when you most feel the need to rush. This can jolt you awake inside, allowing you to consciously see what is going on. Do tis and the explanation above will make more sense.
Think about it for a moment even now, and you can start to see how ridiculous rushing is. Your mind convinces you that you need to be worried and move faster. Why? To get to that appointment so you won’t lose a sale? To meet a deadline so you pass a class or keep a job? So things to so don’t pile up faster than you can do them? Whatever the reason, the lower self says you need to feel this anxiety so you can accomplish something that will what? Buy you some peace of mind?
You see, whatever the goal, whether making money, finishing a project, getting things in order, it is supposed to “make things better,” right? The mind paints a picture of a future when everything is finally arranged and you can relax and have some peace of mind. And all you have to do to get there is to stop relaxing and give up your peace of mind in favor of a state of anxious rushing - over and over again. That sounds almost insane, doesn’t it?
You may understand this intellectually, but it is in truly seeing it in operation inside you that you really get it. That’s when you realize that all your anxiety and struggling with what is outside you cannot fix a problem that originates in a part of the mind or lower self that you have mistakenly identified with. Slow down and become conscious of the drama in your mind and you can choose to act from someplace above the nonsense.
But hurry up!!!
You may laugh, but you could actually find yourself rushing to learn how not to rush. This comes from following an idea versus the more natural intelligence of seeing the truth and acting from what is seen. More on that another time. In the meantime, there are two products that I recommend if you want help with this kind of “self work.” You’ll find links to both below.
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Tags: anxiety, creative life, rushing