Abundance│Consciousness │Radical Self-Care

How I Use Radical Self-Care to Shift My Consciousness…

…from purposeless ambition to living my dreams.

Over the past week, two writers have confirmed the joy of living a life aligned with self-care, living my dreams, and releasing the urge to chase.

“A shift in consciousness bubbled beneath the surface, begging me to abandon shallow ways of existing. Begging me to live more fully, more authentically.” — Natasha Nichole Lake in How to Be Your Own Best Friend

The chase can appear as ambition, but it only leaves us weary because it is purposeless. Purposeless ambition, an ambition unrelated and disconnected from who we are and our true heart’s desires, can prevent us from living “authentically and fully,” as Lake describes.

Purposeless ambition causes us to lose sight of what we want while we box our lives into what we think we should be doing for everyone else.

Through Radical Self-Care and refilling my cup, I slowly began to recognize the urge I had to chase and leave myself behind in the process. I was chasing a dream which would have unfolded had I chosen it and focused on it.

Now, as I live in a space where my dreams are unfolding, I can see the futility of chasing.

Dreams Unfold, I Don’t have to Chase Them.

“I discovered I could live any dream if I never doubted it.” — Henery X in From Conscious to Subconscious

We chase our dreams when we doubt and believe we don’t deserve our heart’s desires. We chase when we are fearful that our time will never come.

The ease of aligning, loving myself, and refilling my chalice helps to alleviate those doubts and fears.

Do I experience setbacks? Yes, I experience setbacks, and I will continue to experience setbacks. Nonetheless, my consciousness has shifted, and now I choose to see each setback as a setup.

Getting Lost To Find My Way Home

I understand how setbacks can be setups to navigate me towards people, opportunities, and resources I would not have seen had I not experienced a setback. Setbacks are a part of the unfolding process.

For example, a few weeks ago, I was leaving an appointment. I went right in the middle of rush hour. The traffic was in full gear because there had been a breakdown on a central avenue.

Impatient, I decided to go through a gas station parking lot and cut down a street I thought I was familiar with.

Well, being stubborn, I didn’t bother to turn on Suri. After a few turns, I was lost. On the cusp of frustration, I took a deep breath and said, “Well, I may as well enjoy the ride.”

I rode around the neighborhood for a minute and saw a botanical shop with signs about herbs. I love a great botanical shop, so, of course, I kept it in mind. Within a few more blocks, I finally saw a street I recognized.

I cut down that street, turned back on the avenue, and headed home.

A few days later, my bestie said she was looking for some loose herbs to take a spiritual bath. I told her about the shop I saw. We went. The shop had what she needed and a few things I wanted.

Would she have found the herbs elsewhere? Maybe. But my “adventure” helped us find a new place to get fresh herbs.

This experience showed me that conflicts, setbacks, failure, and wrong turns in life could lead me to my goals and dreams just as often as my wins.

Radical Self-Care Has Shown Me How to Stop Wasting Energy

Had I chosen to be frustrated and angry when I was lost, I wouldn’t have seen the botanical shop.

We have had so many opportunities we’ve missed in life because we’re frustrated, tired, and focused on failure, loss, and disappointments. And all of it changes when we shift our consciousness, take a deep breath, and focus on what gives us joy.

Fam, I’m curious. How do you shift your consciousness and see the joy and opportunities when you’ve made a wrong turn?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.