A friend once stated that she'd "left the religion of the hustle." I've left it too.
After closing Port of Raleigh, I vowed to take better care of how I spent my time and energy. I promised to more readily ask for help and pace myself to operate from a healthier state of being. I had constantly rushed to do more, get more, and be more instead of simply being present with what was. Forcing, pushing, and hurrying things along worked to a point, but in doing so, I blocked the necessary space to create and receive the experiences I deeply and often unconsciously desired.
The opposite of hustling is aligning our energy and letting our work and dreams shine and expand in their own time. It's trusting the process we're in, the path we're on, and letting the how of our big picture unfold as we go along. It's not being lazy or inactive; there's always work to be done. Instead, it's a release from worrying that what you're doing isn't enough or not right. It's a release from worrying about when "it" will happen. Instead, it's trusting that you're doing exactly what you should be doing when and how and that "it" is waiting to embrace you.
I've had to remind myself of the above so much in the past year; moving to a new country and starting with a blank slate is equally exciting and testing. Thankfully this mantra came to me one afternoon while watching a snail in our garden reach its destination little by little:
Slow and steady is the pace for all the good that's taking place.
Slow and steady is the opposite of hustling. It creates space for our how to reveal itself with each aligned action we take. When missteps happen, "slow and steady..." assures that we have plenty of time to course-correct. No need to obsess, stress, or force – we will meet ourselves where we see ourselves.
Amen.
