Do you ever find yourself feeling empty? Drained? Disconnected?
It's easy in today's culture to spend so much time and attention on achieving "success" that we lose track of what it is that we love -- what we are passionate about and what makes us feel truly "plugged in" to the universe. Even more than being in touch with our values, though that is also great to know, we are losing our connection to desire.
We are even losing our connection to being okay with desiring.
Somehow we have come to believe that the act of desiring itself isn't righteous -- that it is inherently linked with dissatisfaction with the present and we are greedy to ask for or expect anything more (especially with the bigger problems happening around the world).
Not true. There is plenty of space for both graciously appreciating the present and having big, badass dreams for your future. It is through realizing these dreams that we are given the opportunity to be our biggest player in the world -- and to serve others in ways that we can't when we play small and deny ourselves what it is that we desire.
So what is desire? Desire is the language of your dreams -- communicating with us what it is that we love, and connecting us to our paths. Desire is the soul's whisperings of what it is that we are seeking. What is seeking us. Our greater purpose and greatest capacity for love is packaged in desires, and it is our duty to not only acknowledge, but embrace all that they have to offer us.
Following our desires isn't selfish. It isn't indulgent or greedy. It is pure self-expression. It is our deepest connection to source energy, the cornerstone of creation, and listening to it is the single best example we can set for our children and future generations. This is where we have our greatest power for creating change, and for expanding our capacity to love. (What better example to share than that?)
"Desire is a teacher: When we immerse ourselves in it without guilt, shame, or clinging, it can show us something special about our own minds that allows us to embrace life fully." -- Mark Epstein, Open to Desire
So how do we start listening to our desires, especially when we've been shoving them down all this time in order to be fair, modest, or self-sacrificing?
Listen to the little whisperings. Your capacity to listen and hear the greater desires may not be within reach immediately if you have been denying yourself for a while. Simply listening and reveling in wearing your favorite color, ogling over a beautiful house, or choosing to "break all the rules" and do exactly what you want for one day. (Skip work and get a massage! Get a babysitter and go to a movie by yourself!) The more you allow yourself to meet your needs, and to listen to the desires that are bubbling within you, the greater they will become.
Write them down. Keeping track of your desires helps to get you started reconnecting to your inner guidance system and being ok with desiring. Find a journal or notebook and write it all down, no matter how frivolous it may seem. It is all valid and will guide you toward what it is that you are most passionate about in this world.
Thank your desires for what they are sharing with you. Desires are loaded with valuable information about who you are and where your highest potential lays. Gratitude for what today's desires are sharing, and appreciation for where yesterday's desires have led you is invaluable in helping you feel truly connected to your greatest self and the universe. This is where your greatest power lies.
"A desire is anything but frivolous. It is the interface between you and that which is greater than you. No desire is meaningless or inconsequential. If it pulls you, even a little bit, it will take everyone higher. Desire is where the Divine lives, inside the inspiration of your desire. Every desire is of profound importance with huge consequences, and deserves your attention."
-- Mama Gena
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HuffPost's GPS for the Soul app is based on two truths about human beings. First: We all have a centered place of wisdom, harmony and balance within us. Second: We're all going to veer away from that place, again and again and again. What we need is a great course-correcting mechanism -- a GPS for the Soul -- to help us find our way back to that centered place, from which everything is possible.
Because no one knows better than you what helps you de-stress and tap into that place of peace inside yourself, it's important for you to create your very own GPS guide -- a personalized collection of whatever helps you course-correct. Email us at GPS@huffingtonpost.com and we'll set you up with your very own HuffPost blogger account to share your guide on the site. If you're already a blogger, we encourage you to upload your personal guide today. We can't wait to see what you have to share.