“I’d like nothing better than to go and just do what I want, to be free and immerse myself in that hobby I love. I’d love to travel because it makes me feel truly free. But, you see, I can’t. I have this thing called responsibility, being responsible because of the job I have to do, or because I have a family to take care of..”

I hear this opening statement a lot — especially when people start to look into what they would really love to do with their lives. When I hear the word responsibility used like this, I hear someone who has created some great excuses for why they can’t follow their feeling in life.

I had massive responsibilities in the form of financial burden. I had been seeking financial freedom. During the pursuit of it, I had actually created a financial nightmare that controlled my life and had me living like a slave to the dollar. I felt responsible to my situation and was doing everything I could to fix, even if it meant doing work I didn’t love to do.

Thinking positively, I  had hoped, one day, it would all work out. I waited… and waited… worked harder and harder. That day didn’t seem to be coming. My debt was going away and there was hardly a feeling of freedom.

So, one day, I made a decision. I wasn’t going to live for what was happening in my financial story anymore.

I decided that I would be free in this moment and follow what I felt to do

This did not go down well with my accountant…

That’s because the first thing I felt to do was just stop. I had been doing so much out of need for so long that all I wanted to do was nothing. Easier said then done, as my mind started getting really noisy.

I had thoughts like: What about my girlfriend? Our lifestyle? My car? My home? My holidays? My credit rating? Oh shit! I could go bankrupt!

This was what I call my Responsibility Hangover. This thinking was just telling me why I had an inability to follow what I felt. Further more, I was telling myself I needed all the things in order to feel complete and fulfilled in life.

My inability response is going to look for all the reasons for why I can’t follow my feeling. My thoughts will always look for whether I, as this identity, me as Jamie, can actually follow the feeling according to my current circumstances. In that moment I am coming from a place of lack and limitation.

I knew that, if I looked to make my decision from my mind regarding whether to follow what I truly felt to do, which was stop working, it would be one very tough and limited experience. Reason was that I would be stuck in the resistance of any change that was about to unfold through my circumstances.

So I went to the place which didn’t care for all that was going on in my mind, the place where there is no resistance. I went to my feeling and just stayed there. Instead of losing myself in the thoughts of limitation, I dived into the feeling of possibility.

Sure enough, things in my life started to change very quickly. I was making a huge shift within myself and I knew my life was going to reflect that. So I let the ride unfold.

I knew that, if I gave into what I thought was my responsibility to fix, change or improve in my life, I might as well not be living because I was over living for all those things externally. They had left me feeling so unfulfilled and insecure.

And that was the big twist, when I started showing up for me. When I started being responsible to what I actually felt within my heart and nothing more, I immediately started to feel secure in who I was being. I started to feel fulfilled and this feeling of fulfilment had nothing to do with my life circumstances. I knew this because my life was crumbling around me as it reformed, but I felt a new found peace. I was starting to feel more complete than ever before.

When you decide you and nothing else is responsible for what you love, it becomes about simply saying yes and owning it rather than using it as an excuse to say no.

All the sudden, my life started to reflect what I felt within myself. I found myself enjoying life from a totally different space. People and circumstances started to support the decisions I was making, but whether they did or not became irrelevant. For the first time in my life, I felt free.

Letting go of my responsibility for what was happening externally and realizing my responsibility was only to myself and what felt true for me, freed me.

It is also what inspired others. People saw, through me, what was possible. Because I stepped into my power, I gave permission for others to do the same.

One of the special things was showing my family what was possible. Instead of being stuck and a burden, I became a signpost of inspiration.

So, next time you have a responsibility hangover and you find yourself dealing with the inability to respond to that which you love in life, turn off the thinking. Just say yes to what you feel. It may not seem logical, it may even be crazy, but at least you will be left feeling alive.

Are you interested in support for letting go of the responsibility hangover? Do you want help with following what you truly feel to do, be and have in your life? Check out my mentoring page.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Feel free to comment below and share this post with anyone  you think might love to jump in on the conversation.

 

 

 

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Tags: being, Empowerment, feeling, freedom, INSPIRATION, limitlessliving, love, waking up

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