Are You Trapped on the Hamster Wheel of Seeking? by Lola Jones.

Spiritual awakening is as much about what we don’t do, let go of, and struggle with than what we do. A fundamental truth about reaching enlightenment is: we can’t get to a high level of mastery while still seeking and processing.

I was an addictive seeker—a modality junkie—for decades. I tried just about everything, getting at least a session a week and often feeling miserable in between…just waiting for that little dose of “feel better”.

It was work. When I wasn’t paying other people to heal, cleanse and work on me, I was actively working on myself—digging for things I thought needed fixing. Change was painstakingly slow, one drip drip drip at a time.

After years of getting sessions, going to seminars and workshops, reading dozens (hundreds?) of spiritual books, and jumping on the bandwagon of each new thing out there, I finally saw through the illusion: not only did I realize I wouldn’t have enough years to “get there” at the rate I was going; I also saw how working on myself (and having others work on me) was keeping me in struggle and suffering—preventing me from experiencing the freedom and peace I longed for.

So I made a decision to get off the hamster wheel of constant seeking, processing, digging and working and discover instead a path of ease and joy. I had no idea how it would look, but my intention was strong; I knew it was possible.

I stopped doing anything that didn’t feel good or felt like work, and I stopped looking outside myself for answers. I became willing to stay put and feel when the desire arose to avoid or do something about how I felt. I began to reclaim power.

During this time I spent 21 days in silence, deepening my relationship with the Divine Presence and going within for all my needs. I sat with everything that came up—terror, grief, painful memories, and endless questions. I embraced it all, with openness, warmth and curiosity.

What happened was profound: a life-long habit of anxiety dropped away and other persistent, low vibrations, rose with ease.  Questions ceased. My mind got quiet, my body relaxed, and I experienced what I had been working towards in all those years of outer seeking: lasting acceptance, peace, freedom, knowing, empowerment, bliss.

I also emerged from those 21-days with a gift of grace that activates awakening and dramatically changes lives. In the work I do now, grace does 90% of the work for us. I can’t explain it! I simply appreciate and experience the fruits of my long-ago desire to discover an enlightenment path of ease and joy.

All this happened over 12 years ago, before people started talking about seeking addiction. I wanted to shout from the rooftops what I had discovered! And when I did, I discovered that others were also hungry for an easier, more joyful way back into their own knowing, power and guidance.

So yes, we need to stay awake, show up for ourselves in this here/now experience, feel (in our bodies, not in our heads), and use our minds to support rather than thwart our awakening. This is our 10%.

But it isn’t work, it’s being—being awake, being aware, being now. When we’re willing to do this, grace helps make us able.

And when we show up, life shows up for us. Beyond seeking is life, and life this moment offers exactly what we need to unfold in the direction of our dreams, endlessly.

Spiritual seeking takes us out of the moment, and working on what’s “wrong” creates more of it because we always create more of what we focus upon, for better or worse.

Unfortunately, our minds tend to be wrong-seeking missiles; they’re trained to look for problems to solve or fix. This is useful for doing math and science and fixing cars, but not for staying awake and being with feelings! Making things wrong is fuel that feeds our seeking.

So these days, if something’s happening, I choose to make it right. When something happens that I didn’t expect, or I have a feeling I’d rather not—instead of resisting and making it wrong, I’ve learned to get curious. Curiosity softens and creates space so energy can move. Ultimately, only we can soften and allow this space to open.

Now, when someone tells me they’re “working on” their spiritual progress or some emotional block, the Tom Hanks line from A League of Our Own comes to mind. He says, “There’s no crying in baseball!” I say, “There’s no working on it in enlightenment!”

Spiritual seeking and work really is like the ubiquitous hamster wheel: once we get going, momentum keeps us going—chasing our tail but not getting anywhere!

What we seek is already here. We deepen, expand, and experience this truth more easily when we become willing to slow down, soften, and show up here and now.

Lola Jones emanates a powerful vortex of Grace that changes lives and liberates people. She is an international best-selling metaphysical author and teacher who has created one of today’s most influential spiritual teachings. Divine Openings™ guides you beyond the endless cycle of healing and seeking to spiritual empowerment and helps you have a wonderful, awakened life on earth here and now! https://www.divineopenings.com 

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