A radical way of living
For the first part of my adult life, I had always been one to have my life all mapped out. I had a definite plan and always knew what was next. I wanted to be normal and have a sensible and judicious life. I used to invest a lot of energy working on my life’s purpose and then with a lot of control, force and effort directed my energy, capacity and time towards achieving the desired outcome … a truly non-spontaneous lifestyle.
Twenty years down the road, Steve and I were drawn to the anthropology of living and working with conscious awareness, and looking at different ways to create something greater in the world. We began to explore a different way of living, and discovered a more sustainable and joyful way of being in the world. We didn't know it at that time, but we were choosing to live a benevolent lifestyle.
We have been in the space of an extraordinary change since we began to function from a space of generation. This is a gift that has been accruing slowly but steadily. This is not trivial. We have made a demand of ourselves to follow the energy of what is going to create and generate more space and more possibilities in our life, and in the world. This is an example of living a benevolent life …. from awareness, willing to look at what's going to create more in the world, listening to the beat of generative energy and dancing to it.
Generation is the question and the energy, it’s not a doingness. We ask a question, and from being the energy of the question - things just shift. We ask these questions everyday -
- What choice do I have here?
- What would be joyful?
- What would be fun and rewarding for me today?
- What would bring me joy to do today?
- What would create different possibilities and bring huge amounts of money that I would totally enjoy doing right now?
We also ask "Is this a contribution to our life? to every choice we make." This is a different way and a radical way of living. As we start to put more energy into generating our life, our whole energy is working for us. Our business expands and everything opens up.
But most important, different possibilities started to come to life as we found ourselves drawn into a different way of living spontaneously in the moment. We expanded our zone of awareness and began following the energy that lead to different choices and possibilities that we had never considered. For example, last week, we were invited to invest in an unprecedented and anomalous project, which was so ridiculously out of our comfort zone, and initially decided against it. We then became aware that we had grown too comfortable, complacent, and risk averse…so we asked these questions “What choices do we have here? Is this going to work out well for us? Is it going to work out well for us and for everyone concerned? Is it going to be rewarding?"
The questions gave us awareness that this project will create greater possibilities for us and for everyone concerned. It can truly change the direction of our life and the future of the planet. We said YES to the project because we perceived this as an essential aspect to creating a future that has greater possibilities in it for everyone as well as the planet.
Imagine a life generated with spontaneity and unlimited possibilities. This is a modus operandi that anyone can choose to function from. Functioning from being the energy of the question provides a space that helps to eliminate rigid patterns of thinking and doing. The practice of being the question offers a different way to the controlling way most of us choose to lead our lives. So, to generate a life with spontaneity and generative energy, we have to be willing to receive more. We have to be willing to be more. We have to be willing to generate and create more.
A better world starts with you & me!.... Learn more about Benevolent Capitalism and become a catalyst for change and for a different possibility in the world HERE