Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I say ‘happened’ to me, as it only seemed to begin after I had a major operation and STOP in 2010, yet it is one of the most empowering and loving things I have ever experienced for myself.
I did not grow up this way. As far back as I can remember, to age 8 or 9, there was the ideal that one day I would grow up, romantically fall in love, have a family and live happily ever after (which fell well short!). I did not do well at nor did I enjoy school, thinking that careers were for the smart ones; for others who did not want families and therefore had nothing else in their lives.
However this was all based on a belief, a picture I had in my head about how life should be. While love and commitment to having a family and raising children is important and needed, the same dedication was not there for myself and my life first (which included having a job) and therefore I was not truly there for my family either.
As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else – usually a boyfriend/my husband – and then just become a chameleon and adapt to their way of life. This was easy for me to do and so I did it… but at what cost to myself?
This lack of commitment extended to the fact that I couldn’t commit to a job or regular work.
After being introduced to Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, I remember in 2006 in one of my sessions with Serge where he suggested that I get a job… any job! I heard his voice saying this, but at the time could not feel it at all in my body and certainly wondered about the benefits versus being able to freely have coffees down the road with friends, then take myself off to the shopping centre to see what more I ‘needed’ there!
Clearly this was not IT as it left me feeling very lonely even though I was surrounded by people, something deeper was totally missing. I was in so much illusion thinking that my life was fulfilling when in fact there was a massive void of emptiness.
Getting a job… committing to life?
What did that mean?
I felt getting a job had to look a certain way and that I needed status so I looked important in it and that it paid well without my having to do very much. The arrogance superseded everything else.
I decided to try temping and casually did this for a couple of years. It had its ‘benefits’ financially, however there was still no true commitment from me and I would find reasons why I needed to stop working. It took a number of years as I worked on my own self-worth to appreciate the value of working and truly begin to support myself fully.
One of the things I felt as I began to heal from the STOP I had in 2010 was the strong need I had to take better care of myself, but more than that I had such a strong pull to take responsibility for my own life, mainly financially. I had hardly worked for the past 15 years, using children as an excuse to not engage with employment opportunities. The thought of having a career suddenly felt so strong and supportive and quite frankly a necessary and practical part of life. How had I not seen this before?
This was a completely new feeling for me but empowering and wonderful to feel. I had never felt that level of care for myself.
I began to see Universal Medicine practitioners who were trained in Esoteric Breast Massage, and Esoteric Chakra-Puncture and did several programs that supported me to address the lack of care and self-worth I had for myself.
This was the turning point as I could feel the most basic support of looking after myself with food and rent was grossly lacking and I wanted to change this more than anything.
It was only when I cared enough for myself as a woman that I began my journey back into employment. It was really hard at first, with several wake up calls to where I was actually at, so I started at the bottom….
I made a commitment to myself that I was going to earn money no matter what I had to do, as long as I could remain integral with myself. I sold GF (gluten free) eggs for a while, then did some house cleaning and the odd temp job with agencies. One day I asked an organisation if I could volunteer in their clinic to gain some experience, which I did for 3 months. After that I applied for a job as a receptionist for a super clinic and got the job.
I could feel myself going from strength to strength, not in a career driving way, but in my body; I could feel how this was truly supporting me and my life. I could feel that I had been at the other end of the same spectrum, withdrawn from life, and that the difference was to not go into driving a career, but ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing: this is what is truly fulfilling and what truly grows my confidence and the way I am with myself and others.
I’ve learnt also that a STOP, in my case an illness, can be the most amazing blessing in disguise – a healing journey that evolves us if we choose to adhere to the learning being asked of us.
In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.
I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!
As long as I am being my playful self, live in a way at home that supports me with my daily rhythms, my food and time to connect to myself, then work/careers take care of themselves. So while my commitment to life at first was about me getting back on my feet to support myself financially, what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within.
By Donna Harris, Dip BA, Brisbane
Further Reading:
Work is Medicine
Why Work? What Is Work About?
My Relationship with Work: Choosing to be All of Me
Words on Serge Benhayon 
Amazing Donna as what you bring to the table is very digestible and when we understand that work is also a cycle we understand that our jobs will come and go with no stress as we explore who we are.
It is about the equal love and importance to each part of our lives and to each person in our lives.
Commitment to life is so much more than we realise – it is a committment to self and ones connection with Universality…
I too had trouble committing to work and it took a while to get ‘the ball rolling’ and then when it took off, boy did it take off! I now work 2 full time jobs and have been loving it for 5 years…it is like the pendulum needed to swing from the stagnancy to the excess work to now gradually finding its balance beautifully so. A constant work in progress.
Agree and understand what has been shared Henrietta and adding to our understanding is the fact that our working life is like a cycle. When one job is complete another is already in the wings waiting for us to move in a way that opens the door on our next project or purpose-full endeavour.
Donna this is a beautiful and practical sharing – and one that I suspect many women can also relate to. We can think that the home life of looking after children is there as our main role, but in reality we do need to care for ourselves and our other valuable forms of expression including work with equal importance.
Henrietta, I was born into a generation where girls were seen and not heard and that their main role in life was to get married raise children and look after the house, while the husband went out to work to provide. There was no emphasis on looking after ourselves first, that would be termed a selfish act, everything was to revolve around the husband and family first. I know so many women friends who wore themselves out trying to live and uphold up the ideals and beliefs that they were bombarded with from their parents, friends, media and the church. The media at the time idolized the perfect women, who looked stunning, was a great hostess entertaining friends, family and the husband’s clients, kept the house immaculately, AND was a sex goddess in bed. Quite frankly no wonder they suffered from self-worth issues no one could live such a perfect life, but so many women of my generation tried to.
Work is a way of living that supplies us with energy when we worked connected to our Essences, Inner-most-hearts / Souls and another upside is when connected we are so much more available to express to others in the most transparent way.
As children being commited and responsible is natural. I remember in my early childhood, waking up in the morning, opening up my eyes and feeling ready to start my day with so much joy. Ready to learn, to explore life and to bring all of me in all what I did. This changed for a while, but today I can feel again the same joy and appreciation for having a job I love because all what I can learn and bring through it. This is a reflection and the result of committing more in the relationship with myself and my body. Attending Universal Medicine workshops and courses, having regular sessions and being part of the esoteric community of students enatils a significant support in my life, to bring all of me in everything I do, which is something that I deeply appreciate.
I really enjoy working, regardless of what it is. I go mad when there’s 2/3 days off in a row because I lack focus and a direction after the first day off. I enjoy being out in the world with people as I’ve dealt with most of my issues and am less reactive. If I do react it’s great because I get the reflection/trigger from another so I get to look at it. There’s so many benefits to work greater than the pay package.
Love what you shared here Leigh. The work we have is the life we live, we don’t separate one thing from another, that’s what makes our job so enriching and inspiring.
Before my involvement in universal medicine I had such lack of commitment to life, I ran from society, now the picture is completely different, I am bringing loads to society in way of true inspiration and true purpose.
Like many others, I grew up with a belief that I had to earn a living, and the current education system prepares us for that. We could be working most of our life, but with no real sense of commitment to life or ourselves. I totally agree with you, Donna, it is about committing to being ME first.
Life surely is about the energy we are connected to and when we have a commitment to bring our Loving self to any situation then we can share with others our loving reflection and one of the greatest places to reflect is in the work place.
“committing to being ME first” A great confirmation today as I realised that greater commitment to life is a commitment to being connected to myself first and foremost.
Committing to life when we are aligning to our essences, Inner-most-heart / Souls definitely starts with the self and when fully connected life becomes about being a reflection of the divine Love we all can be and thus drops the individuality.
When we are given those moments to stop, whether due to a health reason or some other reason, they offer us the space to reflect on where we are at, how we are living and what choices we are making. They offer us the space to consider how we have been with ourselves and also how we are with others. Nothing just ever happens. There is always great purpose behind everything. All we need to do is see everything for the opportunities being presented. What is it for me to learn here?
I really appreciate what you are sharing Jennifer
“Nothing just ever happens. There is always great purpose behind everything. All we need to do is see everything for the opportunities being presented. What is it for me to learn here?”
Looking at life and the opportunity to learn has to be one of the greatest gifts, I understand how we can be a student of life and that everyday life is an absolute opportunity to learn about ourselves and others.
Always so supportive to read this, I can feel many points you have raised I can relate to, feeling in my case I was there to care for others and not take seriously my own self care including committing to work and financially supporting myself. Your words about it being a truly loving journey for yourself to go back to work made the central focus about you bringing more love into your life instead of ticking the career and finances boxes. Thanks so much Donna.
Following pictures does not even allow us to feel where are we because when we try to do this we relate always to the picture. We only look one way. We delete the rest from our vision camp.
Pictures of how life ‘should be’ is a sure fire way to distract us from any true purpose in life.
“I felt getting a job had to look a certain way and that I needed status so I looked important in it and that it paid well without my having to do very much.” This made me laugh as I could really feel the illusion we live in, any job is important because without one the all does not work.
I love that saying about there being no top or bottom of the ladder. The key is to make sure you are on the ladder, engaged in life, and working hard. It does not matter where others are, or how high you are, as the blessing in work is that the body loves it and it engages us with the world and most of all people.
There are many things we use as an excuse in order to not go out to work, yet the more we commit to ourselves the more we understand that work is part of the body’s natural rhythm and that the body wants to work, that it’s part of supporting ourselves.
So true Sally, and seeing this work ethic in soul-full children as they are growing up is amazing. ‘Excuses’ simply come from our spirit.
I am very gently finding my self-worth to work. As I have felt the impulse to work, sometimes I would get a little impatient but that recently was my downfall and an essential part of my unfolding. There is no rush or hurry to study that I feel will support me in getting a job as this leads to exhaustion and illness. I am learning to surrender to me and make that priority instead of going into drive is what I am practicing and then see what happens as I bring the future towards me and not the other way round.
“In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” I agree with this. I have and am going through a ‘growing spurt’ presently at work. There is certainly a lot to appreciate in how much I bring — the quality I lead in providing an abundance of support to all I work with — listening to what is needed and delivering it. I also have learnt, which is just as powerful, was to look after me first if that support I provide and worth is not returning itself back to me.
No coincidence! Filling time with meeting friends for coffee and you felt lonely but committing to life and taking a job as a receptionist where you meet lots of people brought purpose and light into your life.
I love this part about there not being a bottom of the ladder at work, but rather just where you need to be for you and your life is where you are. This takes away all the need to push and drive to be what we are not, and gives space or room to experience ourselves just as we are.
Getting a job is one of the best ways to commit to life. We have this belief that it has to be well paid and needs to be seen to be ‘successful’, but the best job I have ever had and still enjoy is working in a supermarket. I went there 8 years ago thinking I would be there for 6 months or a year, before moving on to a more lucrative and dare I say it… more respected job. There was a huge amount of arrogance in me, and through this job I have learnt humility, commitment to life, and that it doesn’t matter what job you do as long as you bring all of you to it in every moment.
Yes it is not until we are willing to commit to ourselves that we can also commit to work and all the different areas of our lives that call for our active engagement with whatever needs doing. The beauty is that once we commit to this then we are given the energy to perform whatever role is required.
Isn’t that amazing Helen. That just highlights how we get our energy from how we are in all we do. I know I work a solid 8-10 hours now with a short lunch break, whereas I used to need my morning tea and need my lunch and the last 2 hours of an 8 hours shift were a real struggle.
We undervalue work so much if we only make it about earning money for paying your bills and for (early) retirement as it is our natural way of expressing our love for all the people in the communities we live in. It is the way to evolve ourselves as a person but too as a society, and all of humanity.
I could relate to this after having children, it was like having one foot in two camps but never really solid or grounded in either. I’ve always worked, either full-time or more part-time when babies were born but like you it wasn’t until I met Serge Benhayon that I really understood the power and truth of committing to life in full. Now I love committing, not with any perfection, really my body loves commitment because whenever I don’t it tells me loud and clear.
it is very helpful to have a job to get into a rhythm in life and most jobs involve people in one way or another, so it is also a great learning field to be with people, to cooperate and to teamwork.
I have to say I felt a bit like I was reading about myself – as in – I was totally happy to hand my life over to someone else and take a back seat. What I’m learning is that it actually feels incredible to take charge of your own life and not be reliant on others for your own sense of steadiness and worth – and yes – commitment is the answer.
I too started very late in my life to have a job and once I started I wondered why hadn’t started stared earlier, and have ever since built myself a very solid relationship with work and dearly enjoy it and do not want to miss it. What I have learned is that we are made to work and bring our all to society, and I can very much confirm it from every fibre of my body, so it is never work as such that is the problem when we do not like to work or even hate the work we have and it is very much worth looking deeper why it is so, as you have done Donna, to then be able to change it and being able to bring our all to the world.
I agree Esther, we are made to work and give life everything, work is how we grow and how we learn – it’s such an enriching and important part of life that tends to be portrayed as a compulsory prison sentence rather than the incredible opportunity it is.
The simple practicality of bringing it back to us, to how we live and care for us in our bodies, that’s what changes everything and work is very much a part of that. I love working and a few years ago that is not something I would have said, and the more I’ve learned to appreciate and care for me, the more I’ve found my work and my approach to it changing. It’s about committing absolutely to all of who we are.
We are so lost in life when as from young we do not connect to the purpose of life. We then can commit to a way of living that is far from what we are capable of and this can start already at a young age. We do not see that what you can learn at school will be of benefit in your life, for instance learning to read and write and doing maths are some of the basics that can help you through. But when we are committed to have no purpose in life, why then would you go to school to start with! From this attitude we can have that feeling that school does not serve us and has not supported us, but actually it is from our own commitment, from our own choice that we have made it as such.
There is only one life and work is an integral part of that. The term work life balance for instance will let us to belief that they are separate but they are not. If we go into this belief then we have different hats on at work and in ‘life’ whatever that may be. For me life is life and work is simply one of the expressions from my essence I bring into this world. No difference to cooking or cleaning at home, or working behind my computer writing this comment. It is all one and the same.
The fairy tale of growing up and being Mrs. someone is very disempowering for women and impacts our commitment to offer all we have to life. This is part of the current model that has women being less, being passive and compliant, rather than knowing we are the ones who can bring about change in society through our sacredness.
Could it be that there is a reluctance to live from this sacredness because it has been forcefully suppressed for so long through the ages. Look for instance in how the world is today. All big companies and (religious) institutions are mostly led by men, all laws are thought out by men, the education system is based on the military order, male invented and so on. I fully agree that we do need that sacredness back into our societies as that will free us from the shackles that hold us in these male energy driven societies we all still live in today. But it is not only for the women to start living their sacredness, it is also for men to understand that they are completely lost without it and currently make them do what they do in majority without them feeling to be part of a grander whole.
So beautifully expressed Nico, what you have shared honours what both women and men bring and that when we choose to live this again the many blessings will change the way systems operate. I know for myself the belief that I was here to marry and bear children was very strongly reflected in family all around me. I had a family member whenever I would see them ask me from when I was like 12 when I was going to get married.
What you say Aimee, we all have to work together and live from the innate qualities we all hold within, qualities we at times are surprised by we have them as there where not lived in our lives before for a long period of time but are so needed to bring the real change we all are looking for for ages.
Something I’m realising is it is important to not judge ourselves or be hard if we haven’t lived our innate qualities for a very long time. Even if we haven’t expressed or shown them, like sacredness, they are always there waiting to come out again.
What is shared here is so important, that withdrawing from life which can be seen in some as not working and being driven in work are the same sides of the coin, in both cases the care of the person is missing, and so as Donna shares here it’s about being us in work first and foremost and bringing us with our skills.
That is a great point, Monica, that withdrawing from life and being driven in career being the two sides of the same coin. So true – ‘we’ are missing from them both.
This is sweet, that there does not need to be a push for a high achieving picture perfect career for one to feel fulfilled and whole in their work, because this feeling of contentment actually comes first from just being ourselves.
Every job, no matter where it is perceived on the ladder, is super important. The people at the top, need the people at the bottom, and vice versa. Its not a competition, and its not worth comparing… just consider what the Board Room would look like if the Cleaning team did not do their job for 1 month!
Those wake up calls to show us where we are actually at can be quite confronting but nonetheless great teachers of what we need to be aware of and learn from.
So many of us struggle with committing to out jobs, families, relationships… life. Why? Because on one hand we have never been taught the true meaning of commitment and on another, we have never really asked.
I used to believe I was committed to life, however, through the Teachings of the Ageless Wisdom and Universal Medicine as presented by Serge Benhayon I came to the understanding that my ‘commitment’ was for recognition to compensate for my lack of self-worth and not to life itself. Like you, Donna, “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!
In the 70’s it was common to have the pupils guided into where they would be best suited. So, the less academic students were herded into childcare, the middle stream was herded into office work and the more able students were encouraged to go onto further education and university. The interview with the ‘guidance counsellor’ was particularly interesting because no matter what you said you wanted to do the path was already set for you, and there was no leeway from that path.
When women hand over responsibility to their partner they abdicate having commitment to themselves and to life. I am finding we need to have purpose and responsibility every day or we drift through life like a rudderless boat. It was awesome to read and feel the empowerment and growth in self-worth that happened for the writer through the process of committing to work.
We are all saturated with ideals, beliefs and pictures of how life should be when we are young we take them on as our beliefs mostly with out questioning them or where they come from. I definitely did this and it wasn’t until I came across Universal Medicine that I started to question everything that I had been told and held as me. I realised that none of the ideals, beliefs and pictures were me, so then the question well who am I?
Finding the real me under all the layers I had buried myself under is finally emerging, and I am nothing like what I have taken on as me. Bubbling up underneath all the layers is a sense of fun and enjoyment of life a deep love of humanity that is in the agony of being so lost. But when I look under the layers they have been saturated with there is also such a pure innocence within them that they have lost contact with just as I did.
Commitment to life, to work, to a purpose greater than ourselves gives us joy, purpose, vitality. meaning to our lives through the connections that we make with others. Committing to life and work isn’t about loads of effort and necessarily doing more, but about the quality that we do life in, that we bring to life, and the % of ourselves that we bring to it. When we only bring a small percentage and hold the rest back, life feels like hard work, and the rest of the world gets a reduced version.
Work feeds back more to us than we know, it lifts us with the understanding of how we contribute to the world with our everyday activity.
Commitment to life is a huge support – I have found it actually gives me energy, gives me a sense of purpose and focus.
Great point that true commitment isn’t about frantically doing more per se, but bringing all of us- fully showing up and being there, committed and in the moment, to whatever it is we’re doing. There’s an honesty and realness when we’re prepared to show up and be who we are without any perfection.
Thank you Donna, I appreciated what you have shared here on how it’s truly about our relationship to ourselves first, our self worth and the care we bring to ourselves and that this is what takes care of work.
I also Doug retired from work for four years but found that I became more withdrawn from life and would avoid people. Since I listened to a presentation by Serge Benhayon, I now look for jobs where there is an abundance of people, and like you have said it does change your life.
Every day I feel how supportive it is for me to be working full-time and more. It is extremely healthy for the body.
A life without purpose, just drifting along from one coffee shop to the next or one shopping centre to another, exposes the big emptiness we feel inside when just ‘loafing’ and not taking responsibility.
A deeply loving change this is – to commit to ourselves in full not as a way to ‘fix’ but as a way to love. Donna it seems you have truly healed the disconnection you once had and now connect to your purpose.
We all do have a true purpose, a fire that burns bright inside, I was annoyingly aimless for years, this has changed through reconnecting to purpose in my life. Appreciating that there’s meaning in Everything, supports me to connect to purpose, nothing by chance and everything a message.
I hadn’t made the link before reading this today that neediness in relationships comes from a lack of commitment to one’s self. Because when we commit to ourselves, in full, embracing, adoring, cherishing, appreciating every part of ourselves, including all our past choices, there is no need to fill ourselves up with emotional love from another. We’re so full of our own love, that it’s this that we exude and connect from, with others, instead of an emptiness we’re seeking to fill.
Donna I could have written this myself. It’s been a long walk back to commitment but the rewards have been enormous. When we make life and all we do in it about bringing all of us we see how needed we are in all walks of life.
To embrace these periods in our lives where we have been brought to a stop for what they have on offer is for me the way to go. As I experience all of life as a learning, then certainly a stop moment. like described in this blog, should be considered as something crucial and to a situation to appreciate deeply.
Committing to me first has always been the missing ingredient, so it’s a bit like trying to make a loaf of bread without using the main ingredient it doesn’t work. I have come to understand that only by taking care of ourselves can we truly take care of others.
Not committing to life feels like a shallow breath, holding back on our fullest. The feeling of resignation and resentment is all too familiar at many work places and people are constantly complaining about their job and talking about being elsewhere, doing something else. “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force” – this is an amazing wisdom.
Wow Donna, I love this. I can very much relate to not working due to having children, I used this as an excuse for a long time, but I felt flat and I found that the lack of purpose in my life was tiring. I now love to work and enjoy all the life lessons I learn and love the connections with people that I meet in my day, I now can’t imagine not working.
‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.’ You brought quality first and that’s all that matters which your blog is letting us know beautifully.
After working part time for 10 years I had to resume full-time work a few years ago due to some financial issues, I was nervous how I would cope with this change as I work shift work. It has been a great experience and I now enjoy my work more than ever and have found the commitment to my work has been an amazing addition to my life and supported me to commit to other areas of my life as well.
Actually we can say that we are made to work and when we retract from this what is so naturally in us we miss the opportunity to grow and evolve. So then the question is what do we really choose for if we neglect the opportunities work is offering us?
“I was in so much illusion thinking that my life was fulfilling when in fact there was a massive void of emptiness.” Such an honest and revealing statement, and I don’t think you are alone in making that or living that. I know I pretended for many years that life was awesome when inside I was feeling very empty.
Its interesting how our ideals and beliefs set in very early on and then shape all the choices we make. I’m finding that there are so many ideals and beliefs I subscribe to that have narrowed my view of the world and kept me blinkered. It’s being very freeing to identify and get rid of some, because it has started to open up a whole new world of opportunity I had kept myself away from.
This is an incredible sharing- I had no idea of your past and no hint that you struggled to commit to life and engage in the world, this is a true testament that you have healed this as there is not the lingering feeling of someone who is struggling with life.
I have seen my own life and the lives of others transform through taking on full time work. I would say working can be considered true medicine.
‘So while my commitment to life at first was about me getting back on my feet to support myself financially, what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within.’ Yes the more we connect to the beauty that is within the more we want to share this with the world and the more we care for ourselves the more care we can bring to the work place, the more we want to work and become responsible in ways that we may have never been before.
” I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it! ” This is so wonderful Donna getting your life back thank you for sharing.
Donna I loved how you started back in the workforce. Building consistency and confidence to get yourself started. Work is very good for us, no matter what we do, we get to see the world ‘out there’. See how people are in the world, how we travel through life and interact with one another. Work is about our commitment to people. I love work, always have and I have worked in a variety of areas.
There is no way I could have committed to life the way I have if it weren’t for making sure that I was truly looking after and caring for myself. Serge Benhayon has been presenting since 1999 the principles of Self-Love and Self-Care and sure I had heard them before this but I hadn’t heard them and totally appreciated what he was offering like any other time I had heard it before. Because this is the foundation of who we are and this connection is to be honoured, cherished and embraced whole heartedly then having this as our focus and choosing this for ourselves is monumental when what you have been living is disregarding and disrespectful.
People do notice when we show how committed we are. Just yesterday I went to start another college course and they had changed the criteria from the previous course, which basically meant that we would have to go in every day for two weeks, and then go in less and work online from home – I asked why the change and they said it was because students were not committed and were dropping of the course. But when I expressed that this new program would not work for me because I had work training days to attend to, the course manager said to me ‘Don’t worry I know you are committed from how you were during the level 1″. So now I can come and go as I please, do most of my work from home and come into the college when I can. I was also advised that if I needed an extension to my course, then that would be offered to me.
Committing to life is a rhythm of smaller movements that bring purpose and simplicity to our lives and once we begin to say yes to this commitment it’s amazing to see how our life unfolds and expands thereafter.
The image of having spare time to have coffees with friends at any time of the day is taken by many as the best sign ever that we are having a great life. In truth, this is more a great image than a sign that we are having a great life. Our only commitment there is to make sure that others know they are not alone in buying into this image.
That’s exactly it Eduardo, we get sold an image and chase after it but when we get there the truth of the experience is shared from the body. Things that are touted as the apex of human life can in fact feel quite empty and horrible.
Embracing commitment really is embracing life.
How beautiful life presents itself to us when we commit to it and its forever learning’s that are there just waiting to be honoured and confirmed simply by our presence.
Totally agree. Committing to life and your development, making sure your day is of a high quality, living the principles you’d want to see in the world, working hard, making life about people, contributing to the world around us and always growing and learning and moving forward is such a rich and fulfilling way to live.
Getting a job… committing to life? What did that mean? One would think it simply involves getting a job and getting on with it, but so many are doing just that, they may have a job but there is no true quality in what they do because they are constantly thinking of the next holiday, weekend or thing to do and always working against themselves, so essentially not truly committed to life in the real sense.
“How had I not seen this before?” This made me smile as this is a question I have asked myself so often during the presentations by Serge Benhayon at Universal Medicine events or in his writing.
‘Work is love made visible’… one of my favourite quotes, by Kahlil Gibran, says it all. Work is self-love, love of others and love of life.
Great lesson Donna in really committing to oneself first, then the natural flow on that occurs is what is really amazing. As you described, even when you were going about working and had a job, that didn’t automatically mean you were committed to life. But it was only when you felt more deeply what it meant to value yourself that the commitment came.
“As long as I am being my playful self, live in a way at home that supports me with my daily rhythms, my food and time to connect to myself, then work/careers take care of themselves.” When we make a commitment to ourselves and take responsibility for our choices, everything takes care of itself, and we find that whatever job we do is exactly where we need to be at that time.
Very true, it’s all the small choices we make that take care of the bigger choices.
Stunning Donna, it really is not about what we do but about how we do what we do. It comes from us and a commitment to life, a commitment to love.
Donna this is a great blog to read and I love this equal-ness with no top or bottom of the ladder – what a joy the workplace would be for all if the intention was to attend work with a ‘whole lot of themselves’ in it!
“I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!”
There is such freedom in committing to life as Donna has shared here. I used to think I had freedom when I was relying on my ex husband to support me, I could go where I wanted when I wanted etcetra, but I never felt truly free inside myself when I was living this way. Freedom is not what we can do in life, it is in the integrity of how we go about our lives.
I have been judging someone for abnegating their power and handing their life over to someone else but reading your blog this morning I can see how I used to do that myself in a way and that I can understand more easily this person’s behaviour and let go of judgement. I can also see very clearly how my level of self care has a direct relationship with how I am at work and how by having a 9-5 job, even if only part time allows for a structure and stronger purpose to my life and brings a greater sense of rhythm to my week. My sense of commitment is likewise growing.
It is only when we learn to truly self-care that we can bring that same care to our work whatever that may be. I have often felt overwhelmed by whatever job I happened to be doing but since I committed to taking better care of myself my working life has flowed so much more smoothly. I am loving working full-time as I turn 60 this month (which only a few years ago was the age women retired at in the UK) and have no intention of retiring as I can feel how working supports me in all other areas of my life.
‘the same dedication was not there for myself and my life first (which included having a job) and therefore I was not truly there for my family either.’ We could say you were dedicated to be there for your family, this is what most people would say but with not being there for yourself in the first place ( which I can relate to) you were not truly there for your family. It is all one life and when we start to take care for ourselves we are coming from a very different place, a place of deep care and love in our own body which makes we feel this same love and care for everything and everyone else.
Working for a living can provide much structure and rhythm to our everyday. It can also get us out of our comfort zone, for I am not sure about anyone else, but in every job I have ever done I was and am forever learning something.
Me too Suse, I love the structure of going to work and I can feel I learn so much from every job I do and have. What I have to watch is that the rhythm comes from me not from the structure that has been provided to me from the job – that way we work harmoniously together rather than using it as a crutch.
It’s is interesting how when we take on a job we can believe our value is connected to what we do and that society will view us as a nobody if we have a low paid job or what is considered a lesser job – I had these views also and would feel better about myself if I had what I considered as a decent job, or an interesting job. I have since come to understand and feel it within myself that, I am not less if I am a cleaner or a hairdresser … and that what really matters is our commitment to life in full, regardless of our job title.
You demonstrate how working more can be a great support for our health as well as the financial aspect. I feel we are born to work because it teaches us commitment, consistency and service. Yet how we work is the key to determining if work drains us or builds us.
We really take so much for granted that we completely dismiss the importance of being committed to ourselves and life. it’s unfortunate that it takes a huge stop moment to arise before we assess our approach to life, or lack of approach to life. We are capable of so so much, if we’re just willing to connect back to ourselves and appreciate how much there is we can offer and how much there is on offer.
Reigniting our true purpose and committing to ourselves and to life is key to truly living.
Life without work, without service to what we are all a part of is empty, no matter how many distractions and numbing techniques we care to deploy.
Donna thank you, this has been very powerful to read again. There is an attitude that to not have to work is “it”, whether that is when we retire or earlier in life it’s considered a goal, whilst work is a “have to” and burden, something we would like to get out of. But when it’s about self care and contributing back to communities then it’s a completely different foundation.
We are meant to work! But, if we are just ticking boxes and coasting through life on a comfort level we will never evolve. With purpose behind whatever we do, there will always be growth in our evolution, and this spills over onto those around us!
We seriously miss out when we don’t commit and give life one billion percent, work and everything it gives us is such an enriching and valuable part of life.
Work offers us something that is very precious and little understood… it offers us a constant reflection of our worth and what we bring the world.
Thank you Heather, not committing to life through work can be one way we avoid dealing with our worth issues and discovering our qualities, strengths, and true value to this world.
Someone asked me if I was happy the other day. My answer was… ‘Are you?’ They said they were trying. From that I could feel a level of purposelessness that is so heavy and unforgiving and very difficult to get out of once it has been someone’s normal for a long time. My reply, ‘There is unlimited Joy in a life of Purpose’.
‘…it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it! That is what I am learning too, to commit to life in full and to be honest with myself when I try to sabotage bringing all of me by choosing a comfortable cruising way, holding myself back instead of connecting to my body and feeling the purpose and just go!
Committing to life is saying yes to that which we know is our innate right as a son of God, and renouncing that which keeps us away from living in the awe of how truly amazing life is.
God does not stand by and wait for another, we as humans do this, holding ourselves in our total illusionary belief that we cannot stand alone in a world that is fully dependant on another to remain the same so the status quo doesn’t change. Yet making the decision to do this, to stand against the tide, naturally brings with it a commitment to our bodies, to life and to the world at large.
Work offers a lot of evolution, and being resistant to work can be one way we hang onto the status quo of life and avoid change and growth. Avoiding work can be about staying in comfort. Work is also another way we can contribute to brotherhood, knowing that our contribution is an equally significant contribution that supports the all.
This story brings to life a favourite quote by American-Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran: ‘Work is love made visible’. What you have chosen Donna is love in every way.
Donna I remember your egg selling days but didn’t know all of your work back story. Knowing how you are today – hardworking in your paid role/s and just as committed in your voluntary ones – you would never guess you were once someone who found the idea of work repellent. Congratulations on your slow but steady – and oh so solid – rebuild. Super-inspiring.
Such a great awareness to have around choosing to go to work: it isn’t about the career path and the recognition it is the fullness of me I bring to my work – to everything. The truth of living this is very clear by the end of the day. Living for recognition brings exhaustion, living for purpose brings vitality.
It’s quite a reversal, believing that work is to bring us something in the form of recognition etc to fill a void inside ourselves, or being in the fullness of who we are and bringing that to work as our purpose. The first is about self, the second is about the all.
Reversing previous help beliefs can be a great way to re-connect to what is true.
“As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else – usually a boyfriend/my husband – and then just become a chameleon and adapt to their way of life. This was easy for me to do and so I did it… but at what cost to myself?”. This can happen to us in all areas of our lives. The daunting feeling of looming responsibility can make us want to hide. When I feel responsibility as connected to true purpose, then it doesn’t seem so daunting for me.
I used to believe that i could be a man of leisure and be very happy with that, but over time I really started to understand that we are made to work, and when I am not working there is a deep unsettlement and dissatisfaction with my life. We are all made for work and it is just for us each to address the issues we have with it and make it as enjoyable as any other part of our life.
Working has been a very interesting experience for me. I have always loved my jobs, whatever job I had I enjoyed it. However, just under a year ago I got a job that I knew was really to serve humanity, the purpose of the job was certain, however this job does not fit any of my ideas about what I imagined myself doing after graduating – the glamorous office in a top graduate recruiting company, wearing fancy clothes, heels, and going to meetings, no, none of that! This has been so difficult to accept, however the more I go to work, the more I love it, I know I have a long way to learn, and I still try to cut corners every now and again, however this is slowly changing and my commitment to work, life, and myself is deepening – thank you Waitrose!
Viktoria I also recently had pictures of what I thought my next job/career would be and something completely different has happened. The more I commit to this new role, the more I see why I’m in this position and it’s purpose, both to support me to grow and evolve in ways I’ve been avoiding, as well as what I can bring to an industry that needs what I can offer (from being me in my fullness/presence).
Committing to life starts with the appreciation of what has been given to us perfectly constellated for our own evolution, as the more we appreciate this the more we can maximize what is there for us and express from the fullness of who we are.
That’s true, our lives are perfectly designed for our own evolution and growth, when you can see that nothing is an accident and everything is actually there to help us life gets truly amazing.
I did an experiment last week, what would tomorrow look like if I gave it everything? In asking that question it was so apparent just how much we hold back in life and don’t give it our all. And you know what – it feels amazing to give life everything we’ve got, not only is the world missing out if we don’t but we are too.
Awesome Meg, “what would tomorrow look like if I gave it everything?” Very inspiring!
It is amazing the joy that can come from life when self-responsibility and commitment are embraced and true purpose is revealed. This is something that many are yet to discover and suffer in their apathy towards work without realizing they themselves hold the key and not something from the outside they wait to be delivered.
Prior to meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I believed I was committed to life but I learnt, in fact I was not committed to life but to attempting to make my life secure and better for me. What I have learnt is that to commit to life is to work with life rather than trying to make it ‘work’ for me, and all that means.
It’s really strong the pictures we can create of how our life should look, and work is a big part of this. For me I have found my work was married with a real lack of ambition, which limited where I would go with employment. I am certainly not drawn to making lots of money, but on the others side of the coin there is no reason to not take oneself constantly out of the comfort zone, particularly if we can feel it is building a solid foundation for progression as Donna has found in her way.
Committing to life has many different layers. I have worked for all of my adult life, but have only truly committed to it in the last few years. What does this look like? Well I now don’t try and get away with doing the bare minimum. I give my very best to each and every task that needs attending to. I don’t just stick to my job description, but will help out and volunteer to take on other tasks if I have the capacity. These are just a couple of examples, and it does feel so much better.
My life started to flourish when I committed to work. I have always worked, but it had been a means to an end while I focused on my ‘real’ career of being a musician (which didn’t support me financially at all). The turning point came when I felt I needed to take responsibility for my life – all of it, including money, and realised I needed to commit to work in whole different way. It hasn’t always been easy, but I continue to go from strength to strength at work, which is mirrored at home too. The one supports the other.
We tend to look at work as something second to life – something that we do for a certain time frame, until we have kids, retire, or simply something we ‘fit in’ to part of our days so we can then have free time. However, work is a crucial part of our wellbeing and our purpose in life – and never is it separate.
Our work does not have to be seen as arduous and disruptive to our lives-as you say Kylie when it is a true purpose it is not separate to us and this is joyous to feel. It becomes our gift to humanity. Rather than, ‘I need to go to work to make a living’, we could say ‘I love to express my gift to humanity and this supports me fully’.
Seeing our worth and accepting all of who we are enables us to move forward with life and build a foundation of self care that not only supports us moving forward but also knits together our movements beautifully. Thank you Donna.
It seems that we have developed the belief that work is an inconvenience and something that is to be endured, but what if it is the opportunity for us to heal on many levels. Everyday we are offered reflections from people that we have come together with for a reason (as nothing is by accident) to heal something within us, and to connect to others.
Thank you Donna, patterns of lack of confidence and low worth can really impact our ability to commit to life and work, yet committing to life and to work actually builds our self confidence and worth. We get to see ourselves in different situations and learn more about who we are and how valuable our contribution is to the world, especially if we make it about our qualities and what we bring to what we do.
Thank you Donna. I’m in between jobs at the moment and I can see how easy it is to think you have ‘no time to work’ and withdraw. You remind me that work is a huge blessing and support to us all.
Bringing commitment to life has changed my picture of life – the world is an ugly place, but I can now choose to live with joy and harmony within myself rather than the ‘suffering of victim consciousness’ in my earlier years.
I appreciate your sharing as it gave me insight into what people may struggle with as they enter the workforce. I can feel that I have had a judgement of people who don’t work and this sharing helped me to bring more understanding to what may be going on for people and helped me to explore where that judgement in me comes from.
Donna this is such a interesting journey that you have shared with us all. What I find is so unique about Universal Medicine is that as we heal ourselves obstacles that we feel are insurmountable slowly become little ant hills and then dissolve away naturally. Ideals and beliefs that we have about life also seem to just dissolve and for me my body feels lighter and I have much clearer thoughts.
“I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” Thank you Donna I loved your blog and your commitment to being you first and foremost and taking all of you to whatever you are doing.
I remember as I was growing up that everyone had an idea about what I should do when I grew up. They could all see different aspects of my character that would suit different professions and there was probably some projection going on there too as many wanted for me what they had not been able to realise for themselves. This creates a huge fog around a person if they do not have a strong feeling for a career of their own coupled with the belief of the day that women need not commit to anything other than their children and husband. No wonder then that I slipped through the net of the most-assumed-by-all step which was University. I had many jobs but there was no commitment until my thirties and that was not true as I see it now. True commitment starts with an ongoing surrender to our tender precious selves. It is putting ourselves first and deeply caring for ourselves and allowing ourselves to listen to our own body and the wisdom that it has always held but we have drowned out in favour for those around us or our stubborn rebellion to them and their ideas. This responsibility then nurtures the responsibility we have to support ourselves financially.
Wow Donna, you have come a very long way from those days. Knowing you as I do now, you are committed, hardworking and very competent. Any workplace would be graced by you in my view.
The pictures of an ideal life, are so far away from a truly loving and deeply fulfilling one. Unfortunately, sometimes we wait for the picture to be smashed before we are willing to let go of it.
A very inspirational blog in so many ways. I had a stop moment last year and was in hospital for a week and I saw just how many people were there with their own stop moments but possibly not being able to see them as stop moments or events to learn from. I am slowly but surely learning the importance of commitment to life on a daily basis.
I’m so glad that people like you, Donna and many others on this blog site share the power and blessings that our stop moments offer us. You remind me to appreciate my own stop moments and also to stop myself before my body has to step in and do it for me.
There is a saying love what you do and do what you love, but how can you if you don’t love and cherish yourself first? Bringing the focus from the mind into the body allows us a settlement, more awareness about what actually feels right or true or not. So taking care of our bodies and loving ourselves goes a long way in supporting us in a full commitment and not following an ideal or belief in what we think commitment is.
Great blog, Donna. It’s great for us to be honest enough in STOP moments to not only consider what is causing the stop, but also to look at how we need to make different choices to change the way we live.
It’s so true when we do our homework well by looking after our body, eating and sleeping well, we are putting our body in the readiness of what needs to be done next even though we don’t know what that might be, and we get offered or come across an opportunity to be even more of ourselves outside our home. Life is magical.
I had a lack of commitment to myself and to life and like you Donna step by step got myself back into full time work and I love it. It’s interesting all those ideals and pictures of how life should be get in the way of how life can truly be, what seems like its working for you actually doesn’t it just holds you in a situation that feels comfortable, but really in separation to humanity, I found.
WOW going from lack of self-worth and no commitment to life to this …. AMAZING. I have been the opposite in I have worked nearly all of my life BUT still was not committing to life and had lack of self-worth and self-esteem. How can this be? I was in function mode, ticking the boxes of what I had to do or ‘seen’ as what I had to do but it was not coming from my heart, there was no truth or purpose with this. So I would say that lack of commitment to life and lack of self-worth can be for anyone … even a CEO if we do not have that self-love and self-worth in place for us first. The Universal Medicine modalities are a great support in helping all come back to who they truly are.
“it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” Once we commit to ourselves then we can commit to others – and to our work-place – and truly be of service – regardless of the status of the job.
‘I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!’ I love this Donna, how we can be in the illusion of doing instead sharing ourselves in whatever there is to do.
An honest and inspiring sharing, Donna. The greater our commitment to ourselves, the more we are able to bring all of us to whatever it is we do. And that just feels great.
No matter what work, in fact anything, that I do, “it’s about committing to being ME first” and then taking all of ME to it. Very inspirational Donna, and the perfect words for me to read right now; next job here I come!
Committing to work is hands down the best thing you can do, it’s like the ultimate treasure chest of life’s lessons, there’s so much we can learn, grow and evolve in at work, it’s amazing way to master life.
Spot on Meg, I agree work offers us so much opportunity to truly evolve.
… And to watch and be part of others evolving.
Your blog Donna, shows to me that the impulse to live all of life completely must come from the body and it only can if we are taking proper care for it and start to honour and nurture that what is out biggest friend in life, our body.
I love my work – it puts me in front of all sorts of different people, gets me engaged in the world, and provides an opportunity to explore what it means to offer a true service that will evolve people, rather than just a functional task. Its all a work in progress but then that too is the whole point – we are here to learn and evolve.
I’ve recently had a few days ‘off’ and my level of self care dropped, we are designed to work and when we stop we have what Nick describes brilliantly in this blog as a ‘meh’ feeling. (https://wordsonsergebenhayon.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/gardening-leave-meh/)
I spent several years hiding at home before my daughter started school doing occasional part-time work because the thought of juggling home, childcare and a proper job felt too much. Looking back I can see how I was struggling to commit to life in general and how working would have supported me in that. This has given me more understanding of some of my clients in my current role who are reluctant to even explore voluntary work because they ‘don’t want to let anyone down’. For me the person I was letting down was me and it was only when I went out into the world again that my life became more balanced and I could feel the wider purpose of what I had to offer.
‘It took a number of years as I worked on my own self-worth to appreciate the value of working and truly begin to support myself fully.’ Thank you for your honesty Donna and sharing your journey with employment and learning to support yourself within that and your life in general. One of the things that I am appreciating about my current role is the supportive framework it gives me in my life and also that it has encouraged me to explore how I can better support myself within that. With the support of many esoteric practitioners I have worked on my levels of self-care and love and appreciating what I bring and I have let go of absorbing the emotions of others and then feeling constantly drained and exhausted. I now go into work and focus on bringing all of me to my job role whilst being more playful and light in an often difficult environment. For me there always used to be a heaviness around work that has gone and I can now feel the joy of commitment to my work and my life.
I love coming back to this blog – it so clearly shows the many benefits of committing to work, being out there at the coalface and dealing with everything that work brings up, whether that be customers/clients, superiors, work colleagues, tasks/assignments, etc etc. Work is the biggest school ever and the lessons just keep coming.
“I’ve learnt also that a STOP, in my case an illness, can be the most amazing blessing in disguise – a healing journey that evolves us if we choose to adhere to the learning being asked of us.” This is so refreshing and inspiring to read as opposed to the commonly held response/belief of ‘I am a victim of unforeseen circumstances’.
We are all here to serve, be it a CEO, factory worker or cleaner, all should be respected and carried out with absolute and equal integrity.
What I love about the presentations of Universal Medicine is that they reveal much more than meets the eye. “So while my commitment to life at first was about me getting back on my feet to support myself financially, what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within.”
EVERYONE has something unique to contribute and we are ALL needed exactly as we are. The world is such a richer place when we all contribute and express.
one of the things we aren’t taught when we grow up is to value what we bring. When we don’t value that, work then is something that becomes a means of security and survival, rather than an expression with potential and purpose.
‘As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else’ this is how I have lived and still do in moments for a very long time, the someone else being the only other energy that is not divine.
It’s amazing what can happen when we make a true commitment to ourselves and to life. Unfortunately though it often takes being brought to a stop to wake us up to the fact that life has a habit of ‘passing us by’ if we just sit on the side line doing our own thing and watching everyone else do theirs, whereas being fully committed to life makes every minute of every day a joy to live.
I really love being at work nowadays because I can appreciate that what I bring with being there with all who I am and that I bring this to people in the first place and my skills are secondary. That has not always been the case as in the past you could say that this was completely reversed. In those times I was looking for recognition for my knowledge, my skills and how well I performed my tasks and in that there was no ‘time’ to meet people just for who they were. This way of working never gave me the fulfilment I have now but instead left me with an emptiness and a feeling of never being enough.
Thank you Donna. I’ve often seen commitment to life as a downside, a discipline and just plain hard work. Your blog reminds me that the choice to express all of me through the way I work leads to joy and vitality.
For me commitment was first accepting that I am here on this plane and once that had been accepted the next step is being fully present with all of me, to the best of my ability, in all that I do. I have had to really understand this is this life as I was living withdrawn from the world as everything shocked me. This is called contraction. The fuller I am from my connection within the more committed and present I am and the more I hold this the less likely I am able to be shocked as I am more able to observe and not absorb. In me, absorbing causes the shock . . . which causes the contraction . . . which in turn causes the lack of commitment.
What you have shared is an incredibly important lesson, self love. What I feel continuously is the impact my self love or lack of self love has on all around me. When there is a lack of self love complication come in as opposed to an ease and flow with what life has on offer.
Committing to work has been so valuable to me over the last four years because prior to that I would run hot and cold, as some days I wanted a job and then others I was looking for an excuse to quit and stay at home. It was an Esoteric Practitioner who helped me over a period of time to get back into work and to see that my relationship with work was based on blaming others and the job. Ideals and beliefs still come up and at times are challenging but the work place is the best place to bring those hidden things up – it’s like having therapy every day.
when we support ourselves in the way we take care of ourselves and then take that same way of living to our work situation the care is felt and often we see changes in our workplace that show how that care is growing in others in different ways. Working does not just support us or others financially but can bring purpose and a sense of connection and service that we might not have experienced in the same way before. It takes us out of our own worlds and puts us in a context whereby we can see that what we are doing can benefit all.
It is interesting how images not just govern us but also how much they force our total attention and instill a movement towards it that prevents looking at the bigger picture first and putting the image in context and moving accordingly.
Work is a necessary and to me the binding factor of our society. Imagine if everybody would say “no, today I will not go to work” how would our world then look like? To make our societies work jobs have to be done and any job will serve the whole and is as important as all the others. Why would we not want to be part of that as we all live in societies and are dependent on these?
Great point Nico. We often get sold this idea that work takes away from life and stops us from doing what we really want to do…. but what if work is life and what if the way we are at work is joyous. That’s a whole new level of service. Imagine a world where everyone works like that!
I absolutely LOVE my job – and it has gotten to the point where I am super aware of how much work actually supports me – Something I appreciate both about work, and in myself for choosing to be so committed to it
Understanding what commitment to life is and knowing how it feels in my body has been an incredible revelation. The joy and vitality it naturally brings is endless and so very inspirational. Thank you Serge Benhayon for inspiring what comes naturally, when we allow it.
Work for me for most of my life meant something separate from ‘my’ life. Even when I became self-employed, doing things that I thought I loved and enjoyed, in my honesty, something felt amiss. I now know that I could be hardworking and very competent from all angles, yet there was no true commitment and ‘I’ was the missing ingredient.
Thank you for sharing your very inspiring story Donna – I have always had a very strong work ethic and had no trouble getting and keeping jobs and I used to pride myself in being good at whatever job I did but I did not take the time to appreciate myself for just being me – it was always all about what I could do. I always needed recognition from others. So beautiful to learn and value the importance of self recognition and self appreciation.
This is a very empowering journey Donna. Having a career or a good job does not make us who we are – but if we value ourselves and what we bring by way of quality to what we do, the career naturally unfolds as we cannot contain ourselves but want to share the joy of committing to life with all.
‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.’ – this is very cool Donna – and it shows that you can’t really separate how you live. It’s not like you can get away with having no responsibility at home but lots of responsibility at work – things get exposed. It is about consistency in all areas that forms a true and solid foundation.
Years ago I only worked part-time, and in my spare time drifted around not really doing anything, I felt like I had retired and lacked purpose in my life. After attending Universal Medicine presentations and learning to become more responsible in my life, I now work full time and really enjoy this, and have committed to many other areas in my life as well. It seems the more you commit to life even in the smallest ways the more energy you have to do more.
Commitment to ourselves is first vital if we want to commit to life, for years I struggled with committing and it wasn’t till I looked at my own levels of self love or should I say lack of that things started to change.
Donna your story holds many parallels to my life. I have committed to life and supporting myself like never before and the way I feel in life is beautiful, beyond any dream that I had of what life should be.
‘Everything is everything’ I heard presented at a UM workshop, but the true ‘encompassingness’ of this phrase is still unfolding. How we commit to getting out of bed, to doing the dishes, to cleaning the room has an affect on our commitment to the next person we meet, the next phone call, to how we love our children or partner. And it begins with our commitment to ourselves otherwise nothing else can hold the quality of true commitment.
How warped our sense of work can be when we separate and disconnect it from our life, and thus also remove the quality in which we live from our work.
Thank you Donna, this is so beautiful. Blown away by the revelation that commitment to life is not big and scary but rather a joy and a reconnection to ourselves. I was also blown away by this humble and deeply beautiful line “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” I work in education and this sentence alone blows the way we view life and security out of the water.
Hello Donna and while we could say it was about you ‘getting a job’ it was a whole lot more than that. You can see that the commitment was to you, how you were and the job was part of the physical outplay of that. I’ve been seeing a lot more to the word commitment than before as I used to think if I had a job, a family, a house then this is commitment. But as you are showing the commitment comes to yourself first and what is needed in any moment. So commitment doesn’t just take in the big headings but is a dedication to whatever is in front of you whether that be working or walking it’s all worth committing to. It comes back to presence and not having you body and mind in two different places, true commitment has all of you in every moment with everything and doesn’t divide you or your life up into headings and titles. Thank you Donna.
I have discovered too that committing with love and care to ourselves in one aspect of our lives certainly has an effect on all other parts of it. Well done to you Donna, I love how you volunteered to get work experience, that is brilliant.
One of the most supportive things in my life is my job because it gives me structure. Without structure I know I easily get lost and caught up in things which take me away from myself. So far from dreading going to work I actually look forward to it – too much at times!! I only say that because when that is the case I know there is something else I need to look at as no area of life should be more than another – ie if there is a high somewhere there must be a low somewhere else.
I totally agree with you, Donna, commitment to life to me also feels more and more like making sure that I have the body that is ready to serve – at work, or at home.
When you have little or no purpose to life commitment is lacking – “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” Keeps it simple.
This is so true, commitment is what is needed. There is something inside of us that doesnt want to as it gets us out of comfort, but when truly chosen it is the most beautiful experience to truly be who we are in all that we do.
Great blog Donna, commitment is a big issue as it is asking us to bring all of our self not just a bit.Thanks to Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I now see that truly living is working . . . and working is truly living life to the full.
I love the honesty here Donna and appreciate how sharing in this way opens the door for us all to examine the ways in which we have not committed to life. I can see the areas in which I too have been (or still am) flaky. Articles like this raise us all and illustrate the power of expression and the ripple effect it has – consciousness-breaking stuff. Thank you.
It makes sense that you say at the end that it was really about reconnecting your beautiful self, because when we are full of ourselves and overflowing, all that is left is to share and that certainly includes work and giving back.
We can buy an image, e.g., “one day I would grow up, romantically fall in love, have a family and live happily ever after” and keep the hope to get there even if everything is telling you is not happening and will not happen. Acquiring familiarity with the image and even intimacy with it (it is a wish kept in a precious place inside us) makes very difficult to renounce to the image and let it go.
Truly caring for myself and developing self-love and self-nurturing as a woman I can feel too is my journey back into employment. Sometimes I can easily blame those around me for my lack of committment to finding a job but I know inside that it starts with me and my commitment to love for myself as I develop trust along the way.
Being fully in life can be just as good for us a healthy diet.
Everything is connected and everything we do affects everything else.
The overall health of our society is very interrelated and interconnected and dependent on a humongous amount of different jobs and responsibilities been done to keep the harmony and flow it going and to support us all equally. Our own part or responsibility in that is to commit to our job and life as a whole which contributes in our own unique way to society as a whole.
I recently realized how many pictures I have in my head around work and jobs and what I should or shouldn’t do, so much so that I completely lost the connection to my purpose and joy of doing what I do. Coming back to ME, feeling ME in my body and the joy of that has helped me to accept where I am at and build from there step by step.
Once we get the foundation of our life working then the rest follows. Our commitment to life is in all the details, how we care for ourselves as the foundation and then how we work. Supporting ourselves with work is important as it really is basic self care, when we look at it clearly.
It is easy to think that work needs to fulfil our expectations – or else! It actually serves us much more when we just start and get a job, any job (within reason, of course). The rest just follows from there as one thing follows another.
So basically you started with yourself and then everything else sorted itself out. It makes sense and feels much more fun that pushing and striving to get results.
‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.’ This is so true Donna because the more confident and content we are within ourselves, the easier it for us to feel what is truly needed.
The common way to look at work is to pay the bills, but what if the true purpose of work is to support us to bring all that we are fully to the world as well as contribute to society? I have always thought of work as a necessary evil, it can be fun but it’s there to survive financially. Now I am beginning to see how it’s much more than that, and a very necessary activity for our and others evolution.
I remember growing up with that expectation that a happy life meant getting a good education, finding a husband, having children, buying a house, having a career, having a car and being able to go on holiday. Of course there is nothing wrong with those things, but as I found out, having them all didn’t bring me inner peace. That has come from developing a long neglected relationship with myself.
Donna we judge things as good or bad and have pictures of what they mean. I used to label getting sick as bad, but everything that happens in our lives can be an opportunity to learn and grow. We simply need to be open to the possibilities and as you say, these so called bad things end up being blessings in disguise.
The opposite can also be true, the pictures we hold of what “good” is can actually be poisoning our life. when we give our power away to investing in pictures it doesn’t allow us to feel energetically the truth behind things.
“As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else” – this really stood out for me, and I can very much relate to, and it makes so much sense that we could appear to be committed to life – through job, a relationship etc. but there has to be a commitment to self first and foremost for any other ‘commitment’ to be true and built on the same foundation of true love. I can feel how wobbly and lacked in steadiness my whole life has been because of that.
I spent many years not being committed and instead of children I used going traveling as the perfect excuse. It wasn’t till later in life I clocked what I as doing and the harm not committing caused. Once I dedicated to looking at the root cause my life started to change in many many ways for the better. Commitment to life is like honey to the bee.
We each have much to bring to life that is of benefit to all, without trying to be something but appreciating what we innately have to share. When we truly commit to life it supports everyone.
Committing to one’s life is a collection of small steps of love which inevitably add up to one big evolutionary step forward and that is much to appreciate for all. Thank you Donna.
Working is a magnificent gift in life that I for one would not be without. Gone is any illusion of work being boring, tedious, or a drag. Instead I know work to be an incredible opportunity to grow, to contribute, and to engage with the world.
Working is one of the best things we can do for our wellbeing and it’s much more than earning money. I have learnt so much about myself because of how I work, the relationships that I have and what I bring to the community that I work with.I love working, always have and always will. It’s not always easy, but there is always much to learn and understand and bring much growth to all.
It’s very interesting to unlock the reasons behind being unemployed by choice and not being committed to living life as it presents. Like you’ve expressed Donna, underlying the seeming ‘laziness’ is actually a lack of self worth and not feeling like what you bring is of any worth to a career, job or other people. Tackling this, understanding it and healing the relationship with yourself should be in a subject at school to support kids moving into the work force.
This is a very inspiring blog and would be a great source for unemployed people needing to look for work. There are so many job agencies around that support people into getting a career with a job or study and some applicants are only doing so they can still receive their pension or welfare benefit (I know, I’ve been there!) Having something like this, a blog or personal account for people to connect to as a start up to finding a job would instill so much more purpose and understanding into what a job actually reflects in life and how it can support us to be who we are more solidly.
I can relate to much of what is shared here and have been happy to lend my life over to other sources for financial support. Committing to work and life now feels so empowering. The beliefs I have held around working are still dropping away and I look forward to more unfolding. Thank you Donna for the inspiration.
Committing to work is one of the best things I’ve ever done too! The difference in myself is phenomenal, no more do I rely on others to tell me what to do and guide my life because committing to life has allowed me to take back the reins and know that what happens in my life is wholly and solely my choice. It also initiates a rhythm and a focus and a purpose in life – I agree that committing to work is actually one of the most supportive and caring things you can do for yourself – without doubt.
I have worked most of my life, but with an attitude of doing just enough to get by. Work was a necessary burden and simply about earning money to pay the bills. I used to dream about the day I could retire. Starting to look after and value myself has turned my life around. I’m seeing the value of what I can offer at work and for the first time in my life, I am actually enjoying my job.
Donna I love what you have shared here and it is the commitment to yourself and your life experiences that have offered such inspiration to many. Choosing to commit to living life and supporting ourselves, can greatly benefit our bodies and brings self worth to the forefront. Thank you.
Hi Donna – thank you for sharing this. You really show here how you have now committed to life. It is a very inspiring change and really shows the importance of knowing our value and our worth. When we have true business and true work, we bring purpose to what we are doing which is so needed rather than just giving up on life and expecting things to be easy. Self worth has a huge part to play in this, and the more we appreciate ourselves the more we can continue to add to a world that needs truth and responsibility.
Great to hear your perspective on the barrier that stopped you committing to life and having a regular job. This would be relatable to many people.
“As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else – usually a boyfriend/my husband – and then just become a chameleon and adapt to their way of life. This was easy for me to do and so I did it… but at what cost to myself?” What a perfect way to hide and not bring all of ourselves to commit to life. This settling instead for what we feel is comfortable can turn into a self-generated prison because of not choosing the path of evolution and in the long run can have us looking back with regret at those choices we made to not live ourselves fully.
Donna, I too lived the housewife, mother, wife roll. In my marriage I always worked part time, but of late I have begun full time work and part time study and I am fully supporting myself financially, and it feels great. I know that I have committed in full to providing what it is that I need to live. This is a new feeling in my body, and is remarkably freeing.
For years I have always felt a lack of finances, which of course was linked to my lack of commitment to life, which rippled into ever area of my life, including work, relationships and finances…. which went hand in hand with my lack of self-worth – my lack of self-worth determining my finances – hence my ‘ lack of’. Having worked on my self-worth issues today I am also feeling the pull to take more responsibility in every area of my life including financially.
Working full time is a good foundation for a regular rhythm and routine, and is symbolic of ones commitment to life
Beautiful Donna, it shows us that when we are connected to ourselves – there comes a natural order of working, working hard, getting a job and enjoying life. This is actually a very natural thing to do.. And no wonder that this occurs, like you share with us, you instantly felt more commitment to life – one you did not feel for quite a while (if I may say!). And so it is so important to recognize what is truly working, and what is being offered to us by Serge Benhayon is one big REAL DEAL!
‘While love and commitment to having a family and raising children is important and needed, the same dedication was not there for myself and my life first (which included having a job) and therefore I was not truly there for my family either.’ Very true Donna and I can relate to that one, making one role more important than anything else, even more important than myself. To hide in motherhood has been an old pattern from many lives I guess that I am letting go.
There is something unique that happens when we work, whether it is as an employee, or in our own business. Work is like the most high potency nutrition. It feeds us self-worth, understanding, and a knowing of contribution.
I have found a greater connection with people since I came to the realisation that it takes many of us doing what we are good at to produce a final product, whether that be an item that’s made, nursing someone back from ill health, or providing another form of service, we all have our part to play no matter where we are in its cycle. Through this appreciation I have got to find out the importance of working with others, and when the load is shared it becomes more enjoyable, and fun to be working.
I love working, and have always felt privileged to get paid for something I enjoy. Not only does it keep me grounded and connected with others, it gives me great purpose in seeing things evolve and how I have been a part of that too.
‘ It took a number of years as I worked on my own self-worth to appreciate the value of working and truly begin to support myself fully’. It is amazing what happens when we truly begin to support ourselves which gives us access to all the wisdom we hold within….
Work gives my a wonderful sense of purpose. I have found that if my commitment and enjoyment of work falters there is something that needs to be addressed in my sense of self-worth and how I nurture myself on a daily basis.
For as long as I remember I have had huge commitment to life…. no surprise that I struggled with work, with relationships and of course with finances. With the support of Serge and Universal Medicine, I have healed my lack of self-worth issues in the last 5 years, through my daily self-care and self-nurture practices which continues to deepen and refine.
This was also my experience Donna, that an illness can be a blessing in disguise, because in fact it made me stop and reassess my life, get honest and then from that new space I made the necessary life style changes.
Committing to life is simply focusing on the quality of our movements at any given time, a true foundation that allows us to discern what is truth and what is not.
Love what you share here Francisco that committing to life is about focusing on the quality of our movements at any given time….it can be that simple.
Great point you raise Donna which is that our commitment to our selfcare and own connection is the foundation for living life to the fullest, feeling vital and fulfilled. True commitment to life brings joy and is worth appreciating and celebrating.
Beautifully said Donna, I worked part-time for many years as I wanted more ‘me’ time but what I found was this made me more stagnant in my life. I returned to full-time work about 5 years ago and it has been a game changer for me, I love my job more than ever and my commitment to my job and my life has increased enormously from this simple choice.
I love working and the people you meet and interact with is truly awesome. What’s great about what you have shared here Donna is that our commitment to our own connection and care for self is the foundation for which everything else is laid for living life from our love and for true service to be shared. That is a true joy and commitment worth celebrating.
I’ve always loved working, and the commitment that comes with it – the challenge now is discernment of what is supportive and what is distraction
I simply love how the “perfect” blog comes along just at the right time; this one certainly has for me as there are a few challenges job wise at present that have left me with so much to ponder on and decisions to be made. So what you have so wisely shared Donna is a wonderful reminder to make a loving commitment to me first and from there all else will follow.
Thank you Donna for sharing your experience, of learning to take responsibility for yourself with loving care first and this then affects the way you do your job.
Awesome Donna, I have recently left a long term marriage and am working full time and fully supporting myself for the first time in my life. It feels so freeing and whilst there have been moments of concern, that I am now fully responsible for myself, this is lessening, as I deepen my connection each day and feel more the sense that there is support around me that I had not before accepted as I am now beginning too.
I fully agree with you Donna, work for me too is a “necessary and practical part of life” and when not committing to life there will be also no commitment to work. Work to me is needed as in that we serve for one another and give back to our community the love that we share among each other. Love cannot be held for ourselves but must be shared with everybody we meet. Love needs to be celebrated in our meeting and serving for one another and in that work is a great way in doing so.
I enjoyed coming back to this blog as I am currently looking at my commitment to work. From the presentations of Serge Benhayon he has shared that life is about people and not what we do or how much we earn. Taking this approach over the last week has changed my commitment to work massively and it keeps expanding. How I am, how I work, the systems and styles of work in place when set up to support me allows me to connect to the people I am serving and those I work with more. When I make it about the task the quality drops and the tension I experience is horrible. When we focus on how we work and what we can do to support ourselves in work rather than thinking about what to have for dinner or being elsewhere outside of what we are doing right now work becomes less stressful and more enjoyable.
Thank you Donna for sharing your experience, when we start to take responsibility for ourselves and our life, we realise the importance of not holding back and being all that we are, in any job we undertake to do.
This is such an important point that you make here Donna –”I felt getting a job had to look a certain way and that I needed status so I looked important in it and that it paid well without my having to do very much. The arrogance superseded everything else.” There is a huge problem now with trying to find people to do apprenticeships as everyone want to start at the top. As you say there is arrogance there. There is real value in apprenticeships, getting a job and really committing to life rather than trying to avoid life and the responsibility we have in it.
Committing to ourselves first says a big YES to life, work and everyone around us.
I have come to realise that whatever commitment I put in to work is the commitment that I live with each day, and is the commitment that is given to all other areas of my life. For example, if I am less committed with work then I am less committed to time with my children and vice versa. It is all inter-connected and nothing can be set aside as different or unique. It is all the same life with me at the core of it, making commitments or not as the case may be.
What i have experienced with work is that there can be sticky patches where it seems a struggle, but ultimately the commitment to any job overcomes this and being in work is very energising. If I was to compare two day, one where I work and one where I am at leisure, I would often find the work day leaves me more bright alert and energised than the day that perhaps has less purpose. It all depends on the quality I bring to it and that is always ultimately a choice.
‘I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!’ This is both so true and beautifully said Donna. We live in a society where someone needs to do every job on every level and it is important to note that every level is as equally important as the other for there is no quality at the top if there is no quality in the foundations or so called bottom.
Recently I had a complete change in my attitude to work. I realise I had a lot of ideals and beliefs on how my job should look like, and what serving should look like – and even though with all good intensions, there bound to be some tension rising somewhere down the line, so I decided to just focus on making sure that ‘I’ am ready to work and serve – and it has changed everything about how I view life and my relationships – that it has never been about me, and it is so freeing to feel that way.
Commitment to life is not just in what we do, but how we live. This should be taught at every school as being committed to life in full is just part of simple medicine.
Agreed Joshua, this would totally change our world as we would all learn to make life about the quality that we are in at any moment and to surrender to what is divine.
‘I felt getting a job had to look a certain way and that I needed status so I looked important in it and that it paid well without my having to do very much. The arrogance superseded everything else.’ I agree Donna, it is never about the job that we do, it is about the quality we bring from our livingness to anything we do.
This is an incredible blog.
“there was the ideal that one day I would grow up, romantically fall in love, have a family and live happily ever after ” I fell for that picture too, it’s very old and ancient. One that we can say no to – it is very disempowering.
It is inspirational to read of the commitment you made to do whatever was needed with deep care for yourself as the foundation. Your going from strength to strength is a gorgeous testament to the power of such dedication and of bringing all of you to whatever you did.
Thank you for this beautiful blog Donna. Recently I have been feeling stuck in my job and stuck in being ‘unable’ to find a new job. But what if the reason we can’t find work is not because there are no jobs that suit us but because there is a commitment to working with ourselves that is not there. If we are uncooperative at work often we loose the job and don’t move on. So what if we cooperated with ourselves and how we feel and what is true in and from our essence? This takes the pressure of needing an outside role to fulfil us. If we listen to our CEO called ‘the body’ what benefits and promotions inside us await? And what if the outside job is simply a reflection and confirming of the work within?
What a beautiful writing Donna, and so timely for me right now. In reading what you shared it was like reading my story. I got to feel how much I’ve let these feelings of low self worth run in the background and how devastating it can be to allow it.
“In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” – It makes sense that if we bring more of ourselves to life, that we will have more to bring to our career or work or whatever it is we do!
I used to confuse commitment with self-sacrifice, not really knowing or understanding that there was a difference, I would always put my own physical and personal needs aside for the sake of my job, family, and friends. In fact I still do this sometimes, and each time when I find myself exhausted it serves as a reminder that although I have a very loyal and strong work ethic, that same quality also needs to be turned towards my own self-care, because then what I give to everyone else will be that much more and that is exactly what I want, to be able to give more, but I cannot do that from an empty drained body.
Beautifully said, and that shows how important it is that we commit to ourselves first because if we don’t, we don’t bring that unique expression of ours and the word is missing out.
Donna, great blog. When we commit to life in full, our job just feels like an extension of that commitment, and it never feels like hard work, even when it is.
I can relate to this Sally, I used to think work was a drag, was not committed to it and lived for the weekends. Now I am feeling like work is not separate from any other area in my life, but a big part of it. Where if I commit I can make a big difference in what I do and how I do it.
Christopher I agree it is really just an extension of our everyday livingness.
Love it Donna! When we tend to the gardens of our souls we can then bask in its magnificence. Thank you.
That’s what I find killing about studying at University. Many of us spend 5-10 years at University, spending lots of time behind books and bars, traveling the world, but not learning one of the most essential medicines of this world: to be commited in a full-time-job.
“I had such a strong pull to take responsibility for my own life, mainly financially”. The gorgeous thing about this Donna is that you took responsibility and responded with love and care for yourself which then flowed on to others.
“I had such a strong pull to take responsibility for my own life, mainly financially”. The gorgeous thing about this Donna is that you took responsibility and responded with love and care for yourself which then flowed on to others.
I had grown up with a strong worth ethic to the point of just being on the treadmill of life. In the last 10 years I have brought me to work… what a difference one small choice makes.
Steve, I know what you mean because when I started to really be true to myself at work everything changed. Everyone needs to see the reflection of someone being himself or herself because we live in a world where a lot of people are trying to be something or someone.
The absolute gorgeous thing about the teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine is its teachings around bringing all of you to everything that you do. All of us make such a difference in life and the more we commit to ourselves, to each other and to life the more we are able to change things that need to be changed in this world.
Such a great blog post Donna. I had a year of ‘getting back on my feet’, when my picture of what I thought life was about came tumbling down. I worked intermittently, completely and utterly disengaged from life.
Eventually I’d had enough of the wallowing and was committed to get some consistent work. It was the best therapy I could have asked for at the time. It really was. The commitment to having a job, coupled with the commitment I was building with myself made the world of difference.
Donna thank you for your inspiration. You seem to have been able to commit to finding work through your dedication to self first, and this seems to have paid off for you.
What amazing advice “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.”. I have been developing a business recently and it has been really interesting to be aware and stay with how I feel rather than what I need to ‘do’. The way it is developing feels very different from how I have worked in the past. It feels more real when the work is based in how I am, rather than all things I do.
Thank you Donna. I have spent all my work life until recently fulfilling an image of how to play a role and fill a part of my life. Work gave my life meaning, financial security and a kind of status but I never before questioned. I certainly compartmentalised my work life from the rest of my life. These days I am more conscious that regardless of what activity I am undertaking, it is what I bring to the task in terms of the quality of my relationship with myself that counts. Such accountability and responsibility completely changes how I feel about my job, my colleagues and clients and affects the quality of the end result.
I was struck by this sentence – “it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it” – I keep finding myself in job situations where I feel I could be utilised more, bringing my skills and experience. Recognising I used to be very strongly identified with what I did and that was what I thought who I was, I wanted to see how it could be possible to be me in any job, bringing the whole of me – so I did not specifically choose type of jobs. But now I am at a point where I feel there’s more I could bring but I am not, and this feels very suffocating to me. Your blog is inviting me to really sit with this recurring situation and resolve once and for all. Thank you, Donna.
Hi Donna, love this thank you for sharing. I have an absolute love for work which has grown over the years to the point that I now do some work in which I don’t get paid but absolutely love. Work gives me purpose, and my dedication to my life brings a joy that continues to grow day by day.
‘work gives me purpose..’ It absolutely does. Being able to contribute to life from our full-selves is worth it.
A few years ago I went through a marriage breakdown and there were two things that kept me going, one was the support of Universal Medicine practitioners and the other was my work, it gave me a purpose for getting out of bed in the morning and it was something solid when everything else was falling apart.
It is fascinating how much can we commit to a picture we can hide behind happily ever after fooling ourselves and the world. We may sell it as committing to life but it is not.
We are like a mis-filed book in the library always there on display and happy to just sit there forever
Which only results in us choosing to deny ourselves the truth and the magnificence of more… whilst offering others nothing but confirmation that the picture is worth it when it is far from it.
I have always worked with the public but in the past it was just a job. As long as I performed my role, was polite and helpful I considered I had done a good job. I know now that I was keeping people at bay. I provided what they needed but there was no connection with the real person. Now I work with a very different outlook. I enjoy the daily meeting with staff and students, I engage with them, ask questions, create connections because I know that I matter.
“I enjoy the daily meeting with staff and students, I engage with them, ask questions, create connections because I know that I matter.” Knowing that one matters is key to commit to life. If we do not do, what is the point? The truth is that we always make a difference if we engage.
Yes Eduardo knowing and appreciating our value is necessary before we can truly commit to life – living in honour of our value takes us all to a higher level.
I just love how Serge Benhayon is inspiring so many people to get off the couch and into life – and with absolutely no rah-rah or a pom pom in sight.
Agree Sarahflenley. No need for some ‘in your face’ motivational speech at all. Serge simply presents the truth of what it means to be committed to life. It’s the most inspiring delivery of love I’ve experienced.
Thank you this is a great support and inspiration on those days like today when I get thoughts that make me feel like giving up, what is being thrown at me is too much to handle. It is not. I am greater than all this seeming complexity. When I am connected to myself I can keep it simple. I take one step at a time lovingly so, staying present.
Great reminder thank you elainearthey – we are greater than all this complexity and it is one step at a time, lovingly so and staying present.
“I had never felt that level of care for myself” how awesome is it Donna when you first start to have an awareness that the body is asking for this and you are ready to give it to yourself. I celebrate these new levels of deepening my connection with me.
“I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” – I love it. In this way, I can appreciate whatever work I engage in as a way to output my expression in the world, with people.
It is not surprising that we hold so many ideas, ideals and beliefs around how we should be in regards to work and these certainly influence our choices. It is interesting to ponder on what is work and how can we best serve humanity.
As I am currently looking for work I have been pondering the same things Shirl Scott, it’ll be interesting to see where I land.
It seems unconceivable now to not work and fully commit to life – I learn so much at work and it is great to interact with colleagues, clients and the general public; I could never go back to the old ways of staying safely hidden away in some sort of bubble, it just doesn’t work.
Very true Gabriele work not only provides an income, its interactive and also gives a sense of self worth.
So true Joe Minnici, you can learn so much from work and your colleagues on a daily basis, about yourself and others and how you are relating to them. It can be very revealing indeed.
So revealing Julie Chung – it is a treasure trove of reflections and learnings.
So true, when we work, there is that sense of self worth. When we do something great, the greater the sense of self worth,
By not committing to work there is no commitment to life. I have retired twice and working on my next 20 year position. It is not true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… I learn something new everyday.
Beautifully said Steve, our commitment to life is based on us being aware how vital for our health and wellbeing it is to never stop learning and developing as a person every single day no matter what we do.
Yes, Gabriele, I just see my work as another part of my day and being in my workplace gives me another opportunity to connect with others and to appreciate and share what is mutually offered. When I seclude myself I start to feel very small.
So true Anne, when secluded we feel small because we are playing so much less… compared to the enormity of what we have to offer when we commit to life and that being reflected in all that we do.
Agreed Anne, connecting deeply with others allows us to expand and collaborate with others what is truly needed in our world , whereas, secluding ourselves is living in protection and making life about ourselves which is very debilitating.
My day is so much less complete without work.
Thanks Gabriele, I realise now how much I’ve been hiding in my work and playing small. To be all of me in my work feels amazing.
It is amazing how we can fool ourselves into thinking that we are living an enjoyable lifestyle without needing to work or be out there in the world, when we are just hiding and denying the great lessons and connections that can be embraced when truly committing to work in full and everything that entails.
It is great to read this today because I can feel the call to step up more in my role and stop hiding and bring more of the real me and be open to the wonderful gift of learning.
Totally agree – there have been a lot of “I thought the world was flat and now I see it is round” moments for me as well and work is one of those areas where I did not use to commit in full. Looking back it is at times hard to believe how much I missed out on by keeping myself separate and apparently ‘safe’ and mainly unemployable.
Oh I can so relate to the “keeping myself separate and apparently ‘safe’ and mainly unemployable” part! I spent over 2 decades hiding in the comfort and stress of a small home based business… Working largely on my own and resentful of the same while at the same time not wanting things to be any different! I began to realise in the past few years that I needed to be out with people and get a job where I wasn’t hiding away… And this only came about as a result of taking more responsibility for my choices and learning to take care of myself which naturally also affected my self worth. I now work full time hours for an employer and love it – not necessarily because of the job itself but because I have changed my relationship with me…!
When we do not commit to life, our world is, by choice, a small one. When we commit, all of a sudden, our world grows.
This is a good point in keeping us safe and hidden from the world we have missed out a lot. This i have realized after committing more to work which i get offered and feel blessed being in contact with many different people and nationalities and can learn so much.
We can hold so many ideas and ideals about how we should be and these can underlie and influence so many of our actions. Letting go of these is a continual process, letting go of the thoughts that would have us go against what is true for us strengthens and confirms our purpose in truth and love.
Donna I love what you share “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!”, the key is about committing to being me. This is what I am working on, being me in full. I have been so caught up in the doing I forget to stop and appreciate just being me.
I love that line also Amita. It really takes the pressure off getting a job, or how you are in a job when all you need to do is be yourself and bring it.
That’s a great point Elodie for when your foundation is based on you bringing all of yourself to any job, there is no pressure but rather a knowing how to be and what is required in any moment.
Yes that line stood out for me as well and serves as a great reminder that we all have a set of skills and expertise that the world needs and that is why we all need to play a part to make up the whole. Serge Benhayon once said to me that when I hold back, everyone is less and I did not really understand it at the time but I am slowly beginning to. When Donna holds back and does not participate fully in life, we are a little less because the qualities and experience that Donna can bring the world, are not being lived and we all miss out when we do that.
And this applies to all of us – whenever any one of us holds back on committing to ourselves and life and the qualities and essence we bring, others miss out. This simply highlights the level of responsibility we all have in committing to being ourselves. Imagine then if ‘this’ became the deciding criteria for job applications – not solely on our skill set but on being ourselves. This removes any need for competition or comparison about our skills, but allows everyone to experience the same equality of ‘beingness’.
I can relate to the value and appreciation of myself in the workplace growing simultaneously with the expansion of self-worth.
It’s a giant leap in my sense of value and trust in myself. The more I commit to loving myself the more I feel I have something of value to offer and doors just start naturally opening up.
It is incredibly important to address our self worth when it comes to our commitment to life, and you have done a wonderful job from where you were Donna.
I do wholeheartedly agree with what you are presenting here, I can feel what an enormous support it is to work, doing whatever is needed.
Thank you Donna Harris for sharing your story and giving us all a platform and reading some of the comments this is a topic well worth discussing and much needed.
In the UK unemployment is high and I can honestly say I know many people who do not work or cannot find work. I agree it is about Commitment to Life and I learnt that from Serge Benhayon – a man who knows what he is talking about.
Commitment to Life in full is needed and this takes time. I am big into commitment and with it comes my consistency to make responsible choices that support me and my life.
We all have ideals and beliefs about work and what we should be paid and the type of work and our career and job title and the list just goes on and on.
I don’t have a job title as such and I realise that my Commitment to my work has to EQUAL all other areas of my life. I am very aware that if I overdo my work area and pay less attention to the looking after myself, like cooking and cleaning then it’s off balance.
For me taking time out to clean the home is just as important as my work.
‘I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!’ I can feel this is coming from a level of self-worth in yourself that is far greater than that we see from a lot of young people coming straight out of university and it puts me on notice that self-care is such a huge support to us in this area. Students level of self care seems to plummet year by year. How great it would be if we could start this education of self care early on and also be the role models of it in the world.
I have always worked because it was the values I was told to aspire too growing up. It was my responsibility of what I as a man was meant to do… it was our job to produce, perform, create and bring home the bacon. It was always to do for others I don’t ever remember it ever being about self… because that was not serving others and selfish. Those are real messed up values when you think about it! I now go to work not because I need to, but because I want to be in the world and be myself at the same time because it feels right. My idea of retirement is a pine box…
This is so inspiring Donna – I’m about to head back out to the work force and I’m looking forward to the daily commitment – as you say firstly to myself and then to others. In the past, the years when I’ve been working are the times when I’ve felt at my best – not because of any recognition but just the fact that I was involved in society and mixing with people on a regular basis.
Being out working in the world is incredibly empowering and the commitment applied in our jobs reflects in all areas of our lives.
‘It was only when I cared enough for myself as a woman that I began my journey back into employment.’ I have noticed that a lot of people who are financially taken care of either by the state or by their families often have a low feeling of self worth and do not care for themselves as well as they might. And the idea of taking care of oneself as a woman is often likened to having pampering parties or going out with the girls on a night out or going on holiday without the husbands or boyfriends or buying more feminine clothes. When we really start taking care of ourselves as a woman, when we connect to the amazing bodies we have and our unique cycles, being that of menstruation or the full moon. When we begin to care for and nurture ourselves at a deeper level, and connect with ourselves from the inside out, we begin to value ourselves more and want to begin to make a contribution to the world from a place of appreciation and love for ourselves and everyone else.
Such a great blog Donna, I can relate to a lot of what you shared. I too ‘handed my life over to someone else’ when I was younger, adapting to the way others lived, laughed, made decisions. I too was a chameleon. I turned up at work, did a job, but wasn’t ‘really there’ making the most out of the situation, committing in full to what was needed. I had lost my job, started to feel and take responsibility for what I was bringing to my jobs, how was I when I walked around? what energy was I bringing into the office? when I spoke to people? Life is very different now, I am ultra committed to what I do and I back myself more than I have ever done before. This also has been with the amazing support from Universal Medicine practitioners and Serge Benhayon.
Thank you, Donna, your story has me pondering on my own career – I qualified in electronic engineering and worked in an electronics lab but soon gave that up and went into sales, and that was followed by lots of different jobs, most of which recognised my status as a ‘graduate’ and paid pretty well, but one was so stressful, I gave up and left paid employment to start my own business. That was fun, but I didn’t earn very much and was supported mostly by my husband for 18 years. Now divorced and having to earn my own living, I took up a basic job – cleaning for two years and then at the checkout in a supermarket. It is a low rate of pay, and hard work, but enough to top up my pension to a reasonable living wage. The work is simple and there’s part of me that feels I wasted my engineering qualification; there’s a constant feeling of not being enough, not doing enough that has haunted me all my working life. That is something I am working on letting go of, and I feel there is more to come. I am 65 and have no intention of retiring, so we will see what unfolds over the next few years as I explore going back into engineering . . .
Your thoughts are familiar to me, Carmel, I graduated as an engineer too and spent almost all my working life at the well paid positions and using my brain. When I came to England I needed to survive so I took a cleaning job as less complicated and practical. For years I’ve been thinking that I am “so much more than a cleaner”, that I am capable of greater things. I went to different courses, got many diplomas, and am still doing cleaning and gardening. But about two years ago my view of it changed, now I know that what I do, how I do it, with all who I am is important – and I enjoy doing it.
Good points you have raised Donna, working and gaining financial independence is reflective of one’s self worth.
“Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me”… I agree Donna. Commitment to life and commitment to work for me go hand in hand. When I up my commitment to me then my job becomes more joyful. My workload increases and I find I cope much better with demands. In other words, my job seems to reflect how I am in myself, so I am making no more excuses about my job not being ‘good enough’, the best job I can have is the one I have got right now.
I have to say I have learnt so much more about myself since I went back to work, and everyday I get the opportunity to do it all over again. There was a time that I resented working so much and used to get panic attacks at the thought of being in the same job forever, and then would spend weeks thinking of ways I could get out of what I thought was an awful situation – there was always something I didn’t like, or something I didn’t want to face.
I look at things differently now and when there is something that makes me feel uncomfortable I welcome it, because I know that it is something I can deal with and grow from.
That is exactly what I love Julie. The fact that everyday I get to do it all over again. There is so much to observe and learn while working, and more and more I am enjoying the simplicity and ease that I can work in. Things then seem to take half the time and half the effort. Remove all the complications that we can bring in, and the time it takes to deal with the consequences of the complications and there is so much more space.
Committing to what we choose in life is I feel a daily job. It is in that commitment that we are first committing to ourselves. To really know and understand ourselves so that when we walk out into the world, whatever we encounter, there is an inner knowing, a resilience and trust that we can cope that life. So committing to ourselves and life go hand in hand.
Beautifully summarised raegancairney, “committing to ourselves and life go hand in hand”. As we cannot truly love another until we love our self, so too we cannot commit to life or anything else until we have a basic level of commitment to our self. Committing to and loving self, establishes a platform for all else to follow.
In my life I studied and worked all of the time with short breaks for maternity leaves. To me it was “commitment”, I am working every day, not even taking sick leaves, providing.
A few months ago I was introduced to another level of commitment by one of esoteric practitioners.
To answer my question what commitment to life is for him he replayed that lets say he would be given 1000 towels to fold. He will do the last one with all what he has, the same as the first one, no less, with all his heart.
It was really eyes – and heart-opening statement. It is what you, Donna, writing about:”… it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” It is so opposite what I used to think about commitment to job and to life.
So true Elenalight, only if we commit to ourselves first, we can bring all of us with full power and commitment to our work places.
This is so true Michael Kremer, committing to ourselves first is the way to a truer and much more lovingly productive way of being for us all.
I used to think my job was sort of the bottom of the ladder type job as I do gardening for a living and clear up a lot of rubbish that people leave lying around, but I have since come to realise, thanks to Universal Medicine that it is the energy that you do a job in that is the important thing not what the actual job is.
I am learning to get back into work in a new way…..”I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” Some times I can feel the habit of a drive or making ‘big’ plans come up and it has been big learning to get the quality of my foundation in life going well and trust that what will be needed concerning work will come along if I am ready and committed.
It is amazing when you read these blogs how much Universal Medicine has been able to support people to make life changing choices in any number of areas of their lives. Yours is another great experience.
I have been working in the same clinic for 16 years, and although I work quite hard I have been in the deepest rut. I’ve been so comfortable in my little nest. People come to me in a cycle that is lovely but zero effort required.
Recently I took a second job, not even in the same city. This has been fabulous for me. I’ve gone out and met people, engaged with community organisations, and generally blasted away my comfort by getting back into life. This is the most wonderful dose of medicine that can be imagined and I cannot believe that I did not do it sooner.
“As long as I am being my playful self, live in a way at home that supports me with my daily rhythms, my food and time to connect to myself, then work/careers take care of themselves.” I really feel you have it here Donna. And being playful is something that has started to be more natural in me since I have been working more out in the world. As I allow myself to have an equal place in the world and express more, in the moment, how I am feeling from a place of love, the more everything flows.
I can relate to this blog as I have had periods of time where I have built up my work capacity. One of these times was after having my daughter and after having 12 months off from work getting my confidence up to re-enter the work force. Looking back now I think I had the time off when I had my first and only child because that is what people did and I felt guilty going back to work sooner even though I feel I would have enjoyed returning to work earlier.
I have been working on committing to me and bringing the whole of me to everything I do. As I work like this I can feel the difference in my daily life, I am able to create more space in my day at home and at work. As I build this rhythm the stillness in my body deepens and the more clarity I have.
It is interesting how sometimes we fall in the illusion that everything will be taken care of so we live our lives giving our power away to others hoping that this would get us through but it is only until we choose to commit to life and others that we can experience what we are truly capable of .
Donna, this is just amazing how you stepped back out into the world of work and in doing so developed a greater commitment to you. I love to work and can now say this without feeling pained, for me it’s a playground where I get to express and be with other people and feel what is needed in each moment, it’s very much a learning environment for me on being myself with others and expressing that.
Donna since reading your blog I have been experimenting with my commitment at work. There are a lot of things that up until now I have skimmed through. Recently I have done certain things with greater care and attention rather than lazily and have felt that when I next came into contact with whatever it was that I did, that I felt that level of care and attention on it’s way back to me. And in the same way when I do things shabbily, I get shabbiness reflected back to me as well. It seems that whatever we give out out, we get back, there’s no getting away with anything, life ensures that we are accountable for every-thing.
This is such a good reflection Alexis, I am going to put this into practice as well.
Great sharing Alexis – it is amazing how I can adopt a ‘get it done’ approach, compromise on quality and allow that to be okay when the other way takes such a small amount of effort and exactly as you said it gets reflected back to us but the reflection that comes back is far greater than the effort I made -it’s manifold.
I have a very varied job (or series of jobs) Donna, and I really liked the way you said “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder”. I used to think that some things were more important than others, the meeting with the big wig, or the thing that I got paid more for. But gradually I am learning that each interaction, even cleaning the office at the end of the day, is equally important.. they support the next moment, the next meeting or the person who comes in and uses it next.
So true Simon. Collectively no job is more important than another for we all have qualities unique to us that contribute to the whole equally. Workplaces are rather like jigsaw puzzles that cannot come together and become alive unless all the pieces that we contribute are coordinated and placed where they go. For this to happen we all must humbly commit together to getting all the jobs in the world done that need to be done actually done with appreciation and respect from every level. This as you say supports the next person and then the next with the ripple effect of integrity.
How very very inspiring Donna thank you for sharing your story back to you. It is a joy to witness a seed germinate under the care of the ground it lay in, such as has been for you and a job. The many that get to be touched by such a blossoming is a beauty to behold.
I am realising that commitment is not a doing. But that commitment is an inner choice to choose myself, to choose to live. I’ve been a person that was choosing life and than let go, choosing life and than let go. Now I am actually noticing that this isn’t True. There’s a lot of given-up-ness in this. There’s no True foundation which is reflected in many areas in my life. There’s also appreciation towards myself that I am actually allowing myself to see this. And to be honest, it’s lovely to be working on. And way more satisfying to keep going. Not from drive, but Tenderly from one task to another.
This is the second time reading your blog Donna and what blows me away is your inner strength you drew upon to reclaim yourself as a woman and your life. The contrast of living your life with commitment and love compared to a life previously withdrawn is a miracle. Thank you for sharing the inner strength that resides within us all to know that we can all make those steps to return to living love.
There is also such a snobbery about certain jobs, perhaps if we saw the value there is in everything we would have less of this attitude to work and there wouldn’t be so much pressure for people to seek the so called better job but instead focus more on the aspect that really matters, serving people and making it about the all.
Snobbery, I love that word Stephen. It is so true that this attitude is thrown around. A job title can become like a badge of honor, making someone feel better, or a job title can be used to pretend that we are less. Either way the job title is meaningless as it instantly makes it about what we do and not the quality we bring to whatever we may have to do.
I completely agree Stephen and Vicky. I work in retail and for many years didn’t feel this was a ‘proper’ or ‘worthy’ job for me. I started working in my local corner shop when I was 12 so had created a belief for myself that it was too easy – that a career in retail was not as valid as other professions. For years this meant that I felt it was just a stop-gap so there was no commitment. As my self-worth grows in my body, I have pretty much cleared this belief I say pretty much because just the other day I was offered a new job and clocked that as I was telling people about it I was inflating the position by saying what it is but then going on quickly to talk about the potential opportunities that will develop from it. This really exposed how I am still holding on to the belief that I should be in a more senior position than I am which in reality means I am still living ahead of myself. This is a recipe for anxiousness but is also feeding the “I am not enough” ticker tape that is still running through my head. The antidote for this – acceptance and appreciation.
Awesome comment Stephen and oh so true. Beautifully said.
I was recently in touch with a person I know who lives in a lovely warm country, in a lovely big house, in many ways living the dream life of no work, beautiful surroundings and the money to do what they like. However, it was the most amazing lesson to learn that even with all that this person was still unhappy, lonely even and it really showed me that money cannot buy you happiness, nor is it worth having unless your life is equally full of purpose and loving friends and family.
Donna you have made a powerful connection between taking responsibility, making a commitment to self and our level of health. I am reflecting on the value of programs that support people to find that healing connection and how it may unfold in our world. It feels very much like this is brotherhood – taking responsibility, committing and connecting with others through activity, an ‘Activity’ that has all of who we are in it. Thank you for making the space for this to be pondered on. It feels that there is much love hidden in the things we avoid or even take for granted.
True Donna, we don’t realize how much we are governed by those ‘pictures in the head’, until we take charge as you did, and be truly responsible for our lives.
Martin, this is a lovely summing up of Donna’s blog which I can relate to having recently been feeling the consequences of the choices I have made. I have recently got a job and it has made a huge change in the way I feel about myself and it feels so great to be more with people and able to contribute to the community.
I love the example of the pie Serge has shared at various workshops. Its a beautiful example of how the many aspects of our lives work together to support us expressing the fullness of who we are. If I am not committing and living in connection at home then that piece of the pie carries an emptiness and can be a point for unloving energy to enter. Likewise if I am holding back from my expression in work it is this aspect of the pie that I look to nourish and support to allow love in this area of my life. By embracing and committing more deeply to loving and caring for myself and humanity this door has opened for me to express.
I fell for this getting married, having children ‘happily ever after’ ideal and it is such a trap that left me miserable because I gave up on life and myself with it because it was all based on meeting ‘Mr Right.’ It has taken time but I know this is not for me anymore. There is more to life and ‘happily ever after’ is for fairy tales but it is not something to base my life on.
The slogan ‘Just Do It’ came to mind reading your comment, Martin. We so often get stuck on such limiting pictures of what we can do and what is of value, that we feel anything less is settling. However, often it is the most loving thing to just get over ourselves and get out there and live! It is truly and deeply loving indeed!
Agree Naren. It is so easy to find excuses not to do things…to think ourselves into complete paralysis. It is deadening to reach this point, and takes some will to get over ourselves and get on with life.
Absolutely, Rachel. As someone who lived for a very long time in a near constant state of mentally induced paralysis, continually weighing up options, afraid to make the ‘wrong’ decision, and in the end making no decision at all. Ironically, that was a decision in itself. One to indulge in a mental exercise instead of living life and learning from the mistakes I make. Now, things are very different. I still get a little stuck from time to time, but the fear of making a misstep is so small, and the joy in making choices far outweighs that fear.
That need to make the right decision – to not make any mistakes is indeed paralysing. Perfectionism is self-imposed curse which holds us in no-man’s land, not really living life, standing on the sideline watching others but being too afraid to join in in case we fall flat on our faces. I used to liken it to looking through the window at a party, absolutely desperate to join in but not able to pluck up the courage to step in through the door. It’s a frustrating place to be and so amazing when we finally realise that it matters not a jot if we don’t know what to do, we learn and we grow, so ‘just do it’ has opened up my life enormously.
Perfectionism is a deep dark maze that begins with the thoughts like “but what if I get it wrong? What will others think of me?” As children we get things wrong all the time, and fall flat on our butts. As children it is accepted, but as adults so many of us take on this belief meant to get everything right, and cannot show the fact that we don’t know what we are doing.
The fact is that those people whom we admire most so very often are ones who freely admitted that they do not know what they are doing and are willing to learn at every opportunity they have.
‘It was only when I cared enough for myself as a woman that I began my journey back into employment.’ This is such a powerful statement Donna and one which could support so many women when they think about returning to work.
I know this ‘going through life in chameleon-style’ and hope to get through. But the thing is: I did miss me. Even I did not really know me, I did miss me. And at the end, the one who I adjusted to, get blamed by me to not really see me and to choke me…it is a bad, sad game with no winner at all. Love your blog Donna and the claim you made. I made the same experiences – to commit to life, to be, live and show me is worth to do so. …and otherwise I wither.
We all have so much to offer humanity by firstly choosing to be committed to our livingness and choosing to take responsibility to be clear and centered and express our truth in full to the world in whatever roll or position we work in.
Donna, this is a great blog. One of the big lessons I have learned from attending workshops and courses presented by Serge Benhayon and from practitioners of Universal Medicine, is that life is work and work is life. They are one in the same thing. How we are at home reflects how we are at work and vice versa, and if we live a loving life where we take great care of and nurture ourselves with a daily rhythm that truly supports the body, this will then support us hugely at work including everyone we come into contact with. I am still learning from this, but my approach and attitidue to work has changed immensely since I began to appreciate the connection to life/work in this way.
And thank goodness for work, as it gives us such a rich and powerful means to express everything we have inside. What a shame if all that glory was locked away and only shared with a chosen few!
“life is work and work is life.” I love this Sandra. Thanks to Universal Medicine I too am learning this and starting to feel it as a livingness in my body. There are still times that commonly held belief that work is a ‘necessary evil’ we have to do to be able to get on with the business of life creeps in, but what I’ve noticed is that when I feel like this, it is because I have been neglecting to nurture and care for myself. This self-disregard then feeds into this belief and then resentment towards work can start to fester. All it takes to put a stop to this is to refocus on self-loving choices, the lights come back on and work becomes part of life again.
Donna it’s a joy to read your blog again. I can relate to many facets of the story, including withdrawing from life and also in that, not committing to taking care of my own self financially, instead relying on someone else.
Donna, what you say about your commitment to life, that it was in fact “about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within”, feels so true. And, nothing huge is required, just simple choices very day which anyone can do if they so choose.
I love this Anne – “nothing huge is required, just simple choices every day which anyone can do if they so choose.” If we focus on one step at a time the changes that occur do become huge over time.
A great sharing, Donna. I feel that commitment to work is the same commitment to anything we do in our day. If we commit to work we will be fully present there and accept and appreciate whatever is unfolding and teaching us in that work place. I see work as part of my day and very much try to not have a work and home way of being- a work in progress for me!
Well said Anne – committing to work, committing to home, committing to relationships (the list could go on!) – it is all one of the same. And bringing that commitment to all that you do, combined with full presence is pretty powerful.
If I try to look at the whole, I find it too much and easily give up, so for me I have found it supportive to focus on one particular area where my commitment has been inconsistent which supports commitment in all other areas of my life naturally so.
So true sarahflenley, I have found that as I commit and start to bring consistency to one area of my life, it highlights another in which I have not so it becomes a beautiful journey of exposing those areas which are holding others back.
Thank you Anne and Sarahflenley, work can certainly provide a microcosm of life in general as to whether we can commit to being ourselves around others, commit to relationships, to doing what’s needed to care for our lives etc.
Yes Anne,
Committing equally to all aspects of our life is what creates a solid platform to serve and seals the door where evil dwells.
I agree Anne, I had for too long separated being at work and being at home when they are one and the same. Work is so much more enjoyable when we commit to being there and appreciate what we can bring to it! I used to wonder why I would get so tired after a day’s work and it is usually because I am not being myself or connecting to the purpose of making it about people!
Yes Vanessa, ‘connecting to the purpose of making it about people’ brings in a whole new dimension and makes commitment meaningful and worthwhile.
It’s beautiful when we make work about people and the service we are providing to humanity.
I can relate hugely to this Anne and making all one and the same has been a focus of mine and I have brought more attention to this recently. It makes total sense for this to be the case and really does support us in our day.
It’s a good point – that our work is part of our day and if we’re completely into it, then it’s another place where great learning comes from and another place we can be fully present. Well said Anne.
Having felt the pull to go back to work reading this was pertinent for me today as I recently begun making steps towards returning after 8 years of raising my children. I know I’ve hid behind my family, made excuses and made it about them too, but the more I’ve stepped up in taking care of me and claiming who I truly am, the more I feel being out there in the world working and bringing all of me to that is a huge part of my commitment to life and my purpose. ‘The thought of having a career suddenly felt so strong and supportive and quite frankly a necessary and practical part of life.’ Yes I agree! I wasn’t taking into account previously how not working affected the family and I now know it’s my absolute responsibility to step up for me, for them, for us all. Through that pull and me acting on it, the doorway is now open and things are starting to come my way. I felt work was stressful, too much before and was exhausted by it so having children became an escape from that but then I realised that was exhausting me too and I had to start looking at how I was being within it all. I look forward to working again from the way I now live with a growing love, joy and vitality for all I do and a deeper understanding for what takes me away from this.
Thank-you Donna for sharing this lovely piece. When we choose to commit to reconnect back to ourselves and start to self care and nurture ourselves, it is so worth the journey back to that deep deep well of love we all hold within, that when connected to, is just busting to be expressed.
I am working on my commitment to myself, and letting go of any dramas is giving me more time and space to do this.’ I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first’ .. commitment to bring all of me to everything I do. It makes such sense Donna.
Yes gillrandall, and if we commit to life not just to make our own life better but to bring more quality of life to the world then we provide a great reflection for others which inspires them to truly commit too and be responsible.
So true Sandra, we have much to offer by way of reflection in the work we do. The more I value and appreciate the love I am, the more I bring that to the work I do and we all have the opportunity to expand!
Yes committing to life with a deeper understanding and awareness has opened up my world enormously. It is like a domino effect too. Hugely inspiring. Thank you Gillrandall.
Hi gillrandall. I love how you have shared that letting go of the dramas gives us more time and space to commit to ourselves. The dramas and complications that follow take up so much time and energy.
The point is that if we have a life full of dramas, we cannot truly offer ourselves to the world, hence we cannot commit to life.
Donna, I know exactly what you are talking about. Committing to life, committing to work and even to myself, that were my biggest challenges in the last years. I thought, I’m better than other people and I deserve something different – I was just arrogant. Luckily I’m now on a good way to grow and to blossom, and I know now, that we are all equal and just amazing.
I like your comment alexander, it is not always so easy to see arrogance when we are apparently not doing anything different to anyone else. I have found that by calling out the arrogance for what it is, real life comes back in to focus again, making what is important bright and clear – like the importance of commitment.
I just love this paragraph: “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” I was also not committed to fully play my part in life prior to coming to Universal Medicine. I have since learned that it is not just about choosing to have a full time job, but commitment to being deeply connected to the love that I am and living the wisdom and service which this naturally engenders.
Commitment starts with ourselves first, to be present moment to moment in connection to our bodies and taking responsibility of the quality that we bring to everything that we do. This might be a challenging task sometimes but the benefits are endless as we get to deepen the relationship with ourselves and others around us.
So true Francisco, ‘Commitment starts with ourselves first, to be present moment to moment in connection to our bodies and taking responsibility of the quality that we bring to everything that we do.’ This feels beautiful, and as you say the benefits are endless.
Re-reading this blog I can feel the truth in every cell of my body.
‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.’ Beautiful.
Yes, I too love this line, ‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.’ Such a simple but very powerful approach.
Great how you made your way, Donna! For me it has been the other way round. I always worked as much as I could, but with a horrible energy. I wanted to have a career to get recognition and money so that I could prove that I am worthy. I also needed the overload of work to not feel the big sadness end emptiness in my body and to live in the illusion that my life would be full. Actually it was full – full of tension, lies and disregard of my body. I go exactly in the opposite direction as you at the moment and learn to allow myself to rest and just do things for me and although that sounds crazy, it`s really not easy…
It does not sound crazy to me, it is a pattern I have had, and it has not been easy completely letting this go. Now, I am increasingly choosing to listen to and honour my body, to rest when needed, and to honour and cherish myself.
Yes, true, it actually does not really sound crazy because many people experience it. I just feel that resting and allowing time and space for ourselves could be so easy and natural if we would not be caught in so many ideals and beliefs. It`s just about doing nothing (very well) and I sometimes can`t believe how difficult that is…
Thank you Donna I can relate to much that’s been shared. After not working for many years and then returning to part time work but not being fully committed it wasn’t until I started working full time earlier this year that I learned the full value in working. After the first week I was asking myself why had I not done this sooner and could feel how little I had valued and supported myself previously.
I love what you share here Danna, that you started with selling eggs and doing temp jobs. It shows that you were really committed to having a job and to just do what is needed, without the identification of needing a certain job title. It shows that we are not our jobs, it is just something we do.
So true – we are not our jobs, it is just something we do – I love it. I have to remind myself sometimes, when I get lost in the doing.
This part really stood out for me today – “I could feel that I had been at the other end of the same spectrum, withdrawn from life, and that the difference was to not go into driving a career, but ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing…” This is like feeling the level of withdrawal and then in reaction to feeling that, dive off in the other direction with a drive to ‘do’ more or ‘be’ more. I can see that I’ve oscillated throughout my working life between committing in full or committing to just what was needed and no more.
I am really appreciating all the comments and the blog about commitment. It’s so supportive when I hear so many different messages in the world about living for the weekend or getting to the end of the day intact – the latter being a mentality I can invite when I play small and let in feelings of intimidation rather than staying with myself and knowing how I am more than enough.
This is a great and very honest sharing Donna, going and getting work was a great way of committing back to life and in that connecting back to who you are and what you have to offer.
I had ups and downs in my life In regards to my commitment to work. I absolutely understand today the importance to commit to life in that respect and not looking forward to retirement either, I will actually plan my life so it doesn’t happen!
Alexandre what you have touched on about actually not looking forward to retirement and making it so that you continue to work past that time that is so common or expected to stop altogether, is a concept that is rarely talked about or heard in the world. Why as a society we have not stopped and asked the questions ‘Why and who said we need to stop working then?’, ‘Is it something I feel to do, or is it a picture I’ve had from hearing it since I was young?’. It’s like there are all these boundaries set up, some needed but I feel there are many that are based on control and a lack of considering the ramifications for ourselves and others. Of course this is dependent on individual circumstances and what workforce one works in but something very interesting to ponder on.
I also don`t want to retire. I can imagine being a psychologist even in my 90`s if I am still alive then. A commitment to work is a commitment to serve humanity and therefore absolutely important for our whole life. The reason why the whole world looks forward to retirement is that they work in a horrible energy and that of course leads to exhaustion. I love looking at the ageing students of Universal Medicine. They are all committed to life, still working, engaging in projects etc. That is really amazing and it will be the same for me.
Why would you remove yourself from working life when as you age your amazing wisdom and understanding of life or that particular field can be shared in support of everyone. It doesn’t make sense to suddenly stop unless you’ve not really enjoyed it or have run yourself into the ground in the way you’ve lived and worked and are therefore looking for an escape. I agree Alexandre, I will live my life in a way that means I not only want to continue working but am capable of doing so.
“I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” Truly committing to ourselves with our whole hearts is a beautiful foundation for life itself. Its about taking all of us into everything we do that is a wonderful skill to bestow.
Thank you Donna, i love your words – ‘I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!’
Committing to a job is commitment to bringing your expression to others in a very practical way. It is not about us and how well off we are, it is about us all the the true quality that we share with everyone.
Exactly, great summary Joshua – work is about bringing to others what we have to offer in a very practical and down to earth sense and letting things develop and unfold from there.
I like this Joshua as it brings a lightheartedness and warmth to work. If it is about bringing our whole selves in our expression to the job, it shifts the focus away from the task making and back to the people. Life itself.
Absolutely Jenny. Work can be far more than just a job, it can be a way of expressing our love in a very practical sense for others.
In the past I had a big issue with commitment – I couldn’t really commit to me, life and work. What I find so amazing about commitment is, that everything – all areas of life are connected. If we can’t commit in one area, then we can’t really commit in the other areas as well. And the prerequisite of true commitment is true presence, to be fully there no matter what we are doing.
This is a key lesson I have discovered. Before it was easy to compartmentalise my life, sections I did well in, areas to improve in, etc. Now I can appreciate that everything is connected, there may be areas we naturally master, but if there is no commitment in one sphere, there is no true commitment in another. They all come from the same place, ME, and that doesn’t change.
I love what you share here Jenny Hayes, if there is no commitment in one sphere, there is no true commitment in another. They all come from the same place, ME, and that doesn’t change. Funny how we can compartmentalize our lives and keep them separate so there is no true flow or rhythm and so then no real connection between them all, a totally different way of being from nature which doesn’t really make sense as us and nature do flow and work together when we are listening to our bodies and its natural rhythm just like nature does and reflects to us.
Yes I love this Jenny, “They do all come from the same place, ME, and that doesn’t change”! For me, I can see there is no room anymore for just leaving exercising my body or preparing my clothes for the week…. all of it is as important as the other.
I have worked all my life but it always came from a drive and a need to be more. Working the last 5 years in a supermarket has changed my whole perception and understanding of what commitment is. It is saying yes to everything that is asked with a joy and willingness, but with an understanding that if something is not true to honour this. Before I really understood this, I would complain if something was not right and I could feel how this would affect my day and the people I worked with. Learning to express what is not true that is not in the form of a reaction by bemoaning my situation has changed my working day completely and my commitment to work is so much stronger. There is now a joy in my work that was never there before i committed to life and to myself. I could very much relate to what you have written here Donna…..”I could feel myself going from strength to strength, not in a career driving way, but in my body; I could feel how this was truly supporting me and my life.”
I so understand what you are describing here, Alisonmoir. It is easy to go into a certain arrogance about what work should provide and deliver in terms of climate, pay etc etc and totally forget personal responsibility and the need to speak up when things are truly not okay; and do so from a non-emotional foundation which holds the whole picture beyond our personal needs.
So beautiful to feel your commitment alisonmoir, in what you have realised in how you express what is not true. I can relate to reacting first and than pointing out something in the work place, which of course is felt by others who then can also react back, and then any truth is lost. It is a completely different scenario when there is no reaction but just stating a truth, that then all others have the opportunity to connect with or not.
If every moment is an opportunity to fully commit to ourselves and we are all part of the body of God then what we are in truth doing is committing to God. When we are committed to God in every moment then we have merged back to knowing that we are God and from that we can then be God in service to God.
Agree Alexis, if we live our lives committed to God in every moment, then everything else takes care of itself, as it is impulsed to be.
Donna I feel there is a very important message in your sharing. I did not work outside of my home when I was married with children but I did work from home as a Family Day Care, carer. What I felt was that this work was not really valued by others {I thought) but many years later down the track, I look back and see it was I who did not put a true value on what I did, the responsibility I had to nurture and keep safe other peoples precious children so they could work.
It was the same with the training I did to be a Volunteer in a valued and very responsible organisation, again not seeing myself as doing a” real” job because I didn’t get paid and still don’t for volunteer work I do. So reading your blog is helping me unravel my thoughts and feelings and going even deeper, was I hiding in these jobs? Food for thought here! Thank you Donna.
Thanks for your sharing Donna. I had always wanted to work, but the picture that I was holding for a long time up until around 5 years ago was that although I was running my own business, I didn’t really need to pay myself superannuation because I thought one day I would get married and I wouldn’t need to look after myself financially when I got old. Being single for a long time I realised that this was a picture that I was holding. It has felt super empowering to dedicate every year part of my earnings to my super fund. In this I am committing more to life and more to me.
It is sometimes surprising to recognise how we need to develop one area of our life to evolve another or even how being stagnant with one aspect affects another without any intellectual logic but by energetic truth. It is key to understand that we are one person living one life and not different versions of that one person (roles) living in different departments of that one life thinking the parts would not interrelate with each other.
I agree Alex, seeing my life as a whole and not separated into home and work and ‘spare time’ etc has made a huge difference to me. I am more committed in how I am in everything and not just one or two aspects of my life. As soon as I see one thing being more important than another it effects the quality of everything else – including the one thing I was giving more attention to!
It’s a great point Alex, the compartmentalising of our lives creates lack of confidence and understanding of who we are and what we can bring in a simple and powerful way to all aspects of our lives. I have also noticed when I get caught up in ‘taking on roles’ how exhausting it is.
“In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” This is a groundbreaking statement and I can feel I have not harnessed the power of this in my own life. Thank you for the loving inspiration.
Work for me was a struggle for many years and swapping and changing jobs was more of a career than actually working, with lots of time off in between. My ideal life was to retire early (which I did for five years) and then go live abroad to a hot country and see out my days by the seaside.
Now I am working full time in London and have just started up a new job and have no day dreams of retiring to the coast or the countryside. Changing the way I have looked at work and committing to work has changed my life and I can now appreciate what work has to show me.
This is such a great sharing Donna and something we can all relate to as so important and relevant to being present with true purpose in life. I too have found an enormous joy and contentment in myself by learning to commit to myself and life more fully every day lovingly. It changes everything we do, how we feel and how we are in life and the joy ad beauty we feel from everyone and everything around us.
I used to have a bit of a ‘dream’ that I would avoid serious work for as long as possible and then retire early. I thought it was hard in the world of work and I had to conform in a way that didn’t feel good to me. What I have realised in the last few years is my responsibility in this life. I had strong pull to get out there and work and be part of life. I changed the way I approached my job and have gone on to establish a business in partnership with my husband. Work is life, life is work, as is every other part of what we do, it is equally part of life. I feel that all parts of my life require my full commitment.
Samantha my dream used to be to do as little work as possible but make lots of money and then retire super young not needing to work again. However that has all changed as I find the support of work, the rhythm, commitment, an incredible benefit to me. Now what I feel is it’s time to deepen my quality at work – whilst the commitment to work is there it’s becoming about the quality of me at work that is what is being called for and as you say work is equally part of life overall so the same depth of care is needed everywhere. I’ve noticed a few times I’ll want to complete things rather than enjoy being me completing them – lots to explore about true commitment.
You have written a great blog Donna, commitment is so essential and I can see a couple of times in my life when I wasn’t fully committed to a workplace or just going through the motions, looking forward to getting home to my ‘life’ which I saw as separate to my work, everything compartmentalized. We are at work probably more than we are anywhere else and it is in fact our life, might as well commit and enjoy.
I can totally relate to what you are saying Jeanette regarding compartmentalising our work and home life but once I realised that the quality that I lived and conducted myself with in one part fed the other part and vice versa, I accepted they are not separate at all and are in fact all one life that should be valued and treated with equal respect, integrity and effort accordingly.
Yes Suse, so true, there is certainly a greater sense of purpose and enjoyment when we accept work and home to be of equal importance in the valuing of them, and the quality, effort, respect and integrity we accord them. That there is no separation it is just “what’s next?” to be with.
” I could feel myself going from strength to strength, not in a career driving way, but in my body; I could feel how this was truly supporting me and my life”.
How very beautiful Donna, thank you for sharing your inspirational story. Going from strength to strength and being committed to the process; you have highlighted; and modeled; some very important points here Donna.
I remember having a belief that I’d grow up, get married and have a family and live happily ever after. Life didn’t quite work out that way but the one thing I have learnt is that the beliefs I had limited me. I couldn’t see past this ideal and when it didn’t work out it left a devastation that I then had to deal with. Ideals are very harming and only set us up to see life in a certain way.
Commiting to ourselves is truly a worthwhile choice to make as I am finding now. Who would have thought that being present with myself and allowing my body to lovingly guide me, would actually bring such enjoyment and love in the relationship that I am building with myself as I make the constant choice to do that.
That was beautiful to read your blog. I love following sentences: “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” That is a wonderful insight and so simple without any complication or doing. I also love it what you share about the commitment to live without this commitment we are not really living we are just existing.
I agree – a game changer in the workplace is growing ourselves with what we do, rather than using a title to be something. I used to observe women in high power roles and study how they worked, then would try and mimic their style, the way they talked to people, the way they dressed – just so I could consider myself ‘on their level’ – but that would always fall down quiet significantly. To get to know myself and bring all of me to a role allows me to naturally unfold in a way I’ve never allowed myself before.
Thank you Donna for a great post reminding me of commitment to bring all of me to whatever job I am doing, this is what gives it quality and reflects the quality of care and self love I have in my life.
Donna, your last paragraph is a great reminder and says it all. Attimes I do forget that playfulness and lightness are the key points for me and that how I work is just an extension of how I live at home. Caring about myself at home with food, sleep, moments just for me, walks with my dog and connect to family and friends – makes my career take care of itself.
Yes I agree Sonja. Work and home life can truly support each other to grow in this way.
Sonja what really struck me when reading your comment is how everything takes care of itself when we take care of our self.
Great stuff Donna, if everyone could have the same commitment to life and care towards self, the level of care for all would flourish.
Absolutely kevmchardy, when we truly care for ourselves we naturally want to extend that care out to all the world.
I love this Donna :”…it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” The more we commit to ourselves first the more we can be in service no matter where that service may be.
This is so true Karina. What Donna has shared here is a real gem: “…..it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!” What this comes down to is that we need to build a daily rhthym that will support us to do what needs to be done. That way we can take all of us to everything we do and then everyone benefits.
That’s true Karina, because then we do not need any form of recognition – as we appreciated ourselves enough and are able to work on what is needed and what comes up. For example why should I as an office worker not go into the production hall and help finish an urgent order?
Any form of true commitment to whatever aspect of life is a commitment to ME, otherwise it is not a commitment but an investment into something outside of myself to make up for the lack of ME.
Beautifully said, Alex!
Donna this is really beautiful and thank you for sharing. When our self-worth is low it can be easy to ‘check-out’ from life and just exist from day to day filling our empty lives with whatever stimulation gets us through the day. You took responsibility for yourself, your self care and love, and went out and got a job! Commitment to life is actually a necessity if we are to evolve on any level.
Absolutely Jo. I once walked around in total arrogance that I was a victim of life, no need to commit and things would just happen due to fate. But scrap that: I was unhappy, lonely, withdrawn and tired. In starting to take responsibility, speaking up and committing to how I am with me and with everyone, I can feel and see the fundamental change in life supporting me and being able to show me signs in order to keep evolving.
I love this Hannah. How we can so easily fall into being a victim of life, which in fact just means we are taking no responsibility for ourselves! How great to renounce this mentality and acknowledge what was truly going on for you. Once we do this, life changes immensely, it does take time to step back through our choices, but purpose has been ignited.
Donna I have just read your excellent article for the second time. When you so accurately stated ‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force’ I felt that this actually applies to everything; in that when we ‘grow ourselves’ then every-thing that our self is involved in will also naturally grow, as it is us that is in every-thing.
So very true Alexis Stewart. When we focus on growing us from that true and real us, a loving way comes about as you have paved the way for it to come forth from your own lovely presence.
“the same dedication was not there for myself ” there was a little bit of ooohhh in reading this line, as much as I would like to say I did not realise I am this way with myself at times, I know fine well. I almost can completely dismiss taking deep care of myself in many ways which results in me feeling empty and at times I can’t be bothered feeling, which if I’m completely honest I indulge in and allow to extend out to my day / life. On the other side when I do make the choice ( as everything is a choice) to honour myself in the tiniest of little ways, even a simple act of sitting down to put my make up on, this fills me with a joy and I full of me. This continues to build throughout my day, (if I keep honouring my feelings) which naturally extends into work, how I communicate, drive, express in every way, the commitment comes naturally. In saying all this I realise everything is a choice we can indulge in our lack of commitment to life or we can choose in an instant to commit and take responsibility.
Yes, this makes so much sense and one I recognise,
‘everything is a choice we can indulge in our lack of commitment to life or we can choose in an instant to commit and take responsibility.’ This old pattern can still sneak back in. It is about making loving choices every second of every day.
It’s a whole new way to look at work. For me it’s also easy to go into the driving to achieve something, as opposed to bringing and appreciating all of me into everything I do – work or otherwise. It’s like I have an on and off switch for work mode which puts me into a “I’ve got to get this done (and quick)” space that means I justify pushing my body and putting the task ahead of my wellbeing. Great to read your story about work simply being something that supports you and another way to share the fullness of who you are with the world.
Committing to life, it’s all about committing to me first and foremost. When parts of me are left unresolved, it causes a stagnation within me, which then affects what I do and also affects some things more than others. It is this dark stagnated place that can make me sick if it is left alone and buried.
Great point Matthew, commitment to life must first start with commitment to self, and addressing anything that gets in the way of being the love that we innately are and can express from. I agree, it can make me sick also if anything is left buried or undealt with.
You bring up a good point Matthew, we can not commit to life if we do not commit to ourselves. We are a part of life so if we do not commit to ourselves we can’t commit to life as a whole.
To me it appears that the separation of ME and life is part of the lack of commitment in the first place as life is considered being something I can step into or out of. If we wouldn´t separate the both there would be only one form of commitment no matter what I commit to, it will always be encompassing all of me and my life.
I agree Ben and also Alex, what you say feels very true = life and ME can not be separated, it is a whole and therefore committing to me then automatically means committing to life, as one can not be without the other.
I really like the point you make here Alex about feeling we can step into or out of life. The reality is we can never step out, because we are part of it. Our stepping out is an illusion and a choice that has consequences, which must eventually be dealt with, when we choose to accept the responsibility we have. Once we commit, its simple, we are fully ourselves in full commitment with everything.
Wow, I loved reading this. There is no bottom or top of the ladder, just working, contributing, building. I love the honesty about the arrogance, how many of us have felt like that?! I should have a job where I do nothing and get paid well. I have totally changed my relationship with work after meeting Serge Benhayon and like you have felt better in my health and wellbeing as a result. It really isn’t about being at the top, although I’m not averse to that either, it is about working in the community, doing what I absolutely love doing.
Absolutely Kate and Donna, starting to commit to life and work again has changed my life. I had the same experiences and sometimes I wonder where did I spend all my time in all those years.
Most of the population would probably put their hand up and say that work makes them tired, drained and sometimes quite frustrated or anxious, but what’s amazing about what you’ve shared Kate and what’s written in this blog is that work can actually be very liberating and revitalising. I find the same thing with my work – it makes me feel super awake!
Susie thank you for your comment, I also feel that for people that feel work is draining, they also may feel the same about life in general. How easy it is to blame our environment and not realise it all actually comes down to our day to day choices and the way we approach things.
Absolutely Melinda. Day after day I used to come home from school totally exhausted and drained, and although it is an intense environment, what I didn’t want to see was my part in it, and how the exhaustion came from my choices. I still do get exhausted, but not to the same degree, because I know getting involved in drama, other people’s issues or stress will result in a worn out body!
Committing to life can look and feel differently to us all depending on where we are in life, how we live, job we have. I know for me as an outsider looking into my life, the picture I painted was a very convincing one. I had a great job, lots of friends, amazing family and relationships. Yet I felt like something was missing, I didn’t open myself up fully to people, I did ‘what I needed to do’ at work, not what was needed or truly felt. I really wasn’t interested in politics or what was happening in the world, I kind of kept myself, in my own comfort. I feel very differently now, with the assistance of amazing Esoteric pratitioners and attending Universal Medicine presentations, I am very committed to life, boots and all!!
You make a great point here Raegan. Working full-time and having a full and busy life doesn’t necessarily mean that there is commitment. They can both look the same but the approach and the effect on our body are very different.
This is true Vicky and it all comes back to quality.
I have always worked full time but the point you make here raegankcairney is very true. In my 20s and 30s i was the same. I was dragging myself through each working day, watching the clock, praying for the weekends and holiday escapes abroad. I was not very committed to any jobs and just enough. Still working, but now 4 days per week, how I approach work is very different, and I’m actually enjoying it! As Donna so clearly describes, there is a big picture behind being committed to work and life, and it also includes being committed to yourself, in the way you look after yourself and how you support yourself to do what needs to be done. I am so grateful to have learnt about self love and self care through Universal Medicine workshops. They have helped me turn my life around.
I am just going to let all this wisdom sink in because while I am working part-time and building my life around my children I am definitely selling myself short. About 15 years ago I had a major burn out and I can feel an immense fear of being ‘out there’ again full time and at the same time also being there for my children as a single parent. Right now I am not yet living all of me but I can sense that I am getting there.
Thanks for sharing iljak, I know someone close to me who has also experienced burn out from putting too much of herself into her work and not having the tools to understand how to stay connected with herself as a priority. Her stop was an illness and it has made her wary of going out and committing to life in this way again. I know for myself, I did not know what it was to truly commit to life until it was presented to me by Universal Medicine and I began to explore it for myself. It was definitely a process and continues to be.
It’s amazing how committing to full time work can support us to create a loving rhythm from which to work. When I first started working full time after years of working part time I was totally exhausted for months. This showed me how I had been living. Slowly over time I found a way to support myself within the full time schedule. It has showed me so much.
Rebecca what you share about creating a rhythm that supports you for a full time schedule is really important. We actually don’t realise how much we do during our days so to do exercise and to prepare ourselves with healthy food all really contribute to a vital work enviroment for yourself and all those you work with.
So true Natalie. What I also discovered was that the way I was working was draining me. My attitude had much to do with it. I felt a lot of the time that I was dragging myself through the day and the thoughts that would go through my head were so negative and definitely did not help me to be vital and enjoy my day. When I give myself enough time to prepare lovingly for my day, stay with myself and my body so I’m not rushing, and stay focused on myself and truly connect with people in my interactions my day feels totally different, I feel less drained and less tired, and I actually enjoy myself! Who would have thought that work could be so much fun!
Very true Rebecca and Natalie. Working full-time supports us to make sure we are fit for it. I have chosen to work full-time next to my practice and it feels a true blessing to do so as one is so very supportive of the other. I am raising a family next to this and the time I get to share with my children is appreciated and enjoyed and I bring my experiences from my day home to them. So even if they see less of me they actually get more of me.
My experience is that working full time and being fully committed doing so gives me the sense of purpose to then create a loving and supportive rhythm in the first place.
Without the purpose, I would still cruise through the day and instead of quality and presence seeking comfort, distraction and pleasure would be my only choice.
I have had the interesting experience of having my hours reduced at work. The result has been that I feel more tired and get less done. Makes no sense you could say until you bring commitment into the picture.. I have picked up two extra days elsewhere which will be very revealing when that second job commences.
I so get this Rachel, it is almost like we have to turn off the font of energy in order to do less – right energy built on connection allows us to do what is needed and then some – the core purpose is service – when the body does not have that as a true focus it becomes exhausted from pushing or exhausted from not being given the opportunity to really fly.
I did get a chance to stop working a few years ago. I thought I would be so happy, because working full time had felt like a chore. The opposite was true. I was still experiencing stress (of my own making) and was very down, because I was not mixing with anyone and felt I had no real purpose. It was a good experience to have and a great realisation that I actually need to work for my own well-being.
I found this too Rebecca, when I started working full time after having my children I didn’t know how I was going to get through my day without my mid-afternoon nap! But I do agree, building a rhythm with exercise, food and sleep is important to support us during the day, and equally important is holding that connection with ourselves and not holding back in our expression with others, this certainly can make my day more enjoyable and less draining.
Interesting I have had a different experience, of feeling quite tired with part time work and getting lots of energy with full time work – exposing in me how I waste time energy in between work periods and have found with full time work a great deal more commitment.
I have never stopped working, but until being introduced to Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I found I was just doing what was expected of me. I had no real commitment to real life let alone my self. With age comes wisdom if you are willing to look at what our choices have brought us. Past choices will never define us only if we let them.
“I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!”
I really loved this quote Donna. Appreciating what it is that we bring to this world, in the quality of who we are, allows us to see our value. From there we can know that whatever we do carries that quality, so the actions themselves become less the focus and more how we are in them. We can then do any job, knowing we are bringing whatever light it is that we bring, and meeting whichever people along the way. This certainly is a different way to look at ‘career progression’ – I agree!
You have so beautifully expanded here Amelia, this is so clear and to the point and I totally agree with you – to connect to the quality we are and bring that to everyone we meet and into everything we do – what a difference that will make to all of humanity when everyone starts from there. Thank you.
I totally agree Amelia, when we get to appreciate ourselves for the quality that we bring anywhere we work it allows us for a greater level of acceptance of who we are and it changes the focus of what we do and how good we do things to just the power of our presence.
That’s an interesting approach Amelia, it made me see that progression of my career is linked to the relationships I build and that first and foremost appreciation of self is needed to make those relationships honest and true. From there the career goes wherever it needs to go to serve others and offer quality care. I feel more and more that retiring is not a goal but something we should look to avoid, instead addressing if we need to, why retiring is such a desperately sought ‘end’ point and a drain on ourselves that we need it so much.
I too have found that a stop was an amazing blessing. My life began to change as I realised that I had spent so much time focussing on the family and lost any true connection to myself. Working gave me a new sense of purpose and structure to my life and the bonus for me was the joy of meeting new people and engaging with them. Every day going to work was like a new adventure in my life and my life began to blossom as I took more responsibility for my life. ‘This was a completely new feeling for me but empowering and wonderful to feel. I had never felt that level of care for myself’.
I love the sense of purpose that comes with working..
Yes Abby, it feels as though that is what life is truly about – expanding our everyday experience at work so that we can all come together in life in a more integrated and unified way, embracing each and every one of us.
I love working, but the temptation to not work recently has been strong, but it soon dawned on me that I have never truly committed to a job, always wanting something better to come along and make me ‘happy’. There was always a ‘better’ job around the corner. After repeating this pattern many times, I realised that this non-committal to a job was reflecting back to me my non-committal to life, and to me. What a revelation, so instead of running away from my current job I can choose to step-up into it or run away again. Isn’t awareness wonderful, it allows us to make choices on a day to day basis to re-commit and not to carry on in the same old groove and old patterns of behaviour. And I totally agree Abby, working does give us a purpose, whatever kind of work we do.
Sandrahenden I love what you write here because you are describing about 80-90% of the workforce I reckon’. So many people are in jobs wishing and waiting for a better job to come along or retirement depending on their age. I too succumb to that energy at times and man’o’man it is exhausting. No wonder offices crave the 3pm sugar hit.
I’ve always struggled with the word purpose because I never committed to life – there was always a part of me that just didn’t want to be here as being here was too much like hard work. (I’d have to look at my choices and admit I made them!)
So I choose instead to pretend that purpose confused me. I understand what it means, if I only knew that for myself and had a purpose then I would be motivated. This is a great trick to not take responsibility and choose to be committed – I’d placed all the onus on this magical thing called purpose in that I wouldn’t ever be depressed, I’d feel great about myself because my worth would come from my purpose, my mission, what I was doing.
In my last week at work I have to say I’ve felt I’ve been asked to really deal with my stuff or become stressed. It’s an amazing job which highlights in no uncertain terms areas I have not dealt with in my own life/childhood. I can either run or stay present.
Staying present has meant areas I once found tricky now aren’t which feels so freeing. Then another area will present itself. Rather than groan and ask for a rest I’ve realized staying present (and getting support where needed) is the only way. My understanding of purpose is now staying present, dealing with whatever arises, and presenting love to the world. My understanding maybe limited but I know it’ll unfold.
Me too Abby. I used to dream of retiring and stopping work. Now I am looking forward to continuing working and making a contribution to my community in whatever way I can, way beyond the set retirement age. Why stop working?
Committing to work is one of the greatest things anyone could ever undertake. It is difficult to quantify just how invaluable such an activity is, but to start with committing to work brings an immeasurable sense of self-fulfilment, enjoyment, enthusiasm for life and a priceless knowing that you are of real use and service to the people around you and for whom you work for.
Abby me too, from such a young age I used to be called a ‘hard worker’ and I was proud of this – but what I have come to realise is that it isn’t about being a ‘hard worker’ it is about having a level of standards that you are not prepared to compromise on. To enjoy what it is that you need to do simply by being yourself. This contentment that I have thought was impossible is worth committing to, it is worth every yes, to being all that I am in all that I do.
So do I Abby.
I can relate strongly to what Sandra shared about that committing to a job being a commitment to our own life. I have floated from job to job over the years, never wanting to stay in the one place too long and within that I strongly feel the lack of commitment to developing my own life. Settling into one job also allows for more intimacy with people as you develop relationships with them, this is also something I have for sure run away from over the years.
I can relate to this too Stephen, floating from one job to another, and doing things that would fit into my life and around my children. What I have learnt and am still learning from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine is that life is work and work is life – there is no difference between the two. So any lack of commitment that I have had towards work, reflects to me that I have also had the same lack of committment to myself. This has been a huge lesson to learn, but so valuable and I now work more than I have worked in my whole life. And as you so beautifully say Stephen, settling into a job does allow an opportunity for more intimacy with the people you work with as you develop relationships with them.
In the last years it was also for me very difficult, to commit to a job – I would have rather stayed at home. But the real reason was – I wasn’t comfortable in myself and in the company of other people, I felt my separation to myself even more. Since I’m working on myself and connect to me more and more, the more I love to go to work. What a wonderful turn around thanks to Unimed and Serge Benhayon.
How at odds is this testimonial to work, to the resistance and dislike that so many people express about their work places? Its wonderful to see someone committing to their work, and then being able to feel and express the benefits for of us all to see.
For many years I had a ‘hate affair’ with working, temped a lot and felt trapped if I signed a permanent contract. Took early retirement for 5 years and used every excuse in the book not to work, from the children to being too ill. But I can see now this was just my way of not committing to life and choosing to hide, which long terms serves no one, not even ourselves. Building a commitment to work is an ongoing process and one that requires an evaluation from time to time, as it is not all plain sailing and some of my old patterns can and do pop up. The benefit of having to deal with people and situations far out weighs hiding at home.
Donna in the UK its now possible to earn more money being on benefits and not working than working. It puts a dilemma in front of many people as to what they do – yet what you’ve shown is that by getting a job, working hard, the support, structure and self worth we receive from this is worth more than the actual money of working itself. I’ve also found that by being committed in the work I do it supports other areas of my life. It’s a great story that you’ve shared and one that every person who is not working and is not keen on working should read as it could support them.
‘It was only when I cared enough for myself as a woman that I began my journey back into employment.’ I can feel how supportive this sentence would be for other women who are looking to go back into employment or change careers. You have shown that to bring it back to caring for ourselves as women (or men) is very powerful indeed.
As a young adult, getting a job was one of the best things I ever did. I am pretty sure I learnt more in a season of casual work at the Myer stocktake sale than I did in 6 and half years of university. Now you could argue that I didn’t put very much effort into university and that actually would be true!
But there’s something very healthy and productive about working with people for a united purpose and where you are required to turn up each day that teaches volumes about committing to life…
Committing to life has been an area where I have fallen short. Donna your blog is fantastic as it highlights very clearly that there is a commitment to the body and not a driving to get somewhere. I have always believed that I was committed because of all the work I did – my body exhausted and not firing on all cylinders was a great reflection for me in realising that the body has to come first. It has taken some time and there is more to go but I am aware of the difference.
Rereading you blog Donna speaks of you taking responsibility for yourself, something akin to ALL of us. I am learning more and more that my level of self responsibility reflects my true commitment to life. There is so much to ponder in what you have shared. Thank you
‘Getting a job… committing to life?
What did that mean?’
Great questions Donna. Ones that I also have asked myself from time to time over the years. Relatively speaking my commitment to life and work has changed immeasurably, but I also find that a lag or a sleepiness in some aspect of my life periodically comes to light. So for me this is as an ongoing commitment that is constantly unfolding and developing.
I totally agree Jenny, I to have embraced both but once attending Universal Medicine I came to understand that commitment to life in full is super important. One that is continually going further in the way I commit and the more I see where I have not been and know that it needs too. This constant loving dedication to commit to all of my life and as I go there even more I can feel how much it supports me as a person.
It’s amazing what can happen when we commit to life and the changes that naturally occur as a result of that choice. Life goes from being quite closed and narrow to a 360 degree view where anything is possible. It is quite extraordinary how a single choice to let the world in more and connect with ourselves, changes everything. Thank-you for sharing your awesome turnaround Donna.
It’s clear from your blog Donna that you have turned your life around in terms of the commitment you now have to yourself and all of life. I stayed at home with the children for a number of years but whilst it wasn’t a choice to not commit to work I realise that although I do commit to my work there are still so many ideals and beliefs about what that actually means, rather than true deep commitment to me and my daily rhythms so that work is a natural part of that. A prompt for me to look deeper. Thank you.
It’s wonderful to read how becoming responsible supports us to feel genuinely great about ourselves, no longer reliant on another emotionally or financially. I know I can resist being responsible but doing so always feels abusive to myself and those around me – – I’m effectively asking another to take on responsibilities that are mine, not theirs. This can create resentments and friction whereas we could be working together.
Thank you for sharing your story, Donna, what a amazing turnaround for you. You embraced the opportunity the stop moment gave you, – that’s what stop moments are all about! Work is so much more than earning a living, ~ it’s about a daily rhythm, connecting to people, committing to tasks, and as you say in the title, – committing to life. So many ripple effects.
A really honest blog Donna and one I’m sure will assist many women all over the world. It’s amazing that you claimed the employment as a part of your expression and chose to commit to this. Bringing all of ourselves to any job makes the task so beautiful to be a part of.
Thank you Donna, this blog has some great inspiring points to ponder on. I love how by committing to caring for yourself it has overflowed to your commitment to work and all other aspects of your life. “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force”.
Yes Deidre, such an important point – no drive or control, simply the expansion of love in action.
Yes Deidre – committing to truly caring for ourselves is the most valuable life insurance we can ever get.
What a great sharing Donna and how inspiring to read your story. What I loved is the fact you committed to taking care of yourself and got some true support from Universal Medicine practitioners which then supported you to take small steps back into the world of work.
Before I met Serge Benhayon in 2005, I was living off the money that came from two properties in London. It allowed me to work for a friend when I felt like it and spend the rest of my time in shopping centres buying anything that I wanted and filling up a big house and double garage. At the same time my husband got the odd job but it never lasted and he just played tennis and had private lessons. So to summarise zero commitment.
Serge Benhayon has inspired me and many others about work and it comes from his own work ethic which really is incredible if you know his story.
I understand now that I do have a responsibility to work and not just pay my bills but to be sensible about how I spend my money. I keep learning from this wise man and my life today is heaven on earth to say the least.
I currently have a new job which is so much more aligned with my strongest skills than my previous role. It is supporting me to feel more alive and bringing me to support myself more outside of work as I feel a deeper purpose again.
Commitment to self and to life; what an awesome story of transformation and self responsibility.
“So while my commitment to life at first was about me getting back on my feet to support myself financially, what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within”.
Very deeply beautiful and divine indeed, thank you Donna.
Donna, I also learnt “that a STOP, in my case an illness, can be the most amazing blessing in disguise – a healing journey that evolves us if we choose to adhere to the learning being asked of us”. If all could see a ‘stop moment’, especially an illness or so-called disease, in this way more true healing would take place once people start treating the root cause and not just the symptoms.
Donna, I can relate to everything what you are sharing here, especially your sentence “however there was still no true commitment from me and I would find reasons why I needed to stop working.” I still have to work on this issue – I’m an expert in finding reasons that my current work is not good enough. There is still some homework to be done by myself.
Donna, I can really relate to what you are sharing. Thank you for your honesty and your insight, me too, I learnt that work is truly supportive for me, giving me a great framework and rhythm in my life, where I can support myself and others too.
Committing to my life and work more and more is building a solid foundation for me to stand on, and I am better equipped to deal with life’s challenges and daily stress’s. I used to withdraw from life and people, as I didn’t have a foundation of support to stand on, having this connection to myself and foundation has been the most fundamental and important things to build in my life.
To feel the commitment you made to life and yourself Donna has deepened my awareness about commitment thank you. There is a relationship between self worth and self-esteem and work, and I feel my worth more when I’m working. But I have had to be careful to not get my sense of worth from my job by the recognition and approval I can seek from others, rather appreciate and confirm myself.
Yes Thomas it is about commitment to life and then bringing all of us to whatever work we do rather than using work for recognition and approval. As I work on appreciating myself this need has naturally fallen away.
I love the feeling of your unfolding and deepening commitment and the dedication it shows to yourself and what ever you know needs to happen.
Wow Donna, very inspiring blog. Your commitment to yourself and to life really inspires others to know that they too can make the similar choices. To seek support, to develop self-love and self-care, this is so important. You have truly changed your life around and so amazing to read. Thank you.
What’s interesting to see Donna is that building your commitment to work was firstly about building your commitment to you, your dedication to you as a woman, to caring and loving yourself… then the rest unfolded. Thank you for sharing this.
Good point Annie, yes, a great reminder, connecting deeper to the women we are, helps us build the commitment to all that we do.
I just love going to work. I never ever thought I could love it so much. I love everything I am responsible for and there is such a joy in receiving work that challenges me in any way. The more I accept this, the more everyday is asking me to be more and bring more of myself. And then to think we get paid for this constant deepening of our expression and love is truly amazing.
A STOP indeed can be an amazing blessing if we accept it as such and honestly look at what we where truly up to, what led to this STOP. Then we have the chance to make different choices and by that truly change our lives.
Really beautiful Donna. What an amazing journey. You have much to offer and share from your experience. I’m seeing my own lack of commitment to life, to work, to me and this gets quite complicated. But in the commitment, things really flow and are easy. For me it is also knowing what is stopping me from committing and working on that.
So much of our time is spent working and sleeping I find it so important to take care of myself by being responsible to make the choice wherever, to sleep between 9.00pm and 1.00am as part of building and maintaining a solid foundation of Love, so I can be fully present to offer all of me to my work colleagues and clients and all of humanity.
What a huge shift there was in you Donna, what you share shows that each of us has something amazing to offer. I for quite a long time found myself not committing to jobs, always choosing casual employment, yet the moment I committed to a full time job I felt such a shift in my confidence and flourished and grew in the role. It was committing to life and myself in this way that helped to create a new foundation in myself. This is what is so evident in the way you write, you were able to heal yourself by committing to yourself and life.
Thank you for an honest sharing Donna, committing to life is saying no to comfort and opening yourself up to live in a way that is honouring and true to the amazingness that you are.
Thank you Donna for sharing with us your experience about committing to you, your life and work. It was very touching to read and inspiring to feel what you have chosen to learn from your stop moment in 2010 to where you are now.
I love how you make all jobs and therefore people equal Donna, and that we just need to bring all of us to wherever we are needed. It is so true
Yes Libby, our development and evolution as human beings does not happen in any specific job or profession, it all comes down to our willingness to truly connect to ourselves and everyone equally no matter what the workplace or profession looks like.
Work is life medicine and a place that reflects much and holds many beliefs. What an opportunity to be able to experience work, to not only earn money, but to heal the issues that surround it.
I agree Matthew, I’m discovering what a blessing it is working where I do. I’m caring for others however I’m also being offered the most powerful and humbling healing. It’s not something I could have anticipated but it’s an opportunity I’m very appreciative for.
I love how it has been described as Life Medicine by Matthew – a place we can learn and grow. Work can be such a serious place and so great to liken it to a playground we can learn but also bring a lot of joy to it.
Absolutely Mathew, work offers all those relationships with colleagues and clients for all our old issues and hurts to come up and play out and even heal if we choose.
Beautifully said Matthew. We can indeed heal the issues in all aspects of our lives but work is an area where there are many entrenched ideas and beliefs about how it should be and how we should be in it. It is therefore a place which provides much opportunity for healing if we are open to seeing what is there to be healed without taking it on.
Agree Matthew work is such a positive that it is a pleasure to do
Yes agree Matthew, work is the very backbone of life itself to support and hold us towards our healing. This is because whatever work we do, work is our service here on earth that affirms the approach we have to ourselves, people, as well as life itself – whether we are committed and dedicated to all this, or not.
Thank you Donna for you very honest blog. I am fortunate enough to be doing a job that I love and have a great opportunity to express my livingness to many. I sometimes attend meetings on request and colleagues don’t really know why they invite me as it’s not always the case that I am working on and sometimes I don’t even speak or say very little maybe just reframe the situation.
Donna, your bog is showing us a whole new meaning for commitment, showing it as something far greater than just turning up. Making it be about life itself.
Brilliant Shami, very well said.
Shami I agree with what you have said about how the blog has shed new light on the importance of commitment. I have felt, since reading the article for the first time, that it has highlighted my lack of commitment in so many day to day things. Lack of commitment whilst writing my shopping list lead to lack of commitment in the supermarket which in turn lead to lack of commitment to my meal planning. Lack of commitment in the shower lead to me not being sure if I had washed the soap off my face. How committed am I, how much of the time?
Inspiring blog, and as I have been living held back from life like you describe, and having worked for some time know I can feel how much it brings me into real life and meet people, and with this bringing all that I am is a blessing for myself and everyone else around.
In the past I always made it about the job to be done, ie I was there to work and get through the tasks, and that is what I did. There has been a noticeably difference since I changed my focus to connecting with my colleagues, which of course begins with the connection I have with myself.
For me also Donna getting back into work and really committing to work has been a gradual thing. For so long I didn’t want to be there, wanted to be anyplace else but something in me told me to stick with it. Everyday I am now choosing to go to work and be at work and commit to work in full and it is getting better and better. I feel like I am only just starting my ‘love of work’ and I never would have thought I would say that.
And what you would bring to that organisation Natasha, when you claim it, will be so transformational and healing to all around you. Appreciating ALL that we bring is part of it.
‘love of work’, your words Natasha brought me to reflect upon how I have felt about work. When I was a teenager starting to choose what career to get into. I began to look at what skills am I naturally good at and most importantly what do I enjoying doing? I began to study and prepare myself for a career based on that. There were also times where I had to commit to a job that I didn’t particularly like but financially supportive at the time. I then chose to focus on the parts of the job small or large that I enjoyed and develop a love for work in that way. One of the many amazing things I have discovered through Universal Medicine is, it’s not so much what job I do but more about how I am in each job. Do I fully connect to my work and to people? From the most mundane, so called boring jobs, I have learnt that I can choose to bring joy and love into work by being fully present with myself. By appreciating every movement, where I am and what I am doing. To truly connect with people is a blessing, to be able to do this through work is incredible. The more we deeply connect with people, it just keeps getting better.
What you are sharing I can relate to it very well. In the past I just worked for the financial benefits without really seeing a sense in my work – the purpose of why I do things was missing. Now things are changing. Like you I look after myself better and I havee started to love people. That is one big aspect – work is all about people and it is important to love to spend time with other people.
I’m so glad I read your blog again Donna as It dawned on me that the reason my work hasn’t been going so well is the sliding lack of commitment to myself. So I am going to get more committed to life and see if things get a bit more sorted.
What I realised through my own experience is that as I grew with myself and became more committed to life, things started to shift – I treated myself as a 5 year old in some respects and asked “would I risk not having money to shelter, clothe or have good quality food to feed my child?” the answer was no, so then why would I do it to myself? I also realise that even though the Will was there and Life was changing for the better and saw the doors opening up for me with work that there was still a momentum that I had to clear and so needed to be patient and loving with myself while this cleared – the momentum being not just this lifetime but many. It’s important to acknowledge how far we have come, stay real and appreciate ourselves each step of the way.
“would I risk not having money to shelter, clothe or have good quality food to feed my child?” Donna, what you are saying here is crucial, why would we treat ouselves any different and with less responsibility and care than we would treat a child? It would be the same as saying ‘do not put your own oxygen mask on first, help your children or anyone else first’.
The sense of commitment to work described within this Donna, I agree is a powerful incubator for building strength and consistency.
Donna, there is so much gold in this blog. Wow! The parts that stood out for me today are, “…to not go into driving a career, but ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing…” and “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” and “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first…”. These nuggets are so timely for me to read as I embark on a new direction with my work. Thank you for sharing such profound wisdom.
I am finding that the more I commit to my work, to projects, involving myself in community and not holding back, the more energy I have. When I hold back and don’t commit, I feel tired and exhausted. I then need to look at what is it that I am not committing to? What am I afraid of? What beliefs am I holding? When I explore these things, I am able to uncover what is holding me back so that I can truly commit.
Indeed Donna when I do not hold back and as long as I don’t go into a driven energy as described in this blog I have found that I have way more energy and don’t get as tired.
It’s incredible just how much energy there is available to work when I am in total commitment and full swing at work.
Yes Dean – I know when I ‘drag the chain’ at work and don’t fully commit, the day drags and so does my energy. But when I commit in full to being there and what needs to be done – no problems, energy is there and away we go!
I have had a similar experience in regard to the amount of effort that I put into life, when there are times that I don’t get up get going and put effort in then I just start to feel lethargic, tired and as if I don’t have any energy left, it is as if my body only gives me the amount of energy I need for what I am doing and if what I’m doing is not a lot then generally I don’t have much energy!
I can so relate to what you’re sharing Donna. Committing to my work gives me a sense of purpose, I feel I am contributing to society, creating an opportunity to evolve. Without purpose, I felt like I was stagnating and just existing, my focus was more on ‘self’. The more I allow myself to commit, the more I seem to be able to manage in my day, which keeps growing in hours, and sometimes feels as though time itself is expanding around me.
So true Donna – when I really commit to something, my energy level is very different to the situation, when I’m holding back and hiding myself. In the past I was very good at hiding and now I’m coming out of my shell and I start to feel purpose again in my life.
“As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else – usually a boyfriend/my husband – and then just become a chameleon and adapt to their way of life. This was easy for me to do and so I did it… but at what cost to myself?” Oh, how I relate to this. I was brought up in an earlier era, where it was absolutely expected that a woman would either get married by the time she was,at the most, in her early 20’s and would then settle down with a family, with the man looking after all the other details, or she would spend much of her life looking after her parents as they came to need help. So working for most women, was just to fill in the time from leaving school until that expected day that she married. Yes, we did often keep on with our job until the first child was near appearing, and that extra bit of money was always helpful in those earlier days. Although in many workplaces, such as banks, once a woman married, she had to leave her job. Yes, I was one who also in most ways handed the decisions over to my husband. But since I met Serge Benhayon, well in my 60’s, I have come to understand the beauty and great advantage of a woman having a real job outside the home. That great sense of responsibility that comes with having a job is so great for our growth as a person. No, I did not go out and get a job, but with the things that I now do voluntarily, I must admit, I have never, ever, been so busy in my life. And I love it.
I can so relate to what you said Beverley. As one getting close to being on the shelf before getting married at 27, according to the opinions of others in those days, it was assumed I would follow the flag and in fact there was no option not to if you wanted to stay married to a man in the Army at that time. Now I do not work but am busier than I have ever been, attending courses run by Universal Medicine, supporting others and sharing the joy of being far more me than I have ever been before – and knowing there is a lot more left to unfold.
It astounded me Beverley that it was once legislation that married women couldn’t work. I had my first job at 13 and have always worked I took some time off 18 months with my first child and 8 months with my second. That was out of necessity financially, part of me always dreamed of being a lady of leisure. When I had the opportunity to, I tried it out with disastrous consequences. I love working and I love people, having a purpose and working in groups can be challenging but that is a great thing.
I can relate to what you are saying here Beverly. My mother was very much old school of giving her life up when she got married. Even when I got married in the early eighties a lot of my husband’s mothers friends bailed me up and made comments like “so you’ll be leaving work now won’t you”. That was still the expectation of many people
Well done Donna, this is an article that many women from all around the world could relate to. Your honestly and humbleness is felt through out.
Very true sarahraynebaldwin – most people feel the difference in a real and relateable article.
Yes Eva I certain do, its like a cool wind on a summers day.
Responsibility is something I am embracing more and more in my life which I can see goes hand in hand with making more self loving choices. Holding back and not stepping up in my responsibility around something just feels really restrictive and hard in my body, whereas when I just choose to let go of my head and what it may be telling me and feel into my body, I can feel there is this natural impulse and space to do what is needed and it doesn’t take much effort at all. It blows any restrictive thought right out of the water.
“It blows any restrictive thought right out of the water”, I like this Julie Chung. I know that if I listen to my head it can spin me all kind of yarns and keep me going around and around in circles analysing, and this can be a very vicious cycle. Letting go and letting our bodies impulse us opens up all kinds of potentials and possibilities that our minds would never fathom as our mind just LOVES to keep us entrenched in the same old behaviours. Our mind wants us to remain small but once we choose, and keep choosing moment by moment, to connect back to our bodies we can begin to let go of the restrictions our minds place on us.
Well said sandrahenden. I am seeing how listening to the head is such an imprisonment and the opposite of listening to my body, and the innermost part of me.
I agree, well said. Listening to the mind is like a never ending story – a true vicious circle, it leads nowhere. I like the approach: STOP and FEEL the body, to stop the chaos in the head. Once I can feel my stillness again, life is talking to me again.
‘One day I asked an organisation if I could volunteer in their clinic to gain some experience, which I did for 3 months. After that I applied for a job as a receptionist for a super clinic and got the job.’ I love how you had the courage to make this choice, Donna, in spite of the fact that you were committed to gaining more control in your life, financially, it’s a big deal to work free of charge for 3 months. It was a very powerful and supportive choice to do this for yourself, and it paid off beautifully. Very inspiring.
I have always worked since I was 11 with a paper round and even remember stopping my five day a week after school job because it was too much with my study going into a bit of a panic as to how would I survive money wise – I was 14! So unlike yourself I didn’t have the come and save me thing going on I was never committed to life and work until a few years ago when I could feel my purpose and that purpose came from within from committing to loving me first, to cherish what I have been given and nurture myself. Now work is every moment what ever it is I am doing, as work is love in action. What’s not to love about that!
‘I felt getting a job had to look a certain way and that I needed status so I looked important in it and that it paid well without my having to do very much. The arrogance superseded everything else.’ I recall a similar sense of entitlement hovering around me as a much younger person, and I suspect this is what many employers are referring to when they complain about some of their younger employees. All it highlights is a lack of understanding that it is a commitment to life, self and others that is required, as you highlight so well here Donna.
That’s absolutely amazing to take such decisions. These are not easy patterns to crack. But the support for such steps is there, for everyone who asks for it.
We are made to work. Not flogging ourselves, or driving ourselves into the ground, but there is such a purposefulness in work that has the potential to ignite us like nothing else.
My work hours have been cut recently and it feels dreadful to be honest. Those days off tend to drag on and I get less done on those days than my busy working days. My next step is to find work on those days too at a new clinic.
Yes Anne, unfortunately in the working world not a lot are aware of that fact: ‘In growing ourselves first, everything else follows naturally so!’
It is actually the opposite: Most of the people ‘scarify’ themselves to their job and the demands.
Donna I can so relate to what you have written about here. I too had no ‘identity’ or commitment in my work for awhile. I really was just there to get married and have a family, then work as was needed. There was no value or worth placed on myself, and I didn’t want to take responsibility for what I could bring essentially. The series of events and choices that have led me to where I am now mean that I no longer want to hide in a relationship and I can completely see my worth in my job, and all the joy there is to come from it.
It has been a huge revelation that I could enjoy going to work, and that that would be enough to keep me ‘fulfilled’ every day, as opposed to needing a relationship to fully do this. In truth what I have really worked on is the relationship with myself, so now I take this fullness with me wherever I go and with whatever I’m doing. This negates the ‘needs’ I have previously had, and allows a richness in my life I would have never thought previously possible.
My story was a similar one. I was hiding from the world outside and had no real job which supported me nor commitment to life. My excuse was that our child and the house, dog etc. cannot be done, when I work. The true reason was that I had no true rhythm which would support me to work and then be able to get the things done at home with the support of my family. But by taking care of me, my rhythm and appreciating what qualities I bring to every workplace, helped to find the job where I am and which supports me. It was a few years development which is still ongoing.
I got such a clear sense of your strength and commitment in reading this blog Donna, and also how that strength and commitment can be built, and is not just there, or absent.
It’s interesting how by so young we have already got a picture and a plan of what our life should be like, and with tunnel vision look outward to fulfil this picture. It just goes to show that somehow the way we live perfectly creates the internal assumption of how life is to be, and then we manufacture our external world.
We are sold a lie to have fun while we are young before we have to deal with life, getting a job, paying taxes etc.etc. We are bought up to believe that responsibility is a dirty word. This could not be farther from the truth, the more responsible I am becoming, the more I am committing to my life and relationships, the more amazing and at times free I feel. I can not thank Serge Benhayon and his dedicated family enough for showing me an enjoyable, inspiring and vibrant to way to work…and loving it.
Donna as you shared there are many of us who have the commitment to do things, to work and to other aspects of life but for myself the commitment to the love and care for me was something that has and is a continued development. Yet as you’ve shared, without the deep love, care and self commitment then there is no true commitment to life. Learning to truly care for myself is just one of the many gifts presented by Serge Benhayon.
‘being a chameleon and adapting to their way of life’ is something I have done with women. I think i have actually sought out women who would allow me to do this. Since I have started to commit to me and I feel much less / no need for a woman in my life I feel my strength in knowing that I no longer will play the chameleon and I AM TOO AWESOME to ‘fit in’ to anybody’s life!
What I love about the things Serge Benhayon, or any person, says is that sometimes, at the moment you here them, they do not mean anything practically to you yet, but then a while later, for me sometimes years later, the wisdom of what is said suddenly ‘drops in’ and then the words are very supportive in what you are going to do.
I’m with you on that one, Lieke! There have been times when I have heard the same thing said to me by different people on different occasions several times, but there is no change in my life. But then, when I am actually ready and have allowed the wisdom of it in, I hear the words properly, and the opportunity to change is seized.
Absolutely Jane, work is an amazing school.
Hi Donna, I read your blog today and it was exactly what I needed to read. Hearing how you grew yourself first and let the career develop from who you are and what you are living is brilliant. There is much for me to re-read and contemplate. Thank you
I agree Judy, and this is an understanding that needs to be shared at the school stage. I remember not knowing then, and for a long time thereafter, what it was I wanted to do. I remember the careers counsellor advising a certain path based on my performance in a certain subject. Yes, it was something I could do well, but was it really me? Interestingly I did pursue that subject at uni straight out of school and did OK-ish with it, but I hated the whole uni experience and dropped out after 2 years. It wasn’t a true path for me at that time. But if I’d been encouraged at school to ‘grow me’ first, I suspect things would have been much different. Careers advice isn’t about matching X with Y, it needs to be about the whole person. And if you’re still not sure, the process Donna followed is surely the way forward.
I too have certainly played out the chameleon and adapted to a way of life that was not true to me and found it exhausting! When we take responsibility for ourselves making choices that truly support us then the neediness and the relying on another begins to disappear. I am recognising this is what is happening in my own life and it feels so empowering.
It’s amazing the ideals we create for ourselves and try to live up to. The picture of how we think it should be is very often a fantasy. It feels very refreshing to keep it real and simply commit to life whatever we are doing. We are then free to let life unfold without the pressure of having to attain the ideal.
Indeed, Rebecca. The idealism that we can build up around a picture-perfect life is so often a flight of fancy, but it can be so ingrained and given so much power that we fight tooth and nail to try to make it a reality.
But let it go, and allow ourselves to simply be, to simply live, and everything opens up to us in all of its possibilities.
Me too Ariana. What is the point of us being here if we are not open and willing to grow? I know it can be extremely uncomfortable at times when we are exposed but at the end of the day I would much rather be called out for something that is not true to me than carry on living a lie.
That was a big thing for me as well – Commitment to life and work. What I found is that it is not so important what I do – but how I do it, what issues from how I live, my self-care and love etc. and that my commitment to work and life implies my appreciation of what I am and what I am able to offer to this world. To commit to life is for me to say yes to bring and get some reflection to evolve together.
As I develop a loving commitment to myself in building a rhythm that supports me on a daily basis and beginning to commit to my family and my home I am getting a pull to get a job. I too have used children as an excuse to avoid people and while raising kids is important I am beginning to feel how loving and supporting it would be for me to commit to a job that is outside of the home. It is so confirming and inspiring to read this blog which I will most certainly be re-visiting. Thank you Donna for sharing your story.
‘Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.’ I agree. I have recently begun a new job and have found that the commitment to it and doing it well and fully have spilled over into my personal life with me attending to issues that have been ‘sitting on the shelf’. In doing so, I feel more truly myself and purposeful.
Having a full-time job has kept me ‘on track’ with not ‘skyving’ out of life … I’ve always loved working but can also withdraw from life if things get too hard, whereas a job makes you keep going when it’s needed and also can assist with not dwelling on one’s perceived issues! It assists with keeping things in perspective.
That’s great to hear Michelle. Currently, as both a self-employed person and a part-time student it takes constant discipline to stay committed or – perhaps I should better say focused – as the only person you’re accountable to (or so it can seem) is yourself. I like the renewed sense of purpose you have brought to your life through your commitment and can feel a focus on my purpose is what I need to strengthen right now.
‘So while my commitment to life at first was about me getting back on my feet to support myself financially, what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within’.
Very inspiring to read how you reached this point in your life Donna. I feel having some purpose, an outlet where we can bring our full expression, is paramount and very rewarding in so many ways.
So true Ariana it is that commitment and willingness to grow step after step is all powerful as it comes with a solid foundation.
“This was the turning point as I could feel the most basic support of looking after myself with food and rent was grossly lacking and I wanted to change this more than anything.” Universal Medicine teachings of self care & responsibility allow us to observe lovingly without judgement all that does and does not support – however basic these changes the impacts are astonishing.
Reading through the comments on this blog it really struck me how many people are saying that they love to work. I rarely hear this comment in my workplace. People are always counting down the days until it is Friday or when they go on holidays or retire. They obviously have not yet connected to the joy that happens when we bring all of us to our job/workplace. When we bring all of us to whatever we are doing it changes everything.
This is something I never knew was possible until I heard and felt Serge Benhayon presenting. To feel that people truly live this way, absolutely loving each moment, whether it be working, walking, ironing, talking, cleaning, eating, etc. was new to me, but of course it made sense when I understood that it was about bringing the joy of me to each and every moment. This has been life changing.
Donna in some ways we’ve had opposite paths: my heartfelt goal was to never marry or have children, but to higher education and a life of working in scientific research. However what your story highlights is that, no matter where one is ‘coming from’, the same principles apply when it comes to commitment to life in everything that one is doing: being all of one is in every activity, with no arrogance, illusion, resentment or holding back. Then we find the unexpected gold – in ourselves, in others, and in every situation.
That is just it Dianne, no matter what your background story is this blog brings the truth to all that read it. I have a large family whom I love but at times I have hidden in work and avoided home and family as that has been my comfort. I still relate to this article.
That’s so true Dianne T, there is gold at the end when we commit to ourselves, people, life and humanity. The rewards are a feeling of deep joy, harmony, stillness and love which is what we all crave and receive in abundance when we commit to our own livingness.
Thank you Donna for your honesty. I can relate to not fully participating in life, in work for quite a long time. I am still developing in this field but I can already feel how supporting it is to bring myself out there in the world and work full-time, sharing my amazing qualities and not holding back.
Thank-you Donna, reading this blog has been exactly what I needed at this time as I was being swallowed up by the doing and drive of my study for work and making it more about just getting it done and what it would give me. It took me into an old pattern of hardness and push and making it more important than anything else just to get it done. It was reflecting then my lack of self love and supporting me through it and trusting that my own love holds true value and power. I even had to attract someone running into my car and affecting the panel of the front wheel to pull me up. I’m realizing that anything I do that is void of love is simply going to come around again for me to address with my loving care so better to do it first up and save myself the double up. And I’m also showing others a truer way of working.
I love the symbolism and reflection that everything in our lives provides. Everything is connected. This blog clearly presents how bit by bit you have re-claimed yourself Donna and how this came to be in your body. The changes outlined in your beautiful comment – ‘I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!. A true reflection for all of us – thanks Donna.
It’s amazing to observe what the difference is between the drive of having a career and just being committed to work. The latter you feel as if you’re there to help support each other and the drive, well we would do absolutely anything for that outer attention and recognition for a sense of worth.
Great Sharing Donna, I have had the same experience myself with entering back into the work force. I was even having a discussion last night with a friend about how bringing all of you is all that is needed, and how important we all are no matter where on the ‘ladder’ we think we are. A car can not drive without all it’s little but important parts that make it whole. For the first time in my life I love work and the responsibility of earning money.
This is a very interesting article Donna. As someone who is soon to undergo a major operation and at the same time am considering study and a career change after I recover, there is much for me to consider here. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Tim, it also gives me a lot to consider, and reflect on as I have struggled to commit to work in the past couple of years, and have not worked much in that time. This comes after many years of having been more committed to work than I was to myself, and of working in a somewhat ‘driven’ manner. What I really appreciated about Donna’s blog was its multi faceted nature. I will I think need to read it several times for its messages to sink in.
The commitment to yourself and to life Donna was clearly felt in what you have written – how you stuck with the advice to get a job and eventually grew to understand integrity in full time work. Naturally this leads to self discovery and what career is truly supportive of you, rather than a job driven from recognition or for money which can of course become another form of comfort as much as not working can be.
Donna, what I love about your blog is that you were willing to break your comfort of leaning on another and stand on your own two feet. When still in comfort it is not always so obvious how amazing life will be when we break with what holds us back and the first step can be the hardest. It is blogs like these that will inspire others to take that step and look at another horizon.
Absolutely Carolien, Serge Benhayon has always presented that we are returning to our essence, this is such a gift as it supports us to let go of the lineal struggle we so often place before our horizons.
This is a great blog Donna and something I can really relate to. I had several holiday jobs when I was growing up, but nothing that I ever truly committed to. I had my children not long after I left college, and very early on decided that they would be my priority, and any work that I could do would have to fit in around family life. Work always came second so I worked part time at lots of different things, and that’s how it was until I was in my late forties. I found myself in a position where I had to earn money to support myself. It was Serge Benhayon who inspired me to change my attitude to work, and now in my mid fifties I work more than I’ve worked in my whole life. And like you Donna, I have done this gradually. I now understand the value of working, not just to earn a living but more importantly to be with people everyday with all of who I am. I cannot imagine my life now without working!
Appreciating the quality that we bring when we are truly ourselves is important, then it becomes much easier to take care of ourselves in a way that ensures we bring that quality in all that we do.
I agree with your words Fiona, and I feel to continue along those lines, that the ‘being’ ourselves comes from a depth of knowing ourselves fully – what an awesome journey inwards it can be if we but choose, as we explore and thus discover just how much we have to offer, whether it be in a workplace situation, in a relationship, or in life in general.
Since I have made work about people it has changed my understanding and commitment to life. Before I made work and life about money and about supporting my animals, and creating a comfortable existence, but I never made it about people. This has changed as I began to love and appreciate me and bring this love and care into my work place.
That is absolutely great Donna, this seems like a very incredible change. I love how it is build within step by step. What really stood out for me was: In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.
As this all explains the fact to me that we can actually live in a way that is based on our living growth*(inside us) instead of driving us forth with force. It seems so much more natural!
It does seem so much more natural, it also takes the box away that we have put around ourselves which caps our capability. If we have a living growth from the inside we realise we are capable of so much more.
Yes that I found too reading this blog Danna. That we can live without any driving force and still do everything in life like working. This way feels very self-sustaining for our energy and vitality levels!
Very true Danna – it is so much more supportive to take things step by step and constantly build our foundation, rather than rushing into something then regretting the choices we’ve made later on.
I agree Susie Williams, it is also so much more fun to be sure and have a foundation on those paths you walked before, knowing that there is more to claim and walk upon! Inspiring young women in expression here..
Exactly Susie, laying the foundations is fundamental, starting with schooling about self-love, as a foundation to whatever career those first steps take.
Dear Donna, what a beautiful journey and how lovely you describe it and I feel it as confirming 🙂 now realized to take care of me first is really it. Always learn to go deeper with that. Thank You for Sharing. With love, Nadine
I have to say I love to work – it is amazing what you can learn from committing to work, from the people you work with and the customers I serve – one of the best educations i have ever had!
I agree with you Rebecca, work can teach us so much, if we allow it to. This is something I am learning more and more, and building a commitment to work has been one of the most valuable things I have learnt and continue to learn.
Exactly Julie – you can learn from committing, you can learn from the people, you can learn from the way you carry out your day to day – it is amazing how much there is to learn when you commit to life.
Yes how awesome is this – I love this too and when I bring all of me to each and every interaction, it feels just so very rewarding in the responses and changes I can observe in others as well as myself.
Yes me too – I love to work. And I agree you can learn so much from everyone you work with and for. Real life education works the best for me 🙂
Exactly Lieke – the thing is that for many people, the kind of education we have now is not necessarily the best way for them to learn, but actually working is the best way – however when this is not encouraged, it can actually put people off working.
Yes true Rebecca. I know in the past there was far more education done in being an apprentice and just learning from the craftsman him/herself. This has become less as far as I know and it is in my eyes a loss as you can learn so much more from seeing it with your own eyes than when reading about it in a book. I am working in my future field of work at the moment for the holiday and I have learned so much it is amazing.
Donna, your words about self-worth here really stand out to me. Each and every step you’ve described in the way you established a solid commitment to work and so much more, feels completely empowering and honouring of yourself.
What a solid foundation upon which you now stand, and clearly continue to grow from. Well done.
I really connected too this blog, I can appreciate much of what you say on a personal level. I have often relied on what I would call my ‘people skills’ over my ‘knowledge base’ and this translated into how I have relationships and where I choose my strengths to be, jobs about people and building a family and having a great foundational home were my priority. While this is all true, I knew my confidence and development concerning my own potential and work was limited and I knew this was impacting on the rest of my life. Over the last few years I have developed my self worth, skills, education and opportunities are developing concerning work. I am now a business owner and will be stepping out more over the next year as I develop it. It feels incredible and I offer appreciation to Universal Medicine concerning the inspiration of such a powerful business model and the amazing courses that I participated in, which have supported me to live more of my potential. And the great thing is I know this development does not stop, there is so much more to come.
If only we did not have the pictures we live our life to and realised that our life is based on the responsibility we take each day in all that we do. The disappointments would be far less and I am sure the joy we experience far grander than we could ever imagine.
Getting a full time job where I have responsibilities has allowed me to grow as a person. There is the belief that we have to work to ‘pay the bills’ and that is the phrase many of us use to justify having to do a ‘boring’ job. But even the most monotonous work can be fun when I am connected to my true self. Yes paying the bills is a very real part of life, but work does not have to be a means to an end. In actual fact, when I accepted that the bills I am paying, are actually gifts to myself – to have a telephone, warm water, a roof over my head – the pay that I receive and the work that I do to have them is also a gift. The money may be going the other way when I am paying someone else, but ultimately it comes back to me. Commitment is a big part of self-love and there is no end, because in paying another, they have the opportunity to self-love.
I love this comment ‘The money may be going the other way when I am paying someone else, but ultimately it comes back to me.’ So True!
Beautiful Jinya, I love how you open up the whole “means to an end” thing. As a society we tend to act like work is a drag and something we “have” to do. I love work it brings a strong sense of purpose and connection.
I love what you have expressed here Jinya, ‘even the most monotonous job can be fun’, yes and it all depends on the quality of how I choose to be and the level of appreciation and value of what I bring to any situation that allows me to experience more joy and purpose in life.
I loved this blog – thank you Donna. Ideals we carry around with us for years are entirely limiting and deny us our power and authority in the world. What a great example of re-building your life through a commitment to yourself and being worth it!
Donna, thank you for this blog. I am learning each day how the commitment I choose to have for my whole life – every aspect of it – feeds directly in to the commitment I have for work, because life and work no longer feel like two separate things, but one whole that I can tend to with care.
I agree Shami, it’s all one life and one commitment. What we live in one part of our lives is what we bring to all the other parts. As much as I used to think that life could be separated into different sections – like work, home, study, socialising – it does not work that way at all. Life cannot be separated into parts, that is one big illusion.
Well said Dean. And what an illusion that one is. When every part of our lives affects everything else, it makes it crazy to think that for so long I could think they could be separated.
True Shami, and as Dean says: ‘It’s all one life and one commitment.’ All parts of our life are interwoven and if one part is going well it automatically allows you to be in the other parts as vital or joyful or committed. On the other hand if you have troubles in one part of your life, this automatically influences all other parts. In some parts of your life you may have a stronger foundation than the others but at the end it is the sum of all parts which counts.
Great point Shami, we cannot compartmentalise life when it comes to commitment, we either commit in full to live life that is true of who we are and to know that this way of living will have a direct impact into all areas of our life or we live trying to improve things in one area and not taking full responsibility of how we live on other areas only to find complication and confusion which eventually holds us back from living us in full.
Yes agreed Shami and Francisco – there is no end and no beginning and feels more like a Work Life Integration rather than a Work Life Balance. It’s no longer a separation between the two but more how we live each and every moment with everything in our day.
That is true Shami, when we commit to one part of our life, this also effects all other parts in our life.
Commitment to work is also about how much presence and joy we ourselves bring to the job. Due to a change in personal circumstances, I moved to another part of the country and needed to take up employment – I’d been running my own business before but had no clients in my new location, so there was no business to run. I took up a part time job cleaning but always felt it ‘wasn’t me’ and after a couple of years my body was finding the physical work tough going. I then started working in a supermarket but still the resentment was there because this job was not, in my eyes. where I should truly be. Gradually over time this attitude has changed – it is my choice to stay there and I can see that this job is about people, not the work I do. I work with a lovely group of colleagues and I meet lots of new people every day. I am gradually losing the identification of who I am being what work I do and learning that the ‘me’ that comes to work is who I choose to be, and it is my choice to be there in full or to feel resentful, dissatisfied, put upon etc. If it doesn’t work out then I can choose to look for another job and be all of me in that.
Carmel what you say is so important- that you are not the role or job you choose to do. By accepting yourself as a beauty- full, loving woman first, and bringing that to your work and in all your interactions with people is the changing factor.
Carmel you make a great point about letting go of the identification we have with what we do at work, or what position we have etc. I know I recently experienced a moment of resentment towards a supervisor at a new job over a project I was essentially doing all the work on and then I made myself stop and feel what was really true. I was actually resenting my own choices which have seen me cruise during my career. Then I realised that the reason I was doing all the work was because I was the person who was needed and it didn’t matter what my job title is or my pay packet, what is required is that I do take me, all of me, to the job regardless of what I have to do there. I am enjoying work far more and feel more committed having made less about any form of recognition and more about the true purpose.
This is so lovely Carmel. ‘I am gradually losing the identification of who I am being what work I do and learning that the ‘me’ that comes to work is who I choose to be…’ Letting go of this identification and bringing the true you to work for all to feel, enjoy and be inspired by is so gorgeous. We have so much to offer just being us regardless of rank or profession.
It is so easy for us to get hooked into identifying with things that are not who we really are, like a job or task or role, but until I began with Universal Medicine this wasn’t even on my radar as being anything other than ‘normal’… But it is indeed not! To come back to just being ourselves rather than a job or a task or a role is so truly freeing and brings with it an amazing quality… US! So instead when we do a task or go to a job or express as a wife or mother or father or tiler, we do it from the essence of who we are.
This is so true Robyn. How freeing to know that we are enough just being us. This is something I had never imagined before I was introduced to Universal Medicine. As I step by step let go of the many identities that had me hooked I am more at ease more content and more joyful with myself and others than ever before.
So am I AnneMarie. It is incredibly how draining it is to hold onto being identified with something that is not US. How freeing it is to realise this and choose to let the identification go.
In the letting go process we free ourselves in more ways than we can probably imagine.
I’ve often thrown the baby out with the bathwater – whereby I’ve poo-poo’d those in high ranking positions, because they all too commonly have abused their rank, or their ego is completely inflated because of it, rarely feeling genuine humbleness. And for the man who chooses to seemingly stay toward the bottom of the ‘ladder’, he can be similarly disillusioned by his place socioeconomically or not seeing himself as less at all. Regardless of whether one feels one way or the other, to be more or less, in any way, there’s a trouble brewing, for we are all from the same place and have a common essence. It is indeed a matter of just being us regardless of rank or profession, all the while allowing ourselves to excel in our own ways without limitation.
I can really relate to your blog, Donna, and the lack of commitment in my early life to work – yes, I worked at home looking after the family and helping my husband in our business – but the commitment to myself and being truly responsible was lacking. I loved the sense of earning money and being self responsible once I found a job in my mid forties.
Hi Susan we need to get out into the world and commit to life , the world calls for our expression .
Completely agree with you Paul. The world needs our expression, each and every one of us. And it is an arrogance that keeps us from sharing this freely.
I related to Donna’s blog and to what you said Susan about the lack of commitment in my early life to work. In my case I followed the flag as my husband was in the Army, so not really a choice. Up until children arrived, I found work wherever we went but once we had children, it was easier to not be working – an excuse that seemed valid at the time. Once out of the Army, I picked up jobs again and a sense of self worth that went with this move back into the community.
Working is our second highest activity (10.3 years) we do after sleeping (25 years) Working is the most time consuming activity with other people for most of our lives. This is where we interact with the world and present who we are or who we want the world to perceive us to be. Work is our foundation to build who we truly are. Relationships can become simple arrangements where working can become complex. These both are outcomes for not having appreciation for ones self. By building love and self-care, work is a great platform to expand our self and show others what is possible with simple choices.
I love to work and if I ever feel that I don’t want to go to work or I have lost my commitment to work, I look at myself and feel where my lack of commitment is to me, very revealing. Thank you for your comment sjmatsonuk, another ‘pull my socks up’ moment… one simple choice at a time.
Wow sjmatsonuk, what an opportunity to grow relationships with others that 10.3 years gives us. And it’s not only the work place relationships, there is also the possibility to forge more in our commute. No one is going to knock on your door asking to see how you live your life – we have to take our life out there and show them!
That’s so true SJ and Catherine, that “we have to take our life out there and show them!” When you see how much of our lives we spend at work, it’s a much more important forum for sharing with humanity than we usually give credit to.
Catherine, you have hit the nail on the head, when you wrote, “No one is going to knock on your door asking to see how you live your life – we have to take our life out there and show them!” We do need to take ourselves out into the world, this is our responsibility, and if we have found the ingredient to living an amazing and healing life, through connecting with our inner essence, then this certainly needs to be shared. Anything else is just leaving the rest of humanity feeling less because they miss out on our gloriousness and seeing that they too have this gloriousness within.
That is a great point you make Catherine: “we have to take our life out there and show them!”
Yes sjmatsonuk, appreciation for ourselves is the KEY that unlocks the golden potential we each bring to the world.
It so true to remember we all have our own unique Golden Potential!
We are all equal in this.
I agree Lucindag – appreciation is a golden key. I know I’ve been very good at function when it comes to being committed to work but I’ve discovered an entire new level of bringing all of me to all aspects of work relationships and activity. This deeper level of true commitment, meaning I actually feel joy in all that takes place, comes with the appreciation of everyone and myself.
Absolutely agree with you, sjmatsonuk, the job we do is where “we interact with the world and present who we are or who we want the world to perceive us to be”. We all need to be out in that world, with that foundation of who we truly are, to expand ourselves and as you say “show others what is possible with simple choices”. Love how you express this.
Retirement is not on the cards for me either Katie…when we make work truly purposeful, in whatever it is we do, we are serving humanity. There is nothing in me that would ever want to give this up.
‘I’ve learnt also that a STOP, in my case an illness, can be the most amazing blessing in disguise’ I too have learned this for which I am deeply appreciative – it is a far cry from how I was brought up as illness used to be seen as something wrong, almost a failure.
It is true Michelle, there is much around illness and something that I have noticed over the years of solid work is that many do take lots of sick days. What I love about Universal Medicine is that they bring it back to simplicity and ask you to look at how you are living each and everyday and that all of our choices are what make up how we are in our day.
For me, Michelle, I thought it was a failure if I was sick and was therefore very hard on myself through the process which only fed the lack of self-worth story I had running also. So interesting to feel that there is a little of this belief still lingering in me. Thanks for your comment as it has given me the opportunity to feel this little remnant that is left so I can now challenge it’s authenticity to let it go fully.
Wow Donna, your blog has given me a shake up.
I have meddled through life in low paying jobs reliant on partners to see me through and not looking at that other than being an acceptable way to live – until now.
Money has always been in short supply but has always been just enough when needed.
I now see this as a drip feed that has kept me ‘comfortable’ in lack.
It is certainly time for me to commit to life and to supporting myself in every way.
Thank you for sharing your experience, it’s been like a cold shower!
I can really relate with what you share ‘I was in so much illusion thinking that my life was fulfilling when in fact there was a massive void of emptiness.’ – I can remember when I was studying and spending time with good friends in the cafes and doing what was needed for school but thinking this was what life was all about. Not until later in life did I truly commit to work with the support of Universal Medicine and it has changed in a completely different way.
Katie, I can’t see myself retiring either. I love working and am learning every day to feel where it is that I am meant to be in relation to my work.
Great contribution about commitment to all aspects of life and the immense value we get back from holding down a job and giving it our best; I have had a similar experience where it was more important to have my ‘freedom’ rather than engage in a regular and committed 9 – 5 routine. Fortunately those days are over, and like in your case that is thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Wow Donna I can certainly relate to some of your story because I too “was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else- usually a boyfriend/husband “…..
I now take responsibility and have made a commitment to life which is a very empowering feeling. When I look back at my life I simply cannot understand how I ever handed my life over to someone else. Your story is very inspirational, thank you for sharing.
Yes retirement is an interesting issue Katie, if we love what we do/work, and the joy of relationships that come with working with people/colleagues/clients/customers etc., and, if we are in good health, then why give up work at a certain age that has been defined as a ‘cut off’ point. If work is, and deepens our commitment to life, then to stop working… would be to cease committing to whole life. This feels a complete waste to me.
My work is such a blessing. It has taught me about commitment in ways I could have never imagined. My beliefs about work time and my time were very rigid and rather than seeing every part of my life equally, with the quality being the focus across all areas there was still this separation and compartmentalization.
On reading your blog Donna, I can feel the issues I have had with work in the past. Always having worked for myself or in temporary casual jobs. I didn’t feel like I was worth working in a corporation or large business, that was for the ‘boring people’. Those who just worked to pay off their loans. I held the belief that they would never hire me because I wasn’t perfect enough. Which indicates to me that even though some may take the limiting life of working for money, it doesn’t have to be the way and I was just being defensive towards the idea due to my own lack of self worth and self acceptance. I can feel that there is still a bit of that there, so thank you for writing about your experience. It has inspired me to go deeper for myself into the ‘work’ beliefs.
Working is such an important part of our lives – it’s such a great learning ground for us as it deals with all aspects of our life – people, responsibility, commitment, finances, relationships, ethics and values and so much more. It is not surprising that many don’t enjoy work and want to escape on holiday as it can bring up so much for us to be honest about and deal with.
An illness or a sign from the body is such a gift for us. We can allow so much more awareness and change from it than just the healing of the physical illness. Thank you Donna.
That’s awesome Elizabeth. Working is very much about us expressing ourselves – so I can imagine with this no longer there for us, there would absolutely be lack of purpose. How awesome that you’ve been able to re-connect with your purpose through volunteer work.
Perfect, Jane ‘work IS Medicine – a daily (or regular) dose of work is absolutely amazing for the body’. I agree whole heartedly.
How amazing that you came to realise that looking after yourself in terms of food and rent is actually all about self care, Donna.
“The basics” are not usually on our lists when we consider self care, but they are as equally important as spending time with oneself, with friends, having nourishing treatments etc
It all matters when we care for ourselves 100%.
This is a great, honest blog Donna. I love that you have nominated that you had a range of excuses to hold you back, essentially from being all of you!, but in this instance from going into the workforce. I love everything about work, I love the structure and support it provides me with. I connect with and feel the purpose of what I do, and (to the best of my ability) I bring all of me to that job. I love that I can express myself in this way. And I really love what you have presented about you being able to go from strength to strength and that your work was supporting you in life… this is how I feel. I feel that work provides me with an opportunity to grow and evolve.
“As long as I am being my playful self, live in a way at home that supports me with my daily rhythms, my food and time to connect to myself, then work/careers take care of themselves.” Amazingly wise words Donna, thankyou. When we are connected to our rhythms, playfullness and self loving support then work and play become one. Commitment to life and work flows naturally and effortlessly from these foundations.
I have never had a problem with commitment to working. The need to work has always been there for me. The question I could ask is, Why do I work? The commitment that I have had is a commitment to what. What was the purpose of me working. Having enough money to fulfil the ideals and believes that I had about life, being the provider, being recognized. There are many things that stimulated my motivation to work, very few if any of them real. I now have a true purpose in the work that I do and how I do that work. While the technical skills I bring to my work are important, the quality that is in me, and what I bring to my workplaces is more important. This is how I live and a forever unfolding evolvement which grows as my understanding, love and commitment to myself grows. So Donna as you have beautifully stated, the love and commitment to myself is what I also take to my work. The need to work just for money, the need to be recognized or to be the provider for what I do is disappearing and is being replaced with me and the quality of who I am.
Jane I loved what you have shared here that ‘work IS Medicine’. Beautiful, this is so true and I have never really seen it like that until I read your comment. Thank you.
Absolutely agree with you Jane – work is natural for the body as is working together with others and becoming a contributing member of life. Purpose keeps us vital – we all have a part to play and contribute to the world that we live within.
I really love this blog and can resonate with much of what you share. Before Universal Medicine I didn’t commit to life in full, which was evident in the fact I couldn’t get ( or maybe didn’t want ) a permanent full time job. Now with the amazing inspiration, love and support of Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and Michael Benhayon, and myself of course – I now have a full time time permanent post which I absolutely love. And I can say truthfully I love to work.
This is such a great blog Donna about a topic that is not really discussed but the more you read, the more you think I know that too! A heard a lady say she was pregnant yesterday to which another person said, “Great, paid maternity leave.” I had a similar response when I asked another woman how she was enjoying being a mum. Her answer was not about being a mum or the baby but not having to be at work. I am starting to see how deeply entrenched this pattern is for women that they are looking for an out from work. I also wanted to add that although I have been committed to working, I can feel there are layers of commitment and most of my motivation has still been about self. I have been looking for security, recognition etc. Work when I am really just there for others is amazing and feels so purposeful. This is what real commitment feels like for me.
The nominating of why you were not committed to work is awesome Donna. It is amazing how such old ideals and beliefs that we may not even know we have or are holding onto can have such a huge impact on our outlook on life. I had an ideal that someday I would get married and would to some degree be looked after, so in running my own business, I never paid myself superannuation, thinking that I didn’t need to worry about this. This changed about 7 years ago when I realised the ideal I was holding onto and now make sure that I pay myself enough super every year.
Gorgeous Donna, ‘ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing: this is what is truly fulfilling and what truly grows my confidence and the way I am with myself and others.’ I have found this with my new work, that it is not about the job that I do but about bringing all of me to my work, my tenderness, caring nature, sweetness and understanding, this is very different to how i have worked previously which was about getting the job done, using my skills but not about bringing me and my qualities.
Donna I can very much relate to your blog – not because I didn’t have jobs, I actually started working in school holidays when I was 13 and have always worked. However I was never committed to life, and hence never brought all of me to the job, it was always a feeeling of necessity to earn an income. In addition it gave me an independence and allowed me to connect to life and people in a way that gave me full control. It has been life changing indeed to apply Universal Medicine’s teachings in my life and being supported to unravel these old patterns.
I completely agree Jane. I absolutely love working and plan to continue until my very last breath and beyond… as I write this I realise that even death won’t stop me!
To expand on my previous comment it also depends on what you define as work. These days everything in my life has merged and my experience is related to the quality of energy, purpose and presence that I bring and not so much related to specific tasks. Therefore work as such does not feel different to anything else. I am joy-fully committed to love, life and truth and that is the way I plan to stay doing whatever is needed whenever it is needed forevermore.
A job is more than a job. It is our contribution to society.
Sure we need money to live but jobs were originally created to support small communities in the activities that they needed to be complete.
I.e – plow the fields
– shepherd the animals
– harvest the plantation.
Having a job is enriching and a healthy aspect of human life. It promotes interaction and a common sense of purpose.
Yes Luke, sadly work for most has become insular and self-oriented, a means to an end to look after oneself and family, and little in truth beyond that. I rarely come across someone who love their work and can say they are ‘enriched by it’ as you suggest. If we re-connected with what you’ve shared, the greater purpose in our contributions and the fact we can work as a whole towards something much grander, that we are all in this together… it would solve many current dilemma’s and untold office politics.
Very well said Jenny. I agree and I endeavour to achieve to what you describe, it seems like the best way to be in life. A no brainer.
Yes a no brainer… once you have allowed yourself to feel the truth of a bigger picture. Our conveniently self-centred view keeps us in the rat-race that for the most part, we dislike intensely. It makes no sense… but on the other hand, makes perfect sense when the bigger picture is understood.
Serge Benhayon’s presentations about commitment to life have helped me greatly too. As have sessions with Universal Medicine trained practitioners. I’ve come to see the real importance of self-care and nurturing as a support to me being the true me in all areas of my life. This has helped me develop the quality in the way I do things and relate with people very much.
Thank you for sharing Donna, I am sure many people will relate and find your exrperience very supportive. For myself, I had no commitment to life whatsoever, which spilled over into my work, relationships, and of course finances, which there was never enough of! Once I started to take responsibility for my life ( and similar to you I was forced to stop after an illness) it was far easier to begin to commit to life, commit to myself knowing I was worth it, and now all the areas in my life have improved significantly.
It makes sense that commitment to life and commitment to self are about looking after yourself and supporting yourself. This is an awesome blog Donna. I can feel the easy flow of the way you work supporting the way you live.
I also love this statement you make Donna… ‘the difference was to not go into driving a career, but ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing: this is what is truly fulfilling and what truly grows my confidence..’ This is such an important distinction that so few make when it comes to work… to not ‘drive yourself’ to be more successful, but bring more of YOU to work with you to enhance your working experience and career… THAT is gold and should be the basis of school careers education!
Donna I really applaud the commitment you show to yourself and to addressing your situation. What a transformation, but even more so, how beautiful and empowering that you built yourself up from the bottom, so to speak to where you clearly are today. Very inspiring thank you… commitment to life and all this entails is definitely a necessary part of a fulfilling life.
Great blog Donna , I for one will work till I die and in that time every day at work is a work in progress at bringing all of me to the work I do in the joy of the life I live.
I love the connection you make Donna between self worth and commitment to life. It feels to me that the two interact. We can love ourselves but if we do not put that love into action it seems that it will turn against itself and soon we will be down and out again. I share your experience of the fact that when I am with myself it really does not matter what I do as long as I am expressing all that I am to the best of my ability.
I whole-heartedly relate to your opening line “Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.” For me work is a great opportunity to be of service in so many ways – I love it and can’t imagine ever wanting to retire.
‘Work is medicine’ – I agree here Jane. During a difficult time in my life I found that not working made things even worse. I needed to be out there in life, interacting with people and having purpose. IT was this very thing that supported me to get through that period – work is most certainly a form of medicine, and how we approach it determines the dose.
Donna, this is a very powerful blog you have written. I understand how important work is for us after many years of being in and out with my own commitment to it. I am now enjoying the commitment I have made to my work and find that it is becoming more and more solid as I become more solid in myself – the two go hand in hand.
Work is a beautiful Medicine, without work I cannot image my life. I know what ever work I do, I am constantly making a difference in what I do. What I have learnt through Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, is we first need to build our self love and self worth, with this we bring our whole self to work. We bring our love, commitment and presence to everything we do in our work, leaving a beautiful reflection for others.
“In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” Donna this is huge what you say here as I know only too well the driving force I have used to get though Uni and through various jobs, but all this does is make me feel exhausted and miserable. The drive lacks me caring for me. I have found the same thing that by me caring for and growing me, my career is growing, yes with work, but not with effort. It’s quite interesting to observe and amazing to feel how not taxing it is on my body.
Thanks Donna. You have exposed something very important in the way we all currently live life. We often try to identify ourselves with roles whether it be parenthood or certain careers or qualifications believing that these identities will bring us confidence, happiness and fulfilment. But if we are not actually connected to who we truly are when we do any of these things then we will always have a missing piece in the puzzle.
It is amazing how many girls grow up with no aspirations beyond getting married and raising a family – which is completely fine to do, but I have known many girls who aim for that life because they don’t see any other future, having never been told how amazing they are and how much they could bring to life – that they can do anything they set their minds to. Work should not be this burden so many see it as, but as an opportunity for everyone to bring their individual spark and talent to the world.
I think that is the crux of the issue Rebecca – how so many see work as something they have to do. This to me exposes how heavy we feel about life and how our experiences in school taint our sense of purpose. School teaches us that as long as it looks good, as long as we get the job done and get those results it doesn’t matter if it is at the expense of our bodies. The world of work is no different. It really is no wonder why so many of us feel given up. However when we can learn to self nurture and really take loving care of ourselves we get less caught up in performing for the role and our disconnection but discover a whole new sense of purpose in the knowledge that love can be felt by all around us and in all that we do.
During the times in my life where I have lacked the commitment to work have been times where I have lacked a committed loving relationship with myself. I have found that the two are very interdependent. Building momentum and commitment in the work place has definitely helped with my relationship with self and whilst I work on my relationship with self, this builds my quality in the work place. I totally love working – I don’t think there has been a day in the last 15 years where I have not wanted to go in. The sense of purpose and joy work gives me is huge and I simply cannot imagine life without it!
You are right, Donna. When we commit to life, regardless of our work, we are a role model for so many people. All they need to do is see us or be near us and they are affected and see a different way of life.
Well said Donna. I agree that work is great medicine, and love the sense of purpose and connection with others that it brings. However there was a time when I resented work, and that was because I wasn’t looking after ME and therefore not bringing the full Me to the workplace.
I relate to large aspect of this blog and used to believe that I could easily live a life of leisure if I had the finances. I don’t feel that way anymore and value the opportunity to work and have great purpose in this. Part of my problem for many years was expecting too much of life, always looking for the next high when in fact the joy in life is in the smallest details that happen everyday at work and in every aspect of each day.
I have always worked but have never held a job for more than a few years always feeling that there was a ‘better’ job around the corner, and the next job was going to make me ‘happy’, and give me everything I have ever wanted. It is so true Donna, a lack of commitment to life is reflected in the lack of commitment to work, I feel this to be true for me because when I am neglecting me or not being my true self at work my energy levels and level of commitment drop, so it all comes back to taking greater care and upping the level of commitment to ourselves first and the rest will follow. Thank you for sharing, and it IS possible to enjoy every job that we do if we are truly committed and go into work with ALL of ourselves and not holding back who we are.
I agree Jane. I love the rythm I establish with working, the relationships I have built and the quality I bring to my workplace. Since I was young I felt to work until my last day like you.
Donna, what a great blog, showing how one point in our lives can be a reflection of so much more, showing us what is glaringly obvious when we take off our blinkers. Committing to work is committing to life, which is committing to ourselves first and foremost. When we do this truly, from a deeply nurturing and honouring place, the whole world opens up to us and the beliefs we held about work being a chore or something that held us back Monday to Friday, gets blown to smithereens. Work becomes a place of joy, another expression of us, and that is amazing.
I love hearing others’ experiences too Kristy, this supports me to understand the different beliefs we can all have as to the way we think life should be, or what success looks like. But in truth there is often a similar undercurrent or energy at play and when we buy into this game we find ourselves working for work and not a solid and true purpose. I love that there is a much more light and playful way to work and live and the relationship between the two is so important.
So true! I work in medicine and my work is medicine, this totally makes sense because how can there be anything separate about the way that I live and the work that I do? The quality I am, how I live it and then what I bring wherever I go is what counts and what is telling of how loving and truthful my life really is.
Thanks for your blog Donna. There is a realness and beauty to everyday life when we are committed to being ourselves and then working in whatever role we have chosen. I recently undertook practical placement in a hospital and it was a very humble learning for me to experience not being paid for my work and yet feeling completely committed to being there. Of course there is a real need to be paid for our work, but it is also interesting to connect to the purpose of why we are there before anything else.
“the difference was to not go into driving a career, but ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing: this is what is truly fulfilling and what truly grows my confidence and the way I am with myself and others.” – this is beautiful and totally makes sense
To requote what you quoted Alexandra : ““the difference was to not go into driving a career, but ensuring that I bring all of me to whatever I am doing: this is what is truly fulfilling and what truly grows my confidence and the way I am with myself and others.”” – When we live and work from that aspect, we sure can feel the difference this makes to our selves as well as others, as there is no holding back
After a session with a Universal Medicine practitioner yesterday where my lack of self-care was very clear, I was pondering on why I have found it so hard to consistently commit to caring for myself – especially at work. What came up was that I could feel how I have actually been wearing lack of self-care as a badge of honour. It’s a way of showing how hard I work and how much I sacrifice myself for the ‘greater good’. If I work long hours with out a care for myself, the ensuing exhaustion gets me recognition for being ‘dedicated’ (not in the true meaning of the word). I get recognition but I also get sympathy (because I’m so exhausted) which confirms me in my poor me/victim/martyr beliefs. It’s quite a cycle of ever decreasing circles.
I love how you realised that it wasn’t about position or career but about bringing yourself back to basics and focusing on supporting yourself with food, quality sleep, exercise etc. I have started to fully address these things too and even though it’s early days, I can feel how the quality of my commitment to work has already changed. Whereas I have been getting caught up in needing to be seen and recognised for doing a good job, I now feel very strongly in my body that to do a ‘good job’ at the expense of me is simply perpetuating the belief that we are only as much as what we do. To work without self-care is an abuse to ourselves and to humanity as a whole.
Wow Lucy, your honesty here is truly inspiring and the awareness you have gained about yourself is a huge step, I love it!
This is a great realisation Lucy, in the past i have worked this way too, ‘If I work long hours with out a care for myself, the ensuing exhaustion gets me recognition for being ‘dedicated’ (not in the true meaning of the word)’ I thought that I had to be seen to be working really hard and that I could not rest if I needed to as this would be seen as lazy, I wouldn’t stop for breaks incase anyone saw me, I would push through, there was no self care and no honouring only working in a very hard way, this was not beneficial for me or anyone else. I choose to work differently now and I choose to take care of myself at work, this is a work in progress as there are still times when I do still go into drive and looking for recognition.
I agree Lisa… I too love the honesty here in your comment Lucy. “To work without self-care is an abuse to ourselves and to humanity as a whole” – this sentence is a great reminder and something for me to ponder on more deeply.
This sentence ought to be the motto for every organization, business etc “To work without self-care is an abuse to ourselves and to humanity as a whole”. Wise words indeed Lucy.
I always loved to work, but even though, it was always done by a drive and ticking of to do lists. I am still learning that it is the quality I bring and not the outcome. My focus on outcomes has been massive and the need to deliver is overwhelming which always gave me the feeling, and sometimes still does, that I am on a race with time. I feel the demands of temporal life are so absurd and totally missing out the true point of work. Yesterday I could observe people working in a beach restaurant under massive pressure and overwhelming food demands and how the whole work environment was identified through how stressed you could get. The result was horrible and there was no quality, but even in this there was still love and care in them and it came out in the smallest moments. This showed how we are loving and caring and how we know it all in our essence and that we just let the outside become far too overwhelming and demanding.
Beautiful Rachel, that you could observe the love and care in people even though stressed and under great pressure. A great reminder that this is the truth of us even though we have to work in this seemingly crazy world.
I relate to this Rachel. I too have always loved working. Ever since I was legally allowed to work I had a job, sometimes 3 at once…and studying! But it all came at a cost to my body. I was in massive drive to succeed, to deliver and to ‘get there’ (even though there was never anywhere to get to). Now I work more than ever before, but in a totally different quality that is so much more loving and honouring of myself…and feels much more purposeful and playful too…
This is a beautiful appreciation of life and the amazingness that comes from true commitment, commitment to oneself and everything equally. The joy of simply being oneself is amazing to realise and with this bringing ourselves to everything we do and everyone we are with. The building of this love and care for our bodies and real integrity and way of living is the gift brought to us by Serge Benhayon and all his love and patience in teaching and inspiration.Thank you Donna.
Incredible Donna – it’s amazing how much committing to one area of life (in this case developing your own self worth) can change so many other things, like our day to day moods, our commitment to work, life, our relationships. I love how you began re-building a career step by step after a long time of non consistent work; having foundations is the key to true success. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Monika, I have also moved from Home to working in a busy Salon and I really enjoy the diversity and the issues that i get to explore working with a team of people.
I used to work a lot from home for my own business, but the real business is being out there with people in the middle of the hearts of the cities where there is lots of traffic – I love being right in there and not attached to anything. Holding my stillness and doing my work in this quality does bring a change. I love to see these changes and openings – looking people in the eyes brings a change, the flow of energy changes, I get confirmation that I look and feel so beautiful within the hectic pace of a workplace. People align with me and look to work with me. They open up and share their issues they have with family and with work colleagues – and they trust me. This feels amazing and is showing to me that everyone can feel the divinity in me and in them the same. Being me in the hectic pace of life, surrounded with lots of people is the best job I can ask for. I do love people!
Great point Monika – I used to work from home but I was totally hiding! I wasn’t letting myself out and I wasn’t letting people in. It was a massive form of protection.
I agree Monika, I too have worked from home for many years but have found working out there in the ‘real world’ is an awesome way to reach more people and to spread the light around to wherever it’s needed.
Monika, your comment resonates with me and I too feel the joy of just ‘being’ to the best of my ability while surrounded by the hub-bub of many visitors and locals all from varying backgrounds in a busy sea-side holiday resort area. Sometimes I have to remember that it is not necessarily the ‘doing’ that indicates a commitment to life necessarily, but oftentimes it may be just ‘being’ from a place of knowingness, where I feel a deepening awareness of how amazing and awesome we all truly are deep within – everyone of us. I’m sure I would never have un-earthed this deep knowing if I had not chosen to meet Serge Benhayon and commence attending the presentations of Univeral Medicine.
Wow Monika, I feel very inspired reading your comment as someone who has worked from home for many years. I can definitely feel a strong pull to get out there, and resonate to what you say about being the stillness in the heart of the busyness.
Commitment to life and commitment to oneself go hand in hand. If the one is not there, the other has to be a limited one. Life is seemingly all about oneself. Yet, in truth, is not about evolving. So, it is not about oneself in a profound way. Everything we do from there is rather limited, very measured, very controlled. It is about managing life in a way that it accommodates to our way while we accommodate to whatever way we should to stay on the loop. It is all about managing. An amazing display of energy to stay where we are. Releasing the brake on life is awesome as we can feel coming alive in the body and in our entire being.
Exactly Eduardo – ‘Commitment to life and commitment to oneself go hand in hand.’ – I know when I am not committed to myself, my commitment at work (and all areas of life) drops. I like your analogy of releasing the brake on life and letting it all unfold!
I agree Eduardo, and it is possible to work super long hours doing very physical work and still feel amazing, it is as you say it is about our quality as we work that really determines how we are going to feel at the end of the day.
What I have found is when I commited to work that other areas in my life shifted and I could feel that I was committing in a deeper way with myself and other relationships as well. It is impossible for our choices not to have an immediate effect for our whole life and quality of being.
I love what you have expressed here Natalie – ‘It is impossible for our choices not to have an immediate effect for our whole life and quality of being’… this is so true. Commitment to work is a reflection of our commitment to our selves and to life. The more we commit to one area, the more we commit to the all.
I agree – commitment in one area of life leads to commitment in other areas and nothing is ever truly separate or isolated, even if we would like to think so.
This is so true Natalie. When we commit in one area of life it cannot but have an effect on other areas of our lives.
Absolutley Rebecca and Natalie. Making a commitment to something in our lives has an undoubted effect on other areas. I have experienced this quite recently and although changes can appear to be quite subtle, the effect of them can be significant.
Well said Natalie and I have felt the same. Work is such an important part of our commitment to life and once we can connect to the joy within ourselves of being able to work and serve all other area’s will be pulled up towards that commitment too.
I love this Natalie, I totally agree.
Yes great blog Donna, and ‘Work IS Medicine’ as Serge Benhayon has said for a while now and I fully agree, it really is and when you get to a point where you really enjoy being you while you work it can be effortless even when you do 12 to 14 hours days. I am with you Jane I plan to work to the day I die also.
An Indian Railway Porter on the Simla railway when asked why he still worked at the age of 95 simply replied, ‘ As long as I can walk, I will work’
Very true Jane. I know that my whole relationship with work has changed immensely since engaging with Universal Medicine. I now regard it as a very healthy part of my life and can see myself working long after retirement age. The “Life of Leisure” ideal has been well and truly popped.
Hmmmm the ideal of leisure sounds great, doesn’t it, Rowena? But when we feel the energy of it, it feels very vague, there’s a sense of kidding oneself, a lot of mental energy, superiority and giving up.
Donna it makes so much sense that if we do not develop a deeply honest and caring relationship with ourselves then our relationship with life/work will be measured by looking outside of ourselves and this directive can never be fulfilled. Compartmentalising work, family etc simply does not work, it is all one and the same, developing a rhythm that supports us throughout our day eradicates the need for any push or drive.
Thank you for sharing Donna, I had an interesting experience with jobs, especially committing long term. I grew up with the notion of what a ‘proper’ job was or should look like and so dare I say it I would turn my nose up at working at some places. One of the greatest things I have learnt is that it is not where I work or what I do but how I am doing it. Where I currently work I went in saying I would do quite literally anything that was needed – not what they are used to from someone with a degree! I ended up in a job role I did not know even existed but it felt right, gave me a great structure and helped get me into a working rhythm and most importantly commit to being there. It has gone from strength to strength, my position has changed and now my wages more than support me to live and do what I need to do. When I first started on minimum wage it was a struggle to live within my means but something very humbling about it and I learnt heaps and got to appreciate quite how hard it can be to live off the minimum wage, or at least attempt to! I know have a far greater appreciation of people in all jobs regardless of what they do, everyone should and deserves to be equally valued.
I am learning and discovering that when times are tough and I can feel myself wanting to escape, if I turn to commitment and in fact increase this more, then I am more able to get my personal drive and issues of need out of the way and life becomes about people again, not just about me.
“I felt getting a job had to look a certain way and that I needed status so I looked important in it and that it paid well without my having to do very much. The arrogance superseded everything else.“
Thank you Donna Harris for sharing so openly. I know this arrogance very well and really had to laugh about it when reading this line.
I remember once having a job where i was sitting at the reception all day and if i was lucky one person turned up a day. At the time this was what i wanted, not much work, not dealing with people, having an easy time-having a strong lack of commitment to life and work.
I have committed my life to motion for a majority of it. I have had multiple jobs multiple times. There has been very little of my self other than physically, that has been present this, includes all other aspects of my life. If you subtract sleep we spend more time at work than with a partner. If you add in the getting ready and getting home time there is very little left. Now drop on the couch, have a drink, turn on the TV and checkout from the day. Who is that stranger…that your partner is living with.
Great point sjmatson. It makes you wonder just how present we really are in anything we do and whether we are just going through the motions or bringing all of us to each moment. I guess this is the difference between existing and truly living?
What a treat to read Donna – your approach to working is just brilliant and with so much care.
Imagine if we all saw the work we do in this way – part of a bigger development of ourselves to grow and flourish. There is much to be said for a career being more than something that pays the bills. It is a marker of our commitment and consistency. A place to express truly and freely, and to work in a way that is not fuelled with anxiety, pressure or coffee .
Donna you’ve blown away the illusion that you just work to pay the bills and that not working is a luxury. The truth, as I understand now and from what you’ve shared, is that working is an integral part of life – one that provides the opportunity for true freedom. Whilst many people, myself included in the past but lesser now, used work as a means to an end it now forms one part of a bigger commitment to life. Reflecting back I can see now that its with the commitment to life that we truly start living.
Great blog Donna, just goes to show the possibilities that open to us when we commit to ourselves/life.
What I get from your blog Donna is that the way we work will evolve from the way we are committed to our own life and life in general. Everything is indeed interwoven and the relationship I currently have with work reflects to me where I am regarding my commitment to life and visa versa. Observing life in this way makes it a joyful playground where I have the continuous refection of where I truly am and where there is a continuous opportunity in it for me to evolve back to the Divine origin where I come from.
I agree. It is medicine just as, how we live each day is either good medicine or bad mecine for us.
Thank you Donna for your inspiring blog. Working certainly supports us to be committed to life. I find from working that I am learning everyday from the interactions I have, that I have a strong sense of what is needed because I am out there seeing real people in everyday life. Work and the way we choose to work and how we choose to be with our selves daily makes all the difference from us seeing ourselves from the quality we bring to and in our jobs or to us simply getting through life. Commitment to self.
This is a great insight that I loved reading of and feeling inspired by.
A commitment to a job is a commitment to self, to life, to health and to community. In effect, employment is a major determinant to the health and well being of a person, which most certainly would have positive impact in the arena of public health.
Could not agree more johannebrown17.
The way you developed care for yourself as a foundation for commitment to life and commitment to work is so refreshing Donna. Your awareness about how you live at home affects how you are at work makes so much sense.
I found it interesting reading your story Donna and how you grew up without a work commitment. It had me reflecting that my story is the opposite in that I grew up in a family of high achievers and my mother went back to work almost immediately after I was born and was busy her entire life. I have always been very committed to work and absolutely love working, but used to do so at the expense of myself. I have had to learn to ensure that I hold myself equally in what I do and to remember that I am a human being and not a human doing. It seems that through the presentations of Universal Medicine we each have the opportunity to experience and learn whatever we need to be our true selves. In fact since I have started listening to my body and taking better care of myself, I need a lot less sleep, have massively more vitality and am able to stay focused all day at work. Therefore currently I am enjoying myself a lot and actually doing a huge amount more than I ever did whilst very often feeling as if I am not doing anything at all but just being.
Hi Katie, yes I agree and since writing my comment it occurs to me that there is a third category – we are born human beings and then turn ourselves into either human doings or human don’ts!!! Some get identification from over doing and some from not doing or being naughty but it is all the same thing. As children we are looking for love and to be met. Instead we are given recognition for our actions rather than for simply being us. It does not take us long to reinterpret recognition or attention for love and in going for that recognition lose the connection to our true being selves.
Donna there is so much truth in what you say “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force”. Work is an integral part of life and when we bring our essence to it it blends in with everything else we take care of. I am learning not to strive at work but simply commit to being myself, to let go of the need to prove to myself and others that I can achieve yet another level. Work is another avenue for deepening my responsibility towards myself and others.
My old way of seeing work was something I turned up to, something that was stressful and full of struggle and internal politics – something to endure. That 9 to 5 grindstone. What a miserable way to live?! I worked yet there was no commitment to work or life itself. Now I love going to work each day, it is a part of my day, it does not start with work, my day has already begun when I wake and work is naturally a part of that day. This is an amazing turn around and only due to the support of Universal Medicine.
Great blog Donna. It is quite incredible what happens when we take care of ourselves first. Committing to self care develops responsibility and integrity with self and therefore towards other people and the way we do things. Who would not want to employ someone with these qualities as the cornerstone of their work ethic.
I agree Matthew brown, someone like Donna would be the perfect candidate for a job most definitely, with her attention to her own self care, integrity and responsibility, all the makings of a truly great worker.
Donna, it has also been my experience “that a STOP, . . . an illness, can be the most amazing blessing in disguise – a healing journey that evolves us if we choose to adhere to the learning being asked of us”. In my case it took several near death experiences including being clinically dead for 10 minutes after a heart attack, before I choose to truly connect to the learning being offered. I made changes in my life but in retrospect they were all superficial and did not come from truth or love. It was not until I met Serge Benhayon and started attending his presentations that I was inspired to make different choices and like you this continues to be life-changing.
It is amazing that even a huge STOP moment was not enough for most of us to change the way we were living and it was until we met Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine did we start to make different more loving choices. Even with our bodies saying and quite literally screaming for us to make changes we would continue on in the same ill vein. Thank God for Serge Benhayon otherwise nothing would have changed and we would all be in the same mess we were before!
A beautiful and open sharing Donna thank you. Showing there is no limit to the care we can show ourselves, then from there the possibilities to commit to life present at every turn.
It shows too that the foundation we build for ourselves is what carries us up, out and into everything thereafter. The love we hold ourselves in and the commitment we have to ourselves is the greatest foundation we could build, this takes true strength and dedication to form and a real life platform to step from into the expansion of life that we choose.
I have always worked mainly because I grew up in a family with a very strong work ethic and not working was unheard of. So I approached work from a stance of something I had to do, mainly feeling unfulfilled and without clear purpose. My approach to work now is very different. I now see work as a way of bringing me to the world, as an opportunity to bring my unique qualities and be open to continually learning and evolving from others, approaching work in this way is a really beautiful gift.
This is a great blog Donna, it brings up for me the reason I work and what I bring to my work. The line ‘what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within.’ says it all for me. As I have almost always worked, mostly in my own business’, but it wasn’t until recently that it became obvious that what I needed to do was deepen my love and care for myself. With the support of the Universal Medicine practitioners I also got to see that my self worth needed employment too. So now busy on the work front and more loving with myself, allowing me to bring more of me to my work and everything else I do in life.
Ha ha… I love your expression “I also got to see that my self worth needed employment too.” Something I am always deepening.
Now that’s something you don’t read everyday 🙂 nor this comment – “Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”. How refreshing to read about this commitment to work because for many (and myself at times) it is something that you just get through, survive in order to pay the bills and have enough money so you can retire. Work is medicine Jane, indeed.
Absolutely Sarah, a joy and delight to hear those words. And I concur, my life has changed dramatically as commitment to life, work and everything, has taken flight and I find new ways of growing it every day. The work and presentations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine are inspirational.
Super refreshing. Actually most of the comments on this post are something that is not really the general opinion about work as I have heard people share. This in itself is a reflection and confirmation of the amazingness that Universal Medicine has brought to many people.
So true Sarahflenley its a ray of sunshine to read that “Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.” Work has become so functional to many who just look to the holidays in-between as their sweet reward. Its committing to the wondrous small details of self care and connection that can be sprinkled throughout our day, our week and support us to feel rewarded in every moment.
I agree Sarah, it is really refreshing!!! There are so many of us that do just drag ourselves through the day… but when we live with purpose, and take us to all that we do, work is a beautiful expression – medicine indeed.
Hahaha Sarah: no,“Committing to work is one of the best things that has ever happened to me,” is not something you hear every day as in it being expressly articulated. However, noticing how people love to return to work after a break because they were “bored,” or seeing children rush back to school to be with their friends again, has me feeling that, inherently, we are all aware of this – in spite of what comes out of our mouths on the subject, at times.
I agree Sarah, all the comments here are inspiring towards working, bringing your full self to your work, truly enjoying it, enjoying people, reaping the benefits of working with people, rather than the money, amazing and beautiful, thank you everyone.
Such a powerful blog, redefining what should really be at the foundation of any career – ‘taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within’. Once we have these, the career just follows as an extension of all we are, rather than it being the be-all and end-all in our lives.
It is interesting to ponder on the self worth that we hold and how this plays into every single thing that we do and choose thereafter. What is our base in life if we are not worth care and respect? and what are we bringing to the world if we don’t first know the quality of ourselves and the power this truly holds?
Donna, great blog, one that I and many others will relate to in some way. Bringing our loving selves to work and living from this changes everything. Love at work makes time for people, it organising you in a particular way, it allows you to step up and do things that ‘without’ love you would have hidden from and it makes work colleagues more ‘family’ than outsiders. The loveliness that we create in this way, allows us to wake up early, looking forward to the day, the conversations and connections we will have, and to perform our work with true purpose.
I feel a new sense of appreciation for myself after reading your blog Donna. Even though I’ve told myself and acted out ‘lack of commitment’ in some areas of my life, I’ve always been a good, solid worker and held done a job even in the face of drug addiction and borderline psychosis. Even before I finished high school I was in a hotel apprentice program and check out chick!
I knew the worth and power of being in the work force and still do – this feels like an opportunity to reconnect to that knowing.
I can agree that work is medicine, since I am out there with people so much it has changed for me. My rhythm is more solid, I get done more and my body feels great.
When we find purpose in who we are and being ourselves – We naturally bring forth commitment and opportunities arise.
Thank you Donna for sharing your journey…I never felt not to work, more the opposite, but it is very interesting to read your reasons and way of life and how you blossomed into a life with commitment and responsibility.
I’ve been working in the unemployment industry for years and your blog is throwing every ideal and belief out. Really out. You’re basically saying that by taking care of yourself, the career ‘path’ will follow accordingly. That’s taking off a lot of pressure for A LOT OF PEOPLE. And if this will be accepted – one day – it will completely change the paradigms about unemployment. For example in Holland there’s this obligation to apply 4 times in 4 weeks, minimum. But from what you’re saying I believe that it is not about that, but is about supporting people to take better care of themselves. And that this will lead to a new job naturally. As long as we choose to be with Ourselves. I can feel for myself that I know that what you’re writing is True, but to fully surrender to it I still find hard to always allow myself to feel that trust and care that I am looked after as long as I look after myself.
“….to always allow myself to feel that trust and care that I am looked after as long as I look after myself…” this is such a paradigm shift from the norm of society but is such a truism that in time it will be the norm. Like you I still find it hard to fully surrender but also know it is the truth.
Floris I really appreciate what you are saying here. Self-Care can often be viewed as selfish, flimsy or what the hippies do in the New Age arena, however the QUALITY of Self Care I am sharing here has such a deep, deep regard for one self that you would NEVER put yourself (or someone else) in a position of risk or harm. From there it only deepens your sense of wellbeing, confidence, Willingness to serve others and your love for people. Living from this place is very purpose-full – you then magnetically pull Life towards you – a Life that supports you as you continuously make loving choices for yourself. Of course you require practical skills to go with the job but Life becomes clearer and so the next steps are just understood increasing career and job opportunities along the way. Its living Life from this place that determines our next move and career – not the ‘how much money can I make’ stance. This will be super amazing for you as you continue to explore this concept in the unemployment arena…. one small step at a time!
Great comment Floris about such a big issue that every community has to deal with. I had not thought about it in this way but what you said feels spot on in that it turns everything we believe about unemployment and the unemployed completely upside down and it also explains why just forcing people to work does not work.
Work for me used to be something I did to ensure I had a good lifestyle – to look after myself and do nice things in my spare time, and so I took jobs that I had the skills to do and paid well but left me feeling dissatisfied; I wasn’t committed, I was merely fulfilling a function, doing my time and hanging out for my time when I wasn’t working to do ‘nice’ things. I was always exhausted and seeking something to make me feel fulfilled. That all changed as my commitment to life and my commitment to living in a way that was more loving changed. As my self-worth and self-love increased, so did my attitude and commitment to work change. I now have a job that I love, not because it’s a perfect job…there is no such thing, but because of how I approach work. I see my colleagues as my work family (even if I only work with them for a short time) and I see what I do is always about people – my colleagues, the customers, suppliers and anyone I come into contact with are all important – nobody more so or less so, and meeting deadlines (of which there are many) is never to the detriment of myself or others.
I have seen first hand what it looks like for someone who doesn’t have a job because of a desire or need to be supported by another and perhaps because of the (imagined) freedom of lunch and tennis dates. This person is all but ‘prostituting’ – not literally, rather figuratively – herself and I can’t imagine what that is doing to her sense of self. I can see that with a commitment to herself by starting with getting a job, there would be many areas of life that would naturally get an overhaul too, anxiousness and frustration might be lessened as a start.
Working is often underestimated as an activity that people can gain a sense of their own self worth from. It’s not the doing of the job, but the knock on effect of being self or family supporting, working with others, committing to being somewhere regularly and on time that one can gain greater self worth from.
Yes, the self worth also takes care of itself when we are allowing ourselves to be natural, to connect with others and to just show up! doing whatever it is we need to do but from the depth of knowing and understanding of who we know ourselves to be.
Thanks Donna. I Can relate to what you are sharing. I have also learned step by step to commit to life, enter the working zone and find a rhythm in my life that supports me and grows stability.
There really is a ‘step by step’ to the process of allowing yourself to be and live your way, and work your way. The process is evolutionary when we allow ourselves to develop and accept ourselves as students of life, our own life.
What a joy to read your blog and the truth of work Donna, I love it! This part stood out; ‘I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!’ This has been my experience in the last few years too and I can say with my whole heart, I love my job.
Me too Jane, I plan to work until I die. I’ve said this for years and my colleagues laugh at me but I don’t care. I’ve learnt (and still do) so much from work. Obviously we need money to live but the other riches from working are that I’ve made amazing friends, I’ve had to learn to be responsible and deal with situations, as opposed to run away.
” I’ve had to learn to be responsible and deal with situations, as opposed to run away.” This is exactly what work offers us Shevon! At times i still feel to run but now it is not an option anymore but to deal with what is being offered and to take responsibility.
Jane I completely agree. When I was so withdrawn I wanted to hide completely and never wanted to work but I felt so lost. I now can’t imagine not working and find it such fun!
This no longer happens, but when there were things at work that I didn’t want to face and I would take sick days off and would be at home in bed, I would find that I’d start wilting away and it was so much easier to keep withdrawing once that first step to withdraw took place.
Thank you Donna for sharing your experience. At the moment I am exploring my commitment to work and how I have worked in the past. Some jobs I really liked and in some jobs I just ticked the boxes. What I have realised is that when working with people it always felt very purpose full. When I couldn’t feel the purpose of certain projects, it effected the way I was at work which then effected how I felt about all areas in the job. It also is very clear to me how important connecting to people in the work place is to me and how draining it feels if I cannot connect to colleagues. I can relate to what you write about status and well paid jobs, how important that has been to me. So what you have written about..”I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!”… Is very inspiring to me.
Diana1975, connecting to people is an area that always starting off ok but would then dwindle and so this is an area that I have worked very hard on to establish better relationships. I have to say that as I allowed others in and became more present in my day to day activities, my relationships have gone from strength to strength.
That is true Donna, it begins with me allowing people in. And without an investment to an outcome of how the other person will respond.
I agree diana1975, I have learned first hand out important it is to connect to people in the workplace. The old me would not make any effort to connect to colleagues, not let them in and well this made work life a real struggle. I have learned, connection first and the rest just falls into place…
Beautiful to see, that if we connect to ourselves and let life come to us, how everything is constellated and falls in to place.
I can very well relate to what you share Donna. I have had many different jobs, but whenever my talents got too apparent and I would have had to step up and take responsibility, I quit. Because of the responsibility I did not have for me and my life.
Since accepting and enjoying to lead a responsible life and starting a new approach to work in a local bakery shop (far below what I would have considered adequate before, but so much more being me), suddenly an opportunity for a very well-paid and interesting job came out of nowhere, I accepted it and now know what a difference it makes and I do make, if I am me, and commit to the work that I do.
Work does not imply a wish for time off anymore but is an integral and supportive part of my life, just like brushing my teeth or having meals.
And on the other hand, I have had the experience of often staying in the one job and sometimes this has meant avoiding the fact that things have felt complete and it is time to move on. We can also be too comfortable in our occupations or daily lives and require that space to take stock and make new choices to actively live more of who we are whilst deepening our purpose of what it is that we bring.
Commitment to life is really fundamental, it has been a bit of a thing for me to address over the years and I still work with pockets as they become exposed. Life is about people and if I am not committed to me then I am not supporting anyone else truly. My way back is to practice being with me and loving me to bits – coming to that supports me to build stronger commitment to all life and everyone in it.
Yes Lee, you are describing true Brotherhood.
Donna what an awesome story about truth, humility, dedication to self and absoluteness of commitment..”So while my commitment to life at first was about me getting back on my feet to support myself financially, what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within.” It’s an amazing revelation when you can finally see that you are love and loved every step of the way. God never gave up on you!
Wow Donna – this blog really turns the concept of commitment to life and a career on it’s head as I can feel that this commitment is first and foremost a commitment to yourself. Very inspirational.
Spot on Leonne, without having the commitment to myself there was not Will to commit to life – it was a difficult period and one I was glad to say goodbye to in comparison to having so much more purpose and love in my life now. It’s fully claimed! I notice too when you fully commit (and I mean fully) doors open you could not imagine were there. I also found myself able to support others to enter the workplace from my own experiences and contacts that I made. It was really fulfilling.
I’ve never been committed to life, let alone a job. A job for me was for money, no other reason. I put up with whatever I experienced in the day but it was all about what happened after work, on my days off etc. I have now learnt the value of bringing myself fully to my work environment and to the people that I work with and the job that’s there for me to do. I love my day at work, it’s so full of service, and what is needed to be brought in each day to each person that I meet or speak with on the phone.
Great blog Donna. Loved reading your journey back to committing to life and work. What a beautiful feeling this must be to finally be alive and enjoying work. Well done!
I have floated around a fair number of jobs in my life and had a lot of breaks and time not working similar to what Donna describes. I now see the purpose and necessity to work in order to commit to living life. I find not working now very unfulfilling and would never wish to be in that situation again. There is of course always a balance to be found of having time to rest but I can see that we are made to work and that it is energising and hugely supportive.
Agree Stephen G, and what you share, which is essentially the love of work and the healthy effects of this purpose, is only really connected to or felt when we’re out of a job and looking for a new one. Work is the backbone to life. When that backbone is removed, what happens to life? Hence committing to a job, is committing to life – and yourself at the same time.
Agreed Zofia, Work is the backbone to life. The core strength that work has to offer can ignite all other aspects of living.
Awesome Donna, I found myself there quite a few years ago too, and I really love how you expressed the true purpose so clearly and fittingly: “… what in fact it really was about was taking better care of myself, developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within.”
I too have found that working and loving what you do is a great support to my well-being. We are built to work and serve, there is no other way to be and feel full-filled.
I can’t imagine not working, it is therapeutic in every sense of the word. No matter what the role, I live with purpose at work knowing that I do make a difference just by being me.
Yes absolutely. How amazing is that to bring my full “me” into the Job and commit to serve.
This naturally supports us the other way around.
Me too- it is hard to imagine and I don’t actually see myself retiring until my body can no longer work.
I enjoy work and I love the rhythm I have created for myself in my work.
I have worked since I was 15. I haven’t always loved my jobs but that was more about what was going on for me. If I am feeling unhappy in my work now, I just check in with me to see where I am at. But that is rare these days. I too love every moment, even the challenging ones and will work until I can’t work no more.
Absolutely, and this should be presented in every school in the world. It would entirely change the way we approach work, careers and our sense of self within them.
Beautiful, Heather… so gorgeous to feel you claim that, and you’ve offered me the opportunity to feel that I live with purpose at work also, knowing that I too make a difference just by being me.
I was unable to work for several years due to illness and people would say, that’s great you can pretend it is a holiday. Other than the fact of being ill not exactly bringing that holiday feeling I would reply to them that not working is only fun when it is for a short period and you know you can get back to it. Not being able to work and connect in that way to the world, to life and to people around you is something that is dearly missed and can only feel ok if we distract ourselves and numb ourselves to high degree. We are made to work …and to enjoy it.
A great sharing Donna. Your experience echoes that of many. I know women who take time out of the workforce to have children and then don’t have the confidence to re-enter it. Others don’t trust their bodies to be able to handle the demands of work and a working day. Others still, are reluctant to relinquish the discretionary time they have each day.
For me, I could not adore working more! I feel like I bring more of myself to work than I do to the other aspects of my life. This is a good marker for me, to then begin to build the same level of commitment and dedication everywhere else. Work for me is also a constant vehicle for developing and evolving myself and the way I am with people. A true blessing.
I have also struggled with committing to life. I feel that it is directly linked to my sense of purpose. If I perceive life as a playground for self, the purpose would be to do anything to justify not committing – be held back by lack of confidence, giving my power away and hold the world to ransom for my hurts. I would orchestrate a life where moving forward is inconceivable, although I would look like I’m trying and getting really frustrated in the enthral. Universal Medicine has helped me to resolve my hurts, mainly by supporting me to see that any hurt I have suffered was a reaction to not having my conditions met. If there is a condition, I am holding myself (love) back. It’s a self set up vicious cycle. My purpose is slowly being steered towards humanity. There are some truly horrendous things that happen in the world, and yes everything is relative, but my suffering is minuscule compared to a lot of people. I have it easy, but I have made it difficult for me so that I could have an excuse for not committing, to escape the risk of rejection. As my self-love deepens, my capacity and confidence to express also expand. It creates the next step in evolving me, evolving us to a humanity that lives love. After one step, there is always another to take. So what is the single purpose that branches out to fuel commitment in every area of life? It’s getting on with it, getting a job, getting out there, because life is a blank canvas and there are no hurts. It is what we make of it and we have to start making it about love and truth.
I love this Jinya. I have also struggled with a lack of commitment, or more accurately created a struggle, and held myself back by staying in roles that I can hide in and not be asked to be more. Like Adam shares, we can be committed to a job but this does not mean we are committed to life. I used my job as a way to supply me with a way to abuse my body in the weekends with drugs and alcohol and check out on entertainment. There was no joy in my life as a result, even though at the time I thought I was having fun. I can’t imagine not working, we are designed to work and give back, and don’t plan on retiring either. I spent years not enjoying my work and it took me a long time to realise that it had nothing to do with the job but everything to do with how I am in it.
Great comment Jinya because you so clearly describe what happens when you see life as a playground for self. No sense of unity can ever eventuate when this is the case.
I can really relate with what you have shared here Jinya from giving my power away, to unresolved hurts .. the list went on; but through the absolute support and love from Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and Universal Medicine practitioners much of this has now been resolved. It is true and sobering what you have written here ‘There are some truly horrendous things that happen in the world, and yes everything is relative, but my suffering is minuscule compared to a lot of people. I have it easy, but I have made it difficult for me so that I could have an excuse for not committing, to escape the risk of rejection.’ We can no longer afford to hold onto this miniscule suffering or make excuses for not committing to life as many others need support with where they are currently at.
“… we have to start making it about love and truth”.
Absolutely agree.
Jinya I felt the purpose within you sharing your comment especially for me today the words “If there is a condition, I am holding myself (love) back. Thank you for the opportunity for me to look at what my seemingly nebulous but now more obvious evidence of ‘conditions’.
Donna I really enjoyed learning about the huge changes you made in your life. I could relate as I too did this in mothering so I didn’t have to fully commit to work. In the last 4 years I have gone from working 15 hrs a week to working over 40 and I can honestly say I truly love it. A great benefit has been my husband and family have had to step up around the running of our home which has been great for having more balance and equality with us all.
It is interesting reading this blog, because looking back, I have always been committed to having a job. However, does this really mean I was committed to life? The truth was I held my job as a burden, as a form of security. It was what I had to do to get on in life, and so the quality of my commitment reflected that very thing. There was no joy, no abundance, and I very much subscribed to the “hump day” philosophy of being grumpy on monday, OK with things on wednesday, and excited on friday that tomorrow was the beginning of the weekend. Committing to life is not just about holding a job. It is about being committed to living, to being solid in who you are, in being prepared to get your hands dirty even though you know the beauty of the heavens runs in your blood. It is about knowing the sunrise is only the beginning of the day, and the sunset is not the end, and that such fleeting beauty does not have to be an ephemeral glimmer, but rather a foundation that forms that basis for all of life.
We have been fooled, for the truth is the sun never sets, and neither does love. Yet we live in the illusion that love has a place in only one part of our life and not the other. And so we live for those moments that we think hold the joy we are looking for, not realising that Joy is bound in such a way. It knows no such bounds, but is rather eternal in its offering, if only we stopped to connect to the fact that the source of its abundance actually comes from within.
Good points Adam, the sun never sets yet we see with our own eyes it comes and it goes. This is a perfect example of what we experience with work. The workday comes and then it ends, but should that or does that change our degree of committing to life and ourselves 24/7? It’s not about a job really, but about knowing who I am, fully, without reservation and then living that with people. All that happens because of having a job is icing, or the symptoms of a worldly life, not to be sneezed at, but also not ‘it’.
Absolutely gorgeous comment Adam. We are here to serve and I really connected to the part of.. ‘Committing to life is not just about holding a job. It is about being committed to living, to being solid in who you are, in being prepared to get your hands dirty even though you know the beauty of the heavens runs in your blood.’ – Profoundly beautiful and inspiring.
It’s a great point you make Adam that we have to commit to life in whatever we do.
This is true Adam, I work with a lot of people who turn up for work every day but absolutely detest it. They are there because they have to be and because it pays the bills. There is a type of commitment in this, but in what energy are we making the commitment in? Obviously there is more to just turning up for work every day.
Adam I love your comment. I have been very far from being committed most of my life and only recently through the support as well as the inspiration of mainly witnessing the Benhayon family have I chosen to recommit. However I have noticed what you say about the fact that we have a job in itself does not mean we are committed to life, because when I get caught in conditions, when there is holding back, when there is a sense of separation, and there is a looking out for me and mine, that does not feel like committing to life. Committing to life is being prepared to get my hand dirty with the whole of me. I love your analogy of the eternal sun and the eternal joy that comes from within, what a gorgeous expression of the natural power that is within us all when we just let go and let ourselves express who we are.
Exquisitely beautifully expressed, Adam. I agree that the quality of our commitment colours or discolours how we are in work, with ourselves, with others and with life. We can be committed to comfort, to survival, to need or, as you say, to Love….and then committed to allowing the expression of that Love in all of our actions and interactions.
Our lives and bodies sing to purpose. Although I have always worked, my issue was one of taking care of myself in the workplace and not trashing my body and state of being in the process.
So even those of us who work have to develop commitment to a way of working that never forgoes care of self, respect for others and absolute commitment to serving all people.
Beautiful Rachel, our lives and bodies sing to purpose.
Yes and this absolute commitment to serving all people can be so much easier maintained with self-care and respect for self as well as others at the fore-front.
Rachel beautiful, beautiful words – yes indeed… my body sings to purpose! For me now it’s about learning to have loving rhythms at work where I can hold that level of care without falling into the chaos of busy-ness.
Bbeautiful Rachel, I have grown from working to fuel an escapist lifestyle, to learning to work with the purpose and commitment of bringing everything I am to the job at hand. And to do this requires a body that is up to the task – so too comes the purpose of truly caring for the body – to then be able to serve all with all that I am.
Beautifully expressed Annie. Thank You.
Great comment and so true Annie. “… the purpose of truly caring for the body…” The word purpose stood out for me more than ever before as I had not fully acknowledged that caring for my body has and is a purpose. Becoming more aware of this, strengthens and deepens my commitment to self-love and self-care – thank you.
Beautiful Rachel when we approach work like this it brings a much deeper level of meaning and purpose to work ‘commitment to a way of working that never forgoes care of self, respect for others and absolute commitment to serving all people’
Our lives and bodies sing to purpose.. And what a difference this makes to how we experience work, its never been something I felt I had to do, always wanted to do and enjoyed.
Absolutely Rachel, how I support myself inside and outside of work so that my body is ‘fit for work’ as I call it, and work in a way that doesn’t deplete me is super important. Funny, the more I look after myself and support myself, the more productive and less tired I am. So caring and loving myself feeds me back so I can be more of service to the people I work with and the work that I do.
‘Our lives and bodies sing to purpose’. Rachel this is so true and very wise words – thank you. This is certainly my own experience.
When I was growing up the pervasive attitude to work was that adults hated it but it had to be done, and unless you were extremely lucky and knew what you wanted to do in life as a career you could kiss any joy in life away because you would be tied to years of drudgery! Most people I knew depended on the joy family or other pursuits brought to cope with their work life. There was always this huge pressure that I needed to work out my dream career or else I would be condemned to the same imprisioning feeling other adults lived because of how work made them feel. It’s really supportive to read your blog Donna and the fresh new take on work being another way we commit to loving ourselves and caring for our life, and serving the community.
Melinda I too remember growing up and that consciousness of work being this thing that people had to do – there was no joy in it. Now, I cannot EVER imagine not working… right up until I close my eyes and die! There is so much to appreciate – the growth, the loving support, the relationships made, the learnings, evolution itself, etc… so valuable.
Yes, I recall that equating of work with drudgery too, Melinda. There was a partial reason for it – my Grandfather was a deep shaft coal miner – very unpleasant job. But in today’s western society, there is no need for work to be drudge. I love the connection with people.
‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.’ Donna, fantastic words from a fantastic and very honest blog – I wish I’d read them earlier in life as I chose, like many, the driving force instead of growing me. I’m now having to un-do a lifetime of working with drive instead of me. It would have been much easier the other way around.
I agree Victoria I have spent years being racy and in a doing energy at work instead of being steady and calm. It is a slow progression back to “growing me” and being more loving and caring for myself.
And how much energy we use in this constant drive and stress…i have found that to take me to work and live naturally in rhythm and honour of myself there is far more space, less pressure on myself and i am productive beyond measure.
It is incredible revelation in itself to realise we don’t need the push, drive or stress to be productive and in fact this is counter productive to wellness of staff.
It is revolutionary to go to work as ‘me’ and without push, drive agenda or donning the metaphorical work suit and role.
So many people identify with their jobs and yet in doing so rob themselves and their workplace of their true quality which is of great service and needed by the whole.
I agree Victoria, ‘In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force’ a great line, a game changer in fact, no MBA required to grow. I find it revealing when you also say that you now are undoing a lifetime of working with drive, as I realize that I have to undo a lifetime of avoiding work. Even though I have always worked, I had never committed to working to serve. It had always been to serve self with money. It is an attitude that pervades every part of life and feels awful and insidious in the body.
Thanks for sharing Donna. ‘It’s about committing to being me first then working in places that need my skills and expertise but with a whole lot of me in it’, I love this. When we take the whole of us, our beingness, to do anything, the difference is huge. We feel this and so do others.
When we commit to life in this way and to a job it actually has profound support in the quality of your being. I have always been committed to work and then I took some time to develop self love and created an easier work schedule which at the time was great because I had been working in such a hard way. Then with sessions with Universal Medicine practitioners I could see how I was not living to my full potential and sharing this with everyone. From that moment on I got a full time job and absolutely love it and can feel the massive difference it has on my quality of being.
I love this Donna. I too was floating about with oodles of time to spend in coffee shops. I was in the illusion that I was living a fulfilling life. My life has completely changed since I committed to working full time nearly 4 years ago. My commitment to myself and life has stepped up several gears, and I feel of true value to society. I could never go back.
‘I feel of true value to society’ – now THAT is amazing! And surely one of the most fulfilling ways to live your life.
Wow Donna, I love your article, this could have been me writing it, in the last year I have felt impulsed to work more and so I got a regular job, I have a young child and was putting this off for a long time, it has felt amazing working regularly, I bring me to my work and I can see and feel what I bring to the people that I work with, I now feel more vital, more joyful and more me now that I am working and have let go of the belief that I held that work is ‘boring’, something to be avoided if possible or that the ideal is to work as little as possible and earn as much as possible, I love to work and am looking forward to working more when my son goes to school.
It makes sense when you say that you felt more vital, joyful and more you when you are committed to what you are doing, as your body would feel the difference. It would feel the lightness of being and the honouring of yourself. In effect it is your body ‘paying you back’ .
Donna a great blog that shows the real value in working, but not simply driving through work but the way you work and what you bring. It’s also great to smash the illusion of the corporate ladder and valuing what you do by how far up the ladder you are vs who you are. With much of society working to get by, working to earn money you’ve shown how with this approach we miss out from the real value that working brings for us and those in our community. My understanding and commitment to work has also changed dramatically since being involved in Universal Medicine, although in a different way, from driving in a busy frantic state to bringing more and more simplicity and presence to being me at work.
Thank you Donna. I can feel the freedom that having a job has brought you – not something most people associate with full time work. There is a strength and sense of purpose and belonging to humanity that comes through. I have noticed this in other friends who have made similar choices to yourself and I feel it in me too as I gradually take on more responsibility and care for myself more. The caring of oneself allows for the quality that we bring to the responsibilities we choose.
What a great and meaningful blog Donna, thank you. Understanding the true joy of commitment to life by connecting to and accepting our selves first is beautiful to feel as we then are with ourselves with everything we do and brings a loving purpose to life. This is a real gift and something Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine are sharing by reflection to everyone. Inspirational and true.
I agree with you Donna. Committing to life and to getting a job is one of the best things you can do, and I say that from the perspective of someone who spent way too long putting off this commitment, and taking the non-committed route! There is such a wealth of what is available to learn and life feels great when you are not standing back from it, but really commit to being part of it.
Re-reading your blog Donna brought this to mind. I have always worked and loved working but four years ago I went through a transition from all work to no work, and hit rock bottom. This was one of those STOP moments. A time to reflect and re-appraise my life, it felt very bleak at the time. I came to appreciate the gift presented, an opportunity to learn and heal. Supported by Universal Medicine practitioners, I started to build new and more solid foundations, inside and out, taking better care of myself, establising a more loving relationship with myself and finances. I started volunteering and worked for two local charities. This was the best ‘therapy’ for me. It gave me a new sense of purpose, established new routines, got me out of the house, meeting and connecting with people and learning new things. I was re-building my life one step at a time until re-directed to a new field of work, totally different to what I did before. I went from self employment and working in businesses as an external contractor to becoming an employee working as a carer in people’s homes. It was a pivotal moment, as the change came as I approaching state retirement age. Aged 64 in two months time, I now have a deeper level of commitment to myself, work and life and feel amazing.
That’s a fantastic journey! I really like how work, like life, can unfold and show us new ways to be. I can feel myself going through a development in terms of my own relationship to work as I establish a new business. It feels like a chance to re-visit and re-do in a new way an enterprise I’d operated 20-odd years ago. Now I have far more experience on my side, and a totally different approach which is less about outcomes (although these are necessary too in terms of viability) and more about what’s needed.
I had spent/still living my life working because it was the thing we were told that is what life is about, idle hands are the devils workshop and all of that. There was never any me in these discussions. I have done a lot of jobs and picked up a lot of things just out of curiosity. Could it be that my constraint movement between jobs was looking for me? I have retired twice now, two 20 year sentences released on good behavior. I am almost 1 year into my next 20 year gig but this time I am marching to a different drummer… Me. I am having fun this time.
A beautiful and inspiring sharing Donna. I agree, it is super empowering when we realise that it is not about what work we do but about who we are and what quality we bring to the things that we do. For years I focused on the doing and achieving for recognition/acceptance constantly compromising my body’s well-being. Through the presentations of Universal Medicine I have discovered that in developing a relationship with ourselves and our bodies that is deeply caring and loving supports us to work and interact with life, which we all are a part of, in connection with who we are. When we commit to the love that we in truth essentially are, this universality is a joy that is then lived and shared wherever we are. Thank you for sharing the power of ‘developing self-worth and re-connecting to something deeply beautiful within’ – to the love and loving life that we all have access to living.
My return to work has also been a blessing in disguise and if anyone had told me 10 years ago that I would be working full time, let alone starting a new career at the age of 54, I would never has believed it.
I hadn’t worked full time for 19 years and used the children and illness to withdraw from the world, and eventually retiring myself from work for 5 years. I had a lot of help from Esoteric Practitioners, who helped me to look at work in a different way.
Thanks Donna, a truly great blog which clearly shows how commitment to life is so important. Although I have constantly worked my whole life I have to admit the commitment has never been fully there. It has come along way since being involved with Universal Medicine but I still feel I’m a way off being fully committed.
Beautiful Donna, committing to work is not only committing to life, but committing to valuing yourself – for to commit to work and enjoy what you do – as you found out – you need to commit to truly taking care of yourself.
Well said Donna. When we commit to ourselves and commit ourselves to life we are no longer pushed this way and that by what we feel is out of our control.
Donna, I absolutely loved this blog! And I had to read all the comments too, as I found them super relevant! I can feel my whole body buzzing with the knowing that I too have been procrastinating and using my children as an excuse not to work. I am very much looking forward to hopping on seek to begin the process, and feel especially supported by your comment that there is no top or bottom of the ladder, but that rather, it is about me committing to me and growing in that committment!
Donna reading your blog has come at a pivotal moment in time for me. My position at work was made redundant about five weeks ago and I have one more day to work, with no new job in sight – at present. A few days after the notice I came down with a “virus” and as this has continued on and off since then, I have had several STOP moments which have given me lots of time to contemplate and to re-assess and re-confirm what I can bring to my next job. I need to work, but I also love to work and at 65 I don’t have the word “retirement” in my vocabulary and what I am absolutely loving is that now I am finally able to claim the amazing skills that I have, something I struggled to do in the past. Your commitment and your holistic approach to your job and your life, is very inspirational, especially right now!
Awesome blog Donna. Most of us just go through life working as we think it’s something we ‘need or have’ to do… It feels like it brings something different about it when looking at it as a way of caring for ourselves. It doesn’t feel like so much of a chore then but something to look forward too.
I could relate to your blog as if it was me Donna, and to other comments, for instance, becoming a single parent and feeling so victimised and freaked out by my circumstances and how do I work with a child to raise? And then, later, becoming an empty nester and going, “uh, who am I exactly???” – and the burnout that has followed is impacting on me now – but I have learned – that whatever job I do, if I bring all of me to it, I can have a lot of fun during the day and sharing love comes from all kinds of curious nooks and crannies where you least expect it.
Thank you for this beautiful sharing, Donna. Committing to life is something I have struggled with and your sharing made me squirm in my chair. Work for me was something that simply brought me financial security, recognition and identification, and learning to just be myself first and foremost and bring that into a work place and trust that I do have something of true value to contribute has been a new thing for me. And having a job really helps building a solid rhythm around my day, too.
What you are sharing is so common Fumio, my feeling is that as a society we are raised to the consciousness that we ’need’ a job to provide for ourselves (our family etc) rather than ’what can I offer, and where can I truly serve with the skills that I have’ and hence it is always a race for the best money, the best working hours and so on – for me personally it was all about getting a ’decent’ job for me and never about the quality I brought to the workplace. Not until I was introduced to the teachings of Universal Medicine did I understand the importance of honouring myself first and foremost and then bringing all of me to the workplace.
Donna I was riveted whilst reading your article as I am exploring my beliefs around careers at this very moment. Up until recently I felt very clear that I wanted to leave my current job and do something else, in fact the thought of staying where I am was awful. I saw an amazing esoteric healing practitioner who suggested that my drive to do something else was being driven by my desire to avoid the things that I struggle with in my current job. As you so aptly ask ‘how had I not seen this before ?’. So I have made a commitment to stay put for now and address the things that I have been avoiding. What is truly astounding is that I feel able to address the things that I have avoided easily. I have put my hand up for a managers role after hiding in a hands on role for 20 years ! If I do move on in the future I will be taking a much more complete version of me with me.
It is so easy to feel we are committed to life – but how you have broken this down Donna is revelation. Simply working hard does not mean we are committed – it can mean we are driven and get it done, but it can be done in resentment, or to seek recognition or fill an emptiness of a lack of self worth. I was shocked when it was suggested to me I had little commitment to life because I was working so hard! But it was always a drama and a struggle – there was no real desire and connection to be in the world. It was an exposing and fragile moment and took some time to fully comprehend. What you have exposed is the actual commitment to ourselves and a desire to truly wish to be, contribute and commit to this life. The key to understanding this is as you have brilliantly articulated – through committing to ourselves first, caring for ourselves, valuing our selves, feeling our true worth – then we bring this to everything else and see and value it in all others.
Well said Gina. It is very true that hard work does not equate to commitment to life, in fact it can be the polar opposite as sometimes drowning in work is a way to avoid engaging with life!
I agree Gina that working hard has nothing to do with committing to life. It just gives the appearance that it has and hence why many people are fooled by it. What commitment to life means to me is to bring ALL of me to my life, to not hold back how loving and beautiful I am, to care about what is going on in the world and to speak up about it, to engage with people and to bring purpose to everything.
Thank you for sharing Donna, it is truly amazing the changes that can take place through commitment to life. As you discovered you can start with one area of your life and with consistent commitment, all areas start to open up and blossom. Caring for and taking responsibility for ourselves and our choices can offer us a totally different life and way of being.
I have found that too Rosemary that the more I commit in one area of my life the more it shows up in the other areas that need greater consistency and commitment.
Thanks Donna, this was so fantastic to read, and a little wake up call at the same time. Life is about constantly committing. I guess I have been a little apprehensive about entering the workforce, I have had many jobs but still feel anxious when going to work sometimes and don’t want to go. True purpose is really important for me, once I feel that I am all there! I’m learning as I go and even becoming open to new career options that I never would have thought of before.
Great blog Donna what you have shared is very inspirational. “The thought of having a career suddenly felt so strong and supportive and quite frankly a necessary and practical part of life. How had I not seen this before?” I got caught in a belief system passed down to me (and which I took on) that women will be provided for by the man, as a woman ‘my job’ was to raise my children, etc. This belief system totally strangled probably 80% of my expression – developing self-worth has developed true purpose and is continuing to do so.
Donna this is so timely for me – and a super helpful and supportive read. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this Donna. I have always had a job and worked hard, never really having an issue with committing to life. However what I have struggled with at times is bringing myself to my work, that is, I have always been the “good” employee and worked hard, sometimes to the detriment of myself. I now also realise that while this has an impact on me, it also means that I offer less to my work and the people I serve. I am now committing to not only life, but being all of me in every aspect of life.
Yes, this is similar to myself Lee. At one time during my uni days I had two jobs, but what i know now is that it is about quality not quantity. Committing to bring to work the quality of all of me more so than the ‘ticking the box’ of the things we do at work as the main focus. And this makes all the difference to the relationship with self, with work and relationships with fellow colleagues.
Agree Donna with your words here “…it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise ” – so often in the absence of prior effort or commitment comes afterwards a drive of misbelief, even at times delusion in regards what one can realistically and practically do for a job. From cleaner to ceo as an extreme example to illustrate (!) This belief keeps a person OUT of a job, conveniently, and suffering rejection knocking out self-worth. So commitment is also to do with acceptance – accepting where one is at, and what one has in regards skills/transferable that can be used as currency to secure a job.
What we accept we value. Ourselves, together with our skills.
This is brilliant Donna. Your life felt like one of comfort, but no true joy as without commitment to life we are really just meandering through our days without purpose. What a wonderful exploration of personal discovery this has been for you and that you recognise that your worth is of greatest importance. Working actually supports this to develop and grow. I loved reading your blog, very grass roots inspiring.
What you’re sharing here Donna, is the pivotal point of life, committing to you first, caring for you and connecting to that richness that is within you. This really stands out for me, and it is exactly this that supports us no matter where we are in our lives. What is also so very beautiful as you shared, as we connect and commit to ourselves, we get strong feelings in what the next step is for us, there is a deeper trust that starts to be lived where life becomes supportive in living our commitment.
Thank you Karoline, you have picked up a gem from Donna’s blog, committing to ourselves first and caring for ourselves connects us to a richness within. I LOVE that and I can very much testify to that being my experience. I love work, I love life and I love people and really feel that has just deepened and deepened as I have developed my love and care for myself. I cannot offer another what I have not offered myself.
This blog is very real for me as I have not committed to life for a long time. I remember as a child seeing my dad work all the time seven days a week for what. I had figured that if you weren’t a high roller making a lot of money why play the game. We never had a lot of money as a family so I have never fully committed to life and have identified with struggle. As a result I have created a life where there is only just enough money.
Through the work of Universal Medicine and the presentations of Serge Benhayon I am gaining clarity of how I have lived and that it starts with me taking care if myself. Not just feeding and cleaning my body but really paying attention to how my body feels. This is the first place to start and from there life grows. I have a long way to go still but I can feel how my life is developing in strength and quality.
Thanks for sharing Daniel “I had figured that if you weren’t a high roller making a lot of money why play the game.” This is so cool because there actually is a massive game being played out there, the rich and the poor and identifying with one or the other. If it is work not for true purpose than it will never be fulfilling. “Not just feeding and cleaning my body but really paying attention to how my body feels. This is the first place to start and from there life grows. I have a long way to go still but I can feel how my life is developing in strength and quality” well said, that is wonderful.
I was talking with a friend yesterday and he shared with me that in the city where we live in, it is rarer than rare that anyone would really enjoy their jobs. In his words, a job is something we just do, and never something we truly enjoy. Could it be that we do not enjoy or commit to our work, because we are not fully there to enjoy it? And why would we not want to be fully there in our work in the first place? What if, like as you have lived Donna, we see that commiting to work is actually a commitment to re-connecting with ourselves and to life? And that this re-connection is something truly joyful and beautiful, we just have to get past the initial resistance and discomfort, to discover something truly amazing—the deep preciousness of our beautiful self. Donna thank you for sharing you in this blog!
Great comment. It’s like we divide up life into sections where we can enjoy ourselves and life or not, yet what if there are no divisions in life and it’s all simply about being connected to ourselves and engaging with life fully no matter where we are or what we are doing? It makes life really simple to just take away all the labels (work life/home life/play time) and make it about connection and commitment to serve the all.
I really enjoyed your words Donna, particularly, “I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!”
What a fabulous way to view work. I see your article being of great assistance to job agency employees and their clients.
Yes I agree rodharvey, you have just inspired me to contact one of them and see if they will include my ‘article’ / blog in their next newsletter. Its brings home the commitment we need for ourselves and others.
Yes Rod! 😀 WE are the important part. Without the joy of us there is nothing that makes work fun and evolving.
Rod I agree that that line is a mighty powerful line. I have just had the revelation in my life that I have been regarding certain jobs as higher up the ladder for what they are able to bring to humanity and yet if the truth be told that is a completely false belief as we are each an equal slice of the divine and that slice is an equal slice regardless of the setting. No one’s slice can be a bigger slice just because of it’s environment.
I love how you refer to the challenges in life or the stop moments being opportunities for growth and development of ourselves if we allow ourselves to connect with what the learning is all about. I feel that I am going through a period of time presently where I want to deepen my relationship with myself and the care, worth, nurturing and love I hold myself in.
Donna your blog beautifully highlights how when we are truly caring and committed to ourselves, everything in our lives start to blossom.
Thank you Donna for this blog I have found it very insightful and helpful to hear your story, and how committing to work links with self-worth and connecting to a deeper sense of you. It helps in opening up the whole area of working and our relationship to that, something I am exploring at the moment.
Very inspiring to read Donna, your willingness and dedication to your own true healing is very much felt. A STOP such as yours does give us an opportunity to re-evaluate how we have been living and our relationship with ourselves, and it is clear you have gone from strength to strength in the truest sense.
Wow Donna. What an amazing transformation knowing the commitment to work that you have now. Truly amazing, Thank you for what you’ve shared.
Wow Donna, what I can feel in this sharing is the development of the deep understanding that our relationship with ourselves is the key. We are responsible for ourselves – every bit of ourselves and you have illustrated this beautifully here. I can so relate to handing your life over to some one else too and letting them ‘run the show’. Thank you
Bernadette you have just helped me to deepen my understanding of the subject of commitment to anything by bringing it back to ‘relationship with self’. The scenery can keep changing, maybe it’s work in front of me, or family or friends but it is my relationship with myself that remains constant and which then effects my relationship with everything else. So now I understand that because I have been cruising along at work, not putting much effort in, I have therefore been cruising along with myself, also not putting much effort into me !
Thank you Alexis, what I am learning is that everything, absolutely everything is a reflection. When I commit to deepening my relationship with myself, inevitably in the next few hours, my patterns and areas where I need to develop, so show up like beacons! Support is always there when I make a true commitment to myself! Extending this conversation has offered support to this too!
Hi bernadetteglass, I think we do this handing over from children. When we are afraid and don’t know how to handle something, if someone steps in to do things for us then we never truly learn confidence to do things. We also learn that someone (the person who kept doing things for us) doesn’t think we can cope and perhaps gets recognition and satisfaction from doing things for us and so the game goes on. It is easier to let someone just take over.
Spot on Lucy – you have summed up my experience. It is truly crippling for a child not to be held and supported in their learning about life – education, social, self etc. I can still feel the pattern in me to ‘bail out and hand over’ when I feel pressure or possible negative criticism. Thank you for deepening this awareness Lucy Dahill.
Thanks for sharing this Donna. It’s great how if we truly commit in one area of our life it can’t but help us commit deeper in all other areas of our life.
Absolutely Fiona, commitment in one area becomes commitment in all areas, as that commitment starts with ourselves first and we take that to all….
I love what you have written here Karoline. It says it all and makes it very tangible where to start the process of commitment to life. Just start in one area and let it expand.
It is true I have noticed this too Donna “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” the two definitely go hand in hand and things naturally begin to open up at work without me having to do anything the more I commit to myself, my work and life.
Great Blog Donna. In the comment – ‘As independent as I looked on the outside to everyone else, I was forever happy to hand my life over to someone else – usually a boyfriend/my husband – and then just become a chameleon and adapt to their way of life’, I felt a real ‘Ouch’ for that is exactly the way I lived. It wasn’t until I found myself single parenting that I realised I had no clue as to who I was and asked myself for the first time – Who am I?. Committing to being ME first, and then bringing whoever I am, to whatever I do with a whole lot of ME in it’….is what it’s about. Very powerful and truth-full. Thank you for sharing. Another layer for me has been exposed.
Donna when I read the same line that ch1956 quoted about handing life over to someone else it bought up for me that I have handed over my finances totally to my partner. A great esoteric practitioner pointed out to me recently that money is tied in closely to the flow of our ‘life force’ and that by ignoring this whole topic I am guaranteeing that I stay capped. I have no interest currently with finances but do have a commitment to myself and so will use that commitment to learn about my financial situation and play an equal role in the management of our finances.
That is great Alexis, it is lovely to read your openness about how you are building this learning and experimenting making the learning all yours. This blog can be applied to so many different areas but all paths end in a commitment to life.
That’s beautiful Alexis ‘i have no interest currently with finances but do have a commitment to myself and so will use that commitment to learn about my financial situation’. It has been the same for me, as i deepen my commitment to me first, then i started to look at my finances and how i was using money, whether it was capping me or was supporting me…it was a very revealing time and i am still developing the finance front…but it is definitely changing towards expansion.
“the same dedication was not there for myself and my life first (which included having a job) and therefore I was not truly there for my family either.” Absolutely Donna, because when we’re not committed we’re not there for our true family – humanity.
Yes Joseph, commitment to ourselves becomes bigger than we realise, it becomes commitment to humanity, to life…simply by deepening our commitment to ourselves and living this in life.
Yes Joseph, when we don’t commit to ourselves we are not committing to anything or anybody. On realising this truth one can ONLY choose comittment.
Thank you for sharing your story Donna, your insights are very valuable and which I will ponder on as I am exploring these issues currently. It feels like there will be a part 2 of this blog 🙂
Absolutely emmadanchin – as the next part of me to explore, and I am currently doing this, is to find a rhythm and flow in my day that keeps brining me back to my gentle nature and truly connecting with others more deeply. So watch this space!
A beautiful sharing Donna…the loving care you have given yourself clearly comes through in your writing. What amazing transformations occur when we take responsibility for ourselves and our lives – very inspiring, thank you.
In the western way of life it is hard to commit to life without committing to work as well but if you don’t need to ‘keep up with the Jones’s, stay at home Mums have a lot going for them especially for the children. It was the tradition for a long time and children can gain many benefits from it, perhaps the reflection that life is not about money and you don’t need to keep up with your neighbours.
Donna I have a very similar story to yours in that I had zero commitment to life. I have moved and had more jobs than many people would have in their lifetime, I would never settle somewhere and just keep moving. Through the support of Universal Medicine, Universal Medicine Practitioners, Sacred Esoteric Healing modalities and making choices that were more self-loving and self-caring I have completely turned my life around. For me work used to be a drudgery, not a joy and not something I truly enjoyed, I would count down the hours to the end of the day and count down the days to the weekend. However, through committing to life I found exactly the same as you in that my work actually SUPPORTED me. From here I ended up loving my job, connecting with others more, having a routine and rhythm in my day that supported my body to the point where I felt it become a lot clearer and stronger (something I have never experienced before). Through this commitment my job has changed to something I now really love and feels very purposeful, something that I should have done a long time ago but never went with the original impulse I had when I was a teenager. I used to run miles at the word commitment but now I am embracing it more and more.
Having also known Vicky for many years I fully endorse what you say Mary. The changes you have made, Vicky, are an inspiration for us all and a living example of how we can turn our lives around if we so choose. Thank you for sharing.
Great post Donna. I can totally appreciate what it feels like to be back working after a stint of not working much at all. I had an ‘inbetween jobs’ phase for a year whilst also dealing with a big break up, so I’d convinced myself I was in no real state to get another job. In hindsight, having a regular job to go to would have really supported me in getting back into the world, rather than shrivel up in my withdrawn depressed black hole. When I did finally pull myself together and got some steady work, it was amazing how good it felt. I had purpose, somewhere to be, people to interact with. And it didn’t matter that it was boring in the beginning, it got me out and back into society. From there I felt more energy to look after myself and support myself with my new weekly schedule. For the first time in my life, I’m approaching work as somethng I choose to do, as opposed to have to, even though the reality is that it’s necessary. My whole perspective has changed, and my new attitude has really helped with not falling into the drama of : Monday-itis, Hump day and Fri-yay!
Beautifully said Elodie! Its not only a commitment to ourselves but a responsibility we have for our communities. Taking away all that stigma of the Monday-itis, Hump-day and Fri-yay feels amazing – its like there is no beginning and no end.
I have connected to myself more and have found that I actually enjoy going to work, connecting with people and being with me in my work. I now actually don’t look forward to the weekends as I loose my rhythm. Something I need to work on so there is no beginning or end like you said.
Thank you Elodie. Being engaged with work helps to establish a rhythm and foundation. It can provide purpose and an opportunity to engage with the world and be part of it. I have also found work to offer an amazing reflection of what is going on for me in my home life, with the same issues coming up in both areas. Hmmmm perhaps there is a common denominator there???
Thank you for sharing Elodie – this is really helpful for me for where I’m at, at the moment.
Donna, I love your sharing here of your growth in self-worth and commitment to life. It is amazing how we so often need these big stop moments in life that force us to look at how we are living, to wake us up to what we need to be doing to contribute to this world and through this, to our own evolution. You have now obviously thrown yourself wholeheartedly into your commitment to yourself and your life. What a great way you started, by offering to volunteer at the clinic to gain experience, no wonder they then later offered you the job of receptionist. The only way we can grow is to get out there and be out in the world. Good for you, a wonderful story!!
Donna, thank you for bringing the subject of work as important in the equation of healing yourself, along with self care and self love. How beautifully these things fit together and support each other. It wasn’t until I came across Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that I became aware of how crucially important our commitment to work is. We were designed to work, to contribute to our society . . . and a life that sidles around this is not really a healthy one. Thank you for sharing your inspiring story!
When suffering from lack of self worth it is fascinating how we can retreat into ourselves, living with ideals or illusions of how we want life to be but disillusioned by ourselves and life to the point of not truly wanting to participate in it or receive the lessons offered from living it in full. It is gorgeous to read of your reconnection to the beauty that lies within and how that ignites the spark to want to shine your light in the world wherever it is needed to then reflect to others the power of committing to yourself first and then to living you in it.
You made a wonderfully supportive choice to commit to your life in a way that was right for you and that is beautiful. Thank you Donna for walking your own path back to you.
Donna, I love what you have shared here. I too grew up thinking that once a woman has kids then the normal thing is to stay home and care for the kids – and this can be a form of giving up on self if it comes from a lack of self worth or self care rather than that being what is actually needed. I found taking on work incredibly rewarding, and as you have shared too, the growth I have experienced has been tremendous! I have never been one to be ‘career driven’ so to speak, yet today I find myself working many hours beyond what I would ever have imagined myself to do and feeling amazing for it. These changes and accepting myself as working where needed have also come about with the support of the esoteric modalities and healing sessions. But what I particularly appreciate about your sharing, Donna, is how you talked about it being your lack of self worth and lack of self care at the time, that was holding you back from commitment to work and life in general – this is a very revealing observation that I feel I can take home and reflect on too. Thank you for your blog.
Wow, this really turns the driving force career women have on it’s head! It also shows the other end of the scale where we can be tipped into thinking it’s not about getting a job, life is about dedication to family and children. Your article Donna also makes me understand the mystery I have had of late when interviewing people for positions vacant. The overwhelming sense is that most people are turning up for an interview but don’t really want to work. I also have another job where I work in a large organisation where people are employed in a secure position but in effect they don’t want to work and don’t want to be there. It is astounding how many people live like this. Could it be that this is a reflection of our commitment to life? I quit a job once because it was all too much and I didn’t feel like I had a voice to express how I felt. It was actually with the support of Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and couple of dear friends who I worked with that I was encouraged to return to the same company. Returning however meant I had to take a good look at how I was living and how committed I was to living and breathing the real powerful me.
This is beautiful, Donna. I love how you share that it was in building your self-worth that you were then able to commit to employment.
Well done Donna … Not because you got the ‘job’ as suggested but because of your commitment to ‘ growing you’ and the rest followed!
What a great and important topic Donna and so inspiring to read your journey with work and to truly see what commitment to life really is and all it brings to us deeply inside. I love this great understanding, responsibility and self worth that comes from having a job and valuing oneself and one’s inner beauty.
Donna, I love this blog. What you share that it’s not about the job but about the commitment to you and your self care and then the job is an outward expression of that is so different from how we can often approach life making it about drive and getting things done, but not about being us there; and when we do make it about being us there, it’s different and we get to see and feel how we make a difference in every little thing, and everything is an expression of us, work included.
Your transformation of living a life of commitment to yourself and being out in the world is inspiring. I know this yo-yo way of working well and was just sharing with a friend yesterday how looking back over my working life since having children I always had an exit strategy or way out if things got too hard. I continued working from when they were young but there was always a dragging feeling of ‘I have to’ and ‘I wish I could just stay at home’. I can see how much I used my children to keep me busy and how I could create being ‘flat out busy’ everyday but not really achieving much.
It wasn’t until Universal Medicine that I appreciated what committing to life was really all about. And seeing what it wasn’t, like titles, keeping up appearances, looking outside of myself etc. I now work full-time in a paid job and part-time volunteering, easily doing a 15 hour day and with a responsibility of how I live outside of this time that impacts everything I’m doing and everyone around me. This is truly unheard of at large in society and I so thank Universal Medicine for presenting and living another way.
Thank you for sharing Donna, I love that you see commitment to work as an extension of commitment to your life in general. That is such a refreshing change. Commitment and dedication to work usually means it is at the expense of family life or other things, like we paint ourselves into a corner denying ourselves, and only focused on work. This does not make for a healthy well-adjusted person. (I should know, I’ve done that) this brings me to another gem that you wrote about; commitment to life at home, food, sleep rhythms, playfully being you, this is all a part of a solid foundation to support a life of vitality.
I have done it too Bernard and Donna, with the work/life balance being completely out of balance. It does not make for a healthy or vital life at all. Commitment to every aspect of my life is when I feel most vital, food, sleep, exercise, work, family, etc.
There can be so many beliefs that hold us back from truly giving ourselves to life. Whilst I have always worked, I went through a period where my aim was to work as little as possible. I thought that was freedom as then I could do what I wanted. But the financial stress was massive and I had no freedom to do anything as I had no money. I began seeing an esoteric practitioner and she said to me that if I wanted more money – work more. I resisted for a few moments but it was such common sense and I realised how ridiculous I had been. Initially the focus was to get me out of my financial situation but it didn’t take long before all areas of my life improved. There is much to be said for working. Not-working has some very drastic side effects.
I really love your story Donna about your re-igniting your commitment to you and to life. I can feel that you have done this in your own time and pace which it needs to be otherwise it could feel forced and not your own. I love the sense of discovery in which you write about yourself and returning to work.
Work is deeply healing – if offers weekly structure around which we can build a rhythm and financial support but you really nailed it Donna in that commitment to work is a confirmation of our self worth! Above and beyond this the world then gets all of who you (and we) are.
Donna, this is great to read because I have been on a similar journey with work and commitment, only choosing to see that there are two choices ~ either super over drive in a career, or complete withdrawal from work all together ~ neither of which is actually a commitment to life. You have shown us that there is another way, in just being ourselves and bringing that to the work place, wherever it may be.
‘This lack of commitment extended to the fact that I couldn’t commit to a job or regular work.’ I love how you wrote this – it really highlights for me how everything about what we do affects how we are somewhere else. Fantastic blog.
Donna, you have raised many important points that I am pondering on. I love the way that you realised that while you could be dedicated to many things in your life, if there was no dedication to yourself first, then it was all simply ‘window dressing’.
I have always had a deep commitment to work and having a job. I enjoy the routine and knowing that I am making a contribution to society and being financially reward in return, so being dedicated to having a job has never been an issue for me. Yet I realised there were areas of my life socially where I would withdraw or lack commitment, as I’d feel anxious about meeting new people or being more close/intimate with my friends and then make excuses not to go out or leave a social gathering early. By working on what was under this I have grown in confidence and feel much more rounded in my commitment to work and to people which has given me an appreciation for others and what they can share.
Donna thank you for sharing your development of commitment. I agree, how we feel about ourselves is the greatest commitment to make. As you say how this reflects in every aspect in life becomes simple when we bring all of us along.
Donna, I love your honest account of what you had chosen for your life. There are so many things like that in our lives that we choose to place in the, that’s not for me, or, I don’t need to go there basket and retreat from life in that choice because of what is running in our heads. I can feel the power of your choice to reconnect back with life and your gorgeous self. A very lovely sharing.
I remember as a teenager being told to get a job, and feeling really put out by it. Everything was being provided for me, why did I need to work as well? That was the attitude that I had towards work for a very long time. I would flit from job to job not putting any real effort into what I was doing. It was just seen as a means to get paid so I could fund my life outside of work.
That all changed about five or six years ago, when I realised that I had so much more to offer in my work and decided to dedicate myself to committing to my job and the work I am doing. In that time and with that commitment, I have gone from working on the shop floor in a little independent supermarket, to working at an international charity and managing a team.
An enormous key to being able to do this, was recognising my own worth and that I do have something to offer to the world. Practitioners of Universal Medicine techniques and the presentations by Serge Benhayon have been hugely helpful in being able to do this.
Your dedication and commitment to life now is gorgeous to read about Donna. Amazing how it will often take a serious stop in our lives to begin to first of all, notice that a change must be made and then take the necessary steps to do so. I love also how you sought out and accepted support and how Universal Medicine Practitioners and the modalities have been instrumental in your re engagement with life and people.
A STOP can come in many ways and I am having a stop at the moment – time off work… The first question was: “why, what is wrong with me?” It took me a while but I realized that it is an opportunity to reset my rhythm and start to live more from my stillness and then re-imprint everything step by step – what an amazing offering. And this truly allows me to go from strength to strength in my body exactly the way you are sharing here. So nothing wrong with me, everything is perfectly in place – I just need to accept that and make it my everyday life.
What a beautiful story you have to tell Donna. So many people have the struggle with work and knowing that it is extremely supportive not only financially but also for a sense of wellbeing and enhanced vitality is incredible. I can feel how much more purpose this supports people to have in life.
It’s amazing how much meaningful contribution to society (and thus to people) through work, actually matters to us. What one may choose to see merely as a means to an end is really so much more than this. Working to earn money is just one very small aspect of why we work. Thanks Donna.
“As long as I am being my playful self, live in a way at home that supports me with my daily rhythms, my food and time to connect to myself, then work/careers take care of themselves.” I needed to read this today. Thank you Donna. I’ll be back!
A great sharing Donna, about your development to love bringing all of you in the work you are doing and unfolding it through your self-caring choices during the day. What a completely different access than we learn it to be! It feels for me that committing to the place and the people, where I am needed, regardless of a possible comfort or benefit it brings, is the true door opener to be fulfilled, to be connected with oneself and the all in the great plan. I can not think about a better plan, than me being able to abandon to “the plan” that I can’t plan, but surrender to. So beautiful and in a way upside-down to what I have learned, that self-care and self-love are the key to live in expansion and aligned to the plan.
Thank you for this Donna, a timely read for myself. I can feel that while I am good at my job I feel there is a deeper level of care I could put into place and the first thing (or more the thing that has been following me all day) is communication and re-learning how to accept the support of others and not just be a ‘I know it all and can do all’ person. With giving the perception of knowing it all people don’t tell me things and simply assume, this leads to stress in myself as plans change and I am out of the loop. Initially I could barely work as it meant having to work with others but the more I understand myself and feel that there is nothing wrong with me this understanding is there when I am with others. And if I am working stressed out not understanding what’s going on, how are those I work with feeling, who may not hold onto a ‘knowing it all’ image as strongly as I have?
So inspiring to read your blog Donna. I have never really committed to work so therefore never really committed to life nor to myself. I was just feeling this week how I absolutely love to work and even if I have to work 7 days a week, that this would be fine too. What a change! I have been taken care off financially for a long time and now I have to do it on my own and this feels so empowering. To be honest, I feel I am really growing up, and like you say, the more I grow, the more everything around me grows!
When we are fully committed to who we are on the inside it all really unfolds as it is supposed to on the outside. Donna, what you have shared clearly shows us this. Gorgeous!
This is amazing Donna, “In growing me, I automatically grow my career without having to go into a driving force.” I found this too, it is not only about what I do but about bringing me into it that makes work a joyful thing to do.
I agree, Lieke. It seems so simple, doesn’t it? And something every child should be taught or made aware of in school. Start with you first.
Hi Donna, your sharing the benefits of work and how much it has supported your growth is brilliant. So many people give up on work and see that returning or even starting work is impossible, but you’ve shown here what IS possible.
What an amazing and honest sharing of your journey Donna. I love your preparedness to take the small steps that ultimately led to a job in which you grew from strength to strength. It’s often the case that once we commit to ourselves, commitment to work, and life often flows seamlessly.
There is no greater feeling in your body than to commit to life in full. It remains a commitment to Truth, to Love and to You which leaves an immense freedom and joy inside when it is lived in full.
I agree Josh, it is amazing beyond measure.
Serge Benhayon once said to me: ‘ you love working’ and I could feel everything inside say; YES. I love to work. In fact we all love to work, our bodies are made to work. The way we work and treat our bodies, can sometimes be a different story. For me this means letting go of working hard and allowing the flow, ease and joy of working.
Great point Monika, working does not have to be ‘hard’ or a push. It has taken some time for me to appreciate that I actually get more done when I stay with me and allow the flow, rather that with the pressure that is there when I leave myself in anyway to get the task done.
This is a great article Donna, and I definitely can relate to parts of it. I also found ways of spending hours at shopping centres looking for things I needed only to feel worse for wasting money. It was always a distraction trying to fill an emptiness. Commitment to life is so important. Thank you for sharing your story.
I absolutely relate to all you share here, Donna and it wasn’t until I started working again in a part time job after 11 years of hiding behind my children that on the first day I could feel how I had disempowered myself as a woman for so many years. Despite this I still found reasons not to commit fully and it is now after a serious illness that I am working full time as I value the support this gives me and my body as well as valuing what I have to offer.
Awesome sharing Donna, there is so much more to work than status and pay. When you know your value and appreciate what you bring to any situation then of course having a job, any job, is essential.
“I now know that there is no bottom or top of the ladder, it’s about committing to being ME first, then working in places that need my skills and expertise with a whole lot of ME in it!”
How liberating and empowering it is Donna when we know that the key to succeeding in life is not about our ranking in our profession, but bringing all of us in all that we do.
Thank you Donna Harris perfect blog for me to read today. This morning i did not want to go to one of my jobs looking after a lady with dementia. In the past i have been struggling a lot with the lack of commitment to work. This has gradually changing. An old pattern of me is to change my jobs regularly finding reasons that is better to change. Today I could observe again the want to stop this one job I do. I said to myself ‘no you will continue working there and deal with what is offered to you that you want avoid facing’. So I was able to connect more to that old lady (without perfection) but I could feel that we were able to have a loving connection again. Amazing!
This is a familiar story Janina. I too have changed jobs regularly in the past to try to feel better about myself – always blaming the job for how I felt at work and not taking responsibility for myself. It’s so true what you say though, if we take a moment to stop and feel that we are being offered an opportunity to deal with something we may be trying to avoid by changing jobs, we stop blaming others for how we feel and put a stop to the comfortable pattern of moving on when things get uncomfortable.
If we avoid or want to keep it comfortable we just keep on spinning around with the same issues and are not able to grow from what there is to experience and learn. And the most amazing thing for me was the more I committed to work the more I got reflected how amazing I am which I have avoided all my live in not working a lot . And I now understand holding back, withdrawing from life and not working is a trick of avoiding you own amazingness, power and potential to be expressed, to be felt and seen by yourself and others.
Great observation Janina. I can get really difficult to keep on trying to deny our awesomeness in the face of all the confirming reflections we see when we start to truly commit.
Great sharing Donna, the importance of committing to life in full, contributing to society and taking super solid care of yourself is a corner stone of the way of the livingness and further evidence that Universal Medicine is about encouraging people to ENGAGE in life and not avoid it.
This is inspiring to feel and see that there are so many people who are fully regaining a true commitment to people and life.
I agree Danielle, it’s deeply inspiring to feel this commitment in so many.
Great article Donna. Although I have always worked and felt the strong pull of having a job, I never fully appreciated the value in work and money until recently. I took my work for granted and thought that financially things would just “work themselves out” while I lived irresponsibly – this was reflected in my financial situation. Since understanding that looking after my money is a vital part of looking after myself, I have deepened my self-worth – as now I know that I am worth being financially secure and supported.
Beautiful sharing Donna. It´s exactly the other way round than what we normally think how it works – we don´t have to look for a better job, more clients etc. but to truly care for ourselves because we know that we are worth it. Then everything else is taken care of. Divinity at play. 🙂
Well said Katrin Schaeffer, when we take care of ourselves everything around us gets reflected from that point.
Beautiful read Donna. I’m re-learning how to work too and I’m finding it can be a challenge seemingly to be myself in the job I’m doing but I can now also see how my efforts towards just being me are paying off already as I’ve been less tired after a day’s work than I used to be and I enjoy all the facets of my work including the parts I used to resent doing.
That is a good point you make Joost Blom, if we are not our selves at a job, but ticking boxes or playing a role than we can feel really drained after a day of work. We often think it is the job draining us, but that is not the case. When we do not have a commitment to ourselves and therefore have no commitment to working we do not bring all of us to the job and tap in to other sources of “energy” like drive, coffee, numbing ourselves with foods and snacks or high sugar drinks. This is what drains us at the end of the day, not the job.
Love it, Joost. I know I’m a playful and loving guy, something I’ve really come to appreciate and enjoy in the past few years…and bringing that guy to work (or everywhere for that matter) is awesome for everyone.
This is beautiful Donna. Reading your blog I realised that for most of us we would view a job as something we need to do, we have to earn an income and unless we are born in a super wealthy family we all have to work. I wonder how many of us really appreciate the fact that working builds our commitment to life and supports us to grow, building confidence and making us look at issues we would often prefer to avoid. Really great, thank you.
Great point Caroline, appreciation for what is gained by working can not be underrated. It is easy to just put work down to something that we have to do, but it actually creates the foundation of our commitment to life. I agree it also assists us to look at issues we would prefer to avoid, while also highlighting whether we are working for purpose or for function.
Yes Jo, ‘whether we are working for purpose or for function’, when we start to live with commitment, we start to connect to purpose, which changes our whole perception towards our working life.
Great question Caroline. For so many of us we grow up being told that work is a ‘necessary evil’, a ‘means to an end’, that we should ‘work to live not live to work’. It becomes the ‘daily grind’ and we live only for our days off and our holidays. Life lived in this way is a life lived always ahead of ourselves, never present and certainly with no enjoyment of work. I am learning each day how commitment to work is foundational in our lives and as you say, how it builds commitment to life in general. Life without this commitment feel purposeless – I know this because that is how I lived for so many years. I committed to work just a few years ago and am now learning what Donna has so beautifully shared, that commitment without self-care is not true commitment, so this is what I am bringing into my life with greater consistency now.
Donna, what an awesomely honest blog about the power of self-care and commitment to self as a starting point for everything else we do, or are involved with in life!