the quest for more, bigger, faster

I recently received an email whose subject line both drew me in and gave me pause at the same time. I wouldn’t have flinched at it a few years ago. But after you move outside of the culture in which you are raised, you gain an ability to see it in a more discriminating and discerning light. Excesses that were not previously clear become more glaring.

The subject line was this: “How to Reach the 'Tipping Point' on Your Destiny Path & Manifest Something BIG in 9 Months by Becoming a Master Creator.”

This email came from an organization I admire. It’s a company that offers a multitude of online educational opportunities related to self-actualization, discovering life purpose, and spirituality and meditation. So, I’m most definitely in their “target market.” I even took one of their online courses a few years ago and had a very positive experience with it.

However, something about this subject line left me unsettled. It could be simply that I’m finding myself a bit more wary of the American propaganda machine these days, if for no other reason than I haven’t found that it is something to be missed. I’ve said it before, but it is worth repeating: I have experienced so much abundance and true wealth living in Mexico, that my heart is regularly full. So, seeing the constant American quest for More, Bigger, and Faster starts to feel almost bemusing. My current life experience is reinforcing the reality most of us already know ~ more, bigger, and faster are completely disconnected from true fulfillment.

Now, when I see a subject line like the one above, I’m left asking, “Why do I need that?” My current state of being is one that is quite content and full of life on a day to day basis. This doesn’t mean that I don’t still have my own list of things I want to manifest. I have plenty of unmet goals and ambitions that I desire to work towards. However, the line separating them from true life fulfillment is more clear here than in the States. While I am committed to living out my destiny path, I am finding myself more detached from the results.

I think this different perspective stems, at least in part, from the fact that Mexican culture places a strong emphasis on experiencing life as a journey, whereas American culture tends to fixate solely on results and unachieved goals. The problem in being fixated on what is not yet manifested is that not only are you divorced from the here and now, but speed becomes paramount. If you relook at the above subject line, you can see that the overall wording and tone is asking me to attach to outcome again. No matter how well-intentioned the email is, the bottom line is that my soul is being instructed to stay in discontentment mode and attach to something that is not yet realized.

This seems quite opposite of the lessons I’m learning in Mexico. When you are surrounded by a culture that emphasizes being on a journey instead of obsessing over the destination, your soul benefits in some pretty great ways. You are still free to achieve. It’s just that your relationship with achieving will feel qualitatively different. When you are immersed in a shared cultural recognition that what matters most in life, things like connection to others, a sense of purpose, meaningful work, and celebration, etc. is already taken care of, you are freed up to establish a healthier relationship with whatever outcomes you may be moving towards. Restlessness takes a back seat to appreciation, and you become more deeply grounded in the here and now.

So, whether you are manifesting your goals in two weeks, nine months, or next year, I think we would all do well to question how our souls are faring in the midst of “more, bigger, and faster.” Lightening fast progress is not everything, after all. A little bit of discernment can help us recognize what our souls are chasing and why.