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I've never resonated with the hustle culture. This whole idea that work needs to be hard and that things gained must be hard-fought just doesn’t sit right with me. There has to be another way and, in my experience, there is! Living in alignment, in our truth, will tap us into the flow of life.
This is not a popular viewpoint though. Society conditions us in a very particular way. To be cogs in a machine and feed into a system that works for very few people. According to our hustle culture, we must work hard, fight our way to the top, and stomp on people along the way.
I too fell into this trap of hustle, network, make it happen. It burned me out, it literally made me sick. I was drinking too much in order to ease the discomfort of networking events. I was numbing myself on the weekends just to forget about the soul-crushing job I had to go back to on Monday, all in the name of working my way up in the company.
Living out of alignment...
I was not living in my truth and in alignment with what was right for me. The thing about living out of alignment is that it will eventually catch up to you and the universe will try to steer you back onto course. It may look like a lay-off, an illness, or even a global pandemic. Something will shake you awake until you face the fact that this life does not work for you. These messages will begin in whispers and get progressively louder the longer it goes on. If you learn to tune into the subtle messages, you won't have to wait until it's a shout and something major happens.
How did we get here?
The hustle culture is rooted in masculine energy. This type of energy is associated with action, it is assertive, bold, and confident. All of these traits are looked upon favorably in our society and such a person might be labeled a 'winner' or a 'go-getter'. In general, our society is ruled entirely by masculine energy, and, while there is a time and a place for this, too much leads to an imbalance, such as we are seeing now.
The patriarchy rules and has for centuries. We are seeing the effects of that imbalance now, through the hierarchy of power, domination of animals, exploitation of the environment, and creation of war. We cannot continue on this path much longer, this extreme imbalance will be the cause of our destruction, but it doesn't have to be that way. There is another way to operate, through balancing the feminine...finding the flow.
Finding the flow
We were all put here for a reason. There is a purpose planted into each one of us that we were meant to carry out on this earth. This is your highest purpose or your dharma. The universe, God, or whatever you want to call the higher power, wants you to fulfill this purpose and is working with you to guide you there. But, sometimes you just gotta let go and be led.
As humans, we have an ego. It is the ego that feels the need to plan and control everything. When we are led by the ego, we feel like we know what's best. However, when we do this we are fighting against the thing that will take us to where we are truly meant to be. Sometimes this doesn't always make sense or look the way we think it should look. But, when we surrender to the flow of the universe and TRUST, we will begin to see beautiful synchronicities unfold.
The universe is abundant
Embedded into this hustle culture is an underlying belief of lack, that there is only so much to go around. This leads to unhealthy competition, dishonesty, and theft. When lack is the underlying belief, this means that any success of a peer is a loss for us. Because of this, we don't celebrate the successes of others, which breeds a competitive and cutthroat environment.
We need to remember that the universe is abundant. It provides all we need and more. Adopt this mindset and you will begin to see the blessings and opportunities flow into your life naturally. When these things appear, extend gratitude for what you have and where you are in each and every moment.