{"id":16414,"date":"2018-01-18T09:18:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T17:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=16414"},"modified":"2018-01-18T09:19:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T17:19:17","slug":"turning-inside-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/01\/turning-inside-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning Inside Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I am beginning to get it. The ultimate ingredient for really getting things off my mind is to nurture the part of me that lives from the inside out.<\/p>\n

Now, when I say, \u201cI\u2019m beginning to get it,\u201d please keep in mind that I\u2019ve been \u201cbeginning to get it\u201d for at least 50 years, consciously, and perhaps for millennia before that. It seems the nature of this earthly challenge is to recognize the value of focus on the inner life amidst an outer one that is so easily all-encompassing, on so many levels. It indeed makes no sense to \u201cgo inside\u201d if the physical, mental, and emotional senses are what I\u2019m hooked into. But there is a \u201cbeyond that\u201d or \u201cbeneath that\u201d or \u201cinside that\u201d which I have experienced as very real\u2014more so in impact and energy than any of what I think, feel, and touch.<\/p>\n

Lest you think this is only an essay about the spiritual life, I can assure you I have found very practical reasons to operate on the working hypothesis that there\u2019s more of me to me than I know. One way is in trying to resolve a paradox that I have grappled with for many years\u2014how much do I \u201clet things happen\u201d as they might, trusting that the world and my life in it are flowing onward in a natural way; and how much should I set my own goals and objectives, and march toward them with conscious determination and effectiveness?<\/p>\n

I have discovered there is no answer to that, as long as I have that question. And I only have that question when I have been ignoring my own inner quiet place for too long. When I let go of my attention on this world and let myself drop back into the subtler and larger places I have access to, in meditation, contemplation, and simple reflective moments, the questions fade away. I find myself in the paradoxical state of surrendering to a larger flow and consciously creating my next directions and outcomes. It\u2019s like I\u2019m being breathed, but I\u2019m also what\u2019s breathing.<\/p>\n

There are times for me to let things just show up, and respond. There are times for me to make it up and make it happen. I just need to pay attention to the music. And when I do, it\u2019s all the same dance.<\/p>\n

\u2013David Allen<\/p>\n

This essay appeared in David Allen\u2019s Productive Living Newsletter.\u00a0Subscribe for free here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am beginning to get it. The ultimate ingredient for really getting things off my mind is to nurture the part of me that lives from the inside out. Now, when I say, \u201cI\u2019m beginning to get it,\u201d please keep in mind that I\u2019ve been \u201cbeginning to get it\u201d for at least 50 years, consciously, … <\/p>\n