Last Thursday I had to take sick time off of work because I exhausted myself. I had a terrible stomachache, I felt dizzy, and my body’s muscles were severely fatigued, to the extent where I couldn’t even get myself out of bed. I ended up sleeping my way through most of the day and wondering, “What the heck did I do to myself?”

Thinking about the situation when I was back to my feet, I could see clearly what was going on. For the past three months I struggled finding balance between working a full-time job, maintaining and expanding this website, as well as having some time off to relax and just be. In truth, I gave myself absolutely no time for the latter, and spent day and night working on an endless to-do list, turning me into a human machine that had no feelings or desires.

You Don’t Need to Work Hard

Three months of self-masochism later my body decided to revolt, and forced me to stay home and get some rest. It took a dramatic event like this to help me realise that all the struggle and hard work I was putting in every day was entirely unnecessary. Throughout these past three months I worked ceaselessly on the basis of following Divine Guidance, and showing up for my Life’s Purpose. In reality, by exhausting myself I was not simply ignoring Divine Guidance, but I was acting against it.

The belief in struggle and hard work is rooted in the ego’s perverse stance towards life. The ego believes in our separation from God, and encourages taking action from the fear that stems out of this separation. In other words, the ego believes that if we aren’t part of God then we are not guided, and we need to make up for the lack of guidance by putting in extra work and struggle, to make things happen.

On the other hand, the Divine Self believes in ease, effortlessness, and taking guided action. Our Divine Self understands our interconnectedness with God and trusts that we will be guided to the right people, circumstances, and opportunities that will help us thrive on our Life Purpose. As a result, when we are acting and living through our Divine Self, we rest in its Divine assurance that all is well, we take plenty of time to rest and have fun, and take action when we are called to it.

The Universe if Working For You

While I was in bed, hurting and trying to make sense of what I was going through, I heard the following prayer. Let’s affirm it together and promise to take care of ourselves:

The universe is working for me. All I need to do is trust this, and surrender my desire to control my life. I now understand that being in control is my ability to be one with God and bask in His knowingness of what, when, and how things will take place. I understand that being in control means caring about my well being, giving myself plenty of time to rest, socialize and have fun, and taking action when I’m guided to. And I promise myself that I will do so.

Now, I want to hear from you. Are you a workaholic? What can you do to relieve yourself from stress and take more time to rest and play?