I came across a remarkable quote the other day that stopped me right in my tracks.
“What you seek is seeking you.”
Rumi said that. Of course he did. How did that guy know basically everything?
The reason this quote hit me so hard was because 1) I know, in my bones and in my soul, that it is true.
And 2) I’d somehow forgotten that.
I’ve seen this play out in my personal life, in my friendships, in my romantic relationship.
Sometimes when we want something, we feel a certain desperation, a fear of somehow missing it if we’re not at the right place at the right time. And that can lead to clinging far too long to something that’s not quite right, or convincing yourself that what you have now is what you’ve been looking for, even if deep inside you know you yearn for more.
Fundamentally, that comes from a lack of trust. Trust in your own intuition, trust in the universe’s ability to provide, trust in the journey. When we operate from a lack mentality, looking at the things we want as something we need to constantly be actively pursuing, I think we take all the joy and pleasure out of the journey itself.
But what if Rumi was right? What if everything you are looking for is also looking for you? The partner that you can so clearly see in your mind’s eye and keep trying to find in date after date to no avail – what if they also have a clear picture of you and aren’t going to settle for anyone else until they find you? The friends you wish you could be surrounded by – the real, authentic people who like the things you like and share your values – don’t you think those friends want a friend like you too?
This makes sense to me even with states of mind or being. Sometimes, I feel that I am longing for clarity, or belonging, or peace, or joy. I am yearning for it and trying to force it into being, my mind racing with a list of all the tools and techniques that I know could help me get there. But the paradox is the more I try to mentally force it into place, the more it eludes me. It’s only when I relax and get quiet enough to hear the gentle intuitive nudges telling me what I truly need in that moment that I can finally settle into that state I’ve been craving all along.
I could be seeking clarity but spending every possible free moment busying myself with different tasks, or researching the topic ad nauseum, or trying to distract myself from the discomfort of not knowing. But if I pause and really pay attention, I can feel that what my body and mind are really craving is more space, more quiet. So I turn off my phone and computer, and head outside for a walk, allowing my mind to clear and the dust to settle. Sometimes all it takes is just sitting and doing nothing for a few minutes. And suddenly, there’s that clarity I was seeking. It was just waiting for me to notice that it was seeking me too.
How beautifully liberating it would be if we just trust in this simple truth, that what we seek also seeks us. That, yes, it’s important to take action and keep moving forward but that even when you do need to slow down or take a breath, momentum is still happening because you are not the only one working to make that dream happen.
I think remembering this can help make the journey, or the waiting period, feel so much easier and sweeter. It’s not all up to us – there are larger forces at play working in our favor and propelling us toward what we want. What would you do differently if you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this were true?
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