Are you a servant or a slave?

We’ve been trained to be slaves to our desires…

THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING AROUND HERE THESE DAYS!!!

Ohmigosh! Today is the last day of the first Seasons of Success launch and I am stoked to welcome the brave goal warriors who are saying, ‘Yes!’ to building with the end in mind.

(you can see it here…)

You know. I’ve been talking about it for months… how the Divine has given me this task to create something truly useful that will make people’s lives better.

And it will. I know that. 

The systems I’m teaching in PLANT and HARVEST are the same systems I’ve been using for YEARS to create a life and business I love – and to help my clients do the same. 

They work.

But, there’s something else I know…

… this isn’t for everyone. A lot of people won’t get it. It won’t feel right because it isn’t a quick fix. It isn’t sexy. At least not the way that we’ve been trained to think of sexy.

(want to know what I think is sexy? check out the new teaching video on creating a millionaire mindset)

We Live in a Quickie Culture

And the truth is, we live in a flash and shine and quickie culture.

Most of us are just scraping through life, looking for our next fix. Whether it’s shopping or sex or drama on TV or celebrity gossip or a spiritual high, we’ve been trained to be addicts.

We’ve been trained to get our fix – to seek it out and consume it. Fast.

We’ve also been led to believe that if we can’t get it NOW, then it’s not worth it. That if it takes time, then it’s not right. It’s called a ‘quick fix’ and the marketplace is dominated by these offers.

‘Get Your Car NOW – with No Interest Down’

‘Find Your Angel Friend NOW – with My Quick Card Reading’

‘Change Your Life NOW – with These 3 Easy Steps’

Whether it’s emotional, spiritual, mental, or physical, we expect to be able to get our needs met NOW. And if we can’t get our quick fix – and that feel good hit of addictive dopamine – then we feel dejected, depressed, and let down.

And we are. We’re literally coming off the high of constant consumerism.

Here’s the truth:

We’ve become slaves. 

Slaves to our appetites. To our desires. 

Slaves to the chase of wealth and fortune and fame and love and lust and…

… well, all the things that drive us to want more, better NOW. All the things that give us that dopamine surge.

Over the last 10 months – since last September – God has been doing a B-I-G work in me.

He’s been working with me to release my food addictions and my money addictions and my comfort addiction and my anger addiction and my addiction to consumerism.

It’s been tough.

I’ve fought back. I’ve resisted. I like my quick fixes quite a lot, thank you very much.

I’ve raged. Failed. I’ve fallen off the wagon too many times to count.

But…

… but through it all, I’ve kept my eyes on the prize. 

When I’ve been craving a hit of flour and sugar so bad that I wanted to weep – or tear through the walls to get it – I kept my eyes on the prize.

What’s the prize?

I want to be used.

More than I want to be a user. More than I want the quick fix.

I want to be a servant of the Divine.

Not a slave.

A co-creator. A steward.

Y’see, this is what culture doesn’t teach us.

What it can’t teach us because it doesn’t even know it exists… because culture is lost in darkness. It’s driven by greed and lust and fear. Because that sells.

What culture doesn’t teach us is that there’s an entirely different way to live.

A way of life based on slow and steady, discipline and focus, surrender and stewardship.

What culture doesn’t teach us is that when we step into this other way of living, we step into freedom.

We PLAN our future. Instead of grasping for the next fix. 

We GROW into the person we’re meant to BE. Instead of blinding ourselves to the reality of what is really happening.

We HARVEST what has happened – the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ – and we learn from it. Instead of running straight to the next ‘fix’, we pause. We gather the wisdom and evaluate where we are and where we’ve been and how where we’ve been has brought us to where we are.

We consider where we are and where we know we could be and we PIVOT. Instead of hitting our heads against the same wall, again and again.

We consciously create the change that we want to see.

We create REAL change.

And, when we’re tired. When we’re exhausted. When we’ve been running too hard chasing after what the world tells us is right, well, then, we REPLENISH. 

We let ourselves rest. We build structures and systems to nurture us on an ongoing basis so that we can continue to show up boldly and shine in the world.

I’m here to tell you that there is
a different way to live.

An intentional, guided, joy-full life of creation, stewardship, and trust.

A life where, instead of living under the fearful illusion that you must control everything and everyone all the time, you can let life flow and trust that it is going where it needs to.

A way of living where you flow with the energies of creation – the light and the dark – the day and the night.

This is why I’m so passionate about the work we’re doing in The Seasons of Success. This is why I’m staying focused on the nudges and this is why I’m allowing myself to be guided…

… because of freedom.

Stepping into Freedom

Real freedom.

Yeah, slow and steady might not sound sexy. In fact, I’ll even concede that it often feels as boring as can be. 

But, seeing PROGRESS toward my dreams. Real progress. Real change.

That’s totally worth it.

Are you in? It’s going to be epic.

Let me know what shifted for you today. What are you seeing that you didn’t see before? Are you feeling a shift?

You’re here to change the world and we’re here to help.

You’ve got this.

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Vanessa Long

Vanessa Long is creator of the Seasons of Success and author of Discovering Your Passionate Purpose. Focused on providing straight-forward, no b.s. solutions, strategies, and support to move you from where you are to where you yearn to be. It’s time to tap into your purpose and build a life that expresses all of who you were designed to be.