I've had the song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" stuck in my head for a few weeks now. You know the one Olivia Newton John's character Sandy belts out in the movie Grease? Yeah, that one, on repeat.
It's the word devotion that hooks me. One of my all time favorite words, devotion is confident, sure and deep. You can't be devoted to something, or to someone like in Sandy's case, and not be fully committed. Devotion is a both feet in, no looking back, thoughts are on replay, nothing stands in your way kind of word.
We can be devoted to the loves of our lives, our health, hair care products...whatever we choose. Devotion holds no prejudice; it doesn't judge what we are devoted to. We get to decide where our devotion flows, which can be rewarding or depleting, based on where we take it.
Outside of people and things, we are also devoted to thoughts. And the thoughts we think most of the time become our beliefs.
If we're devoted to feeling restrictive, to having dramatic situations, bad relationships or negative thoughts, the devotion pays us back by bringing more of the same to our lives. When we are devoted to feeling expansive, courageous and loving, then devotion brings that back to us too. (I vote for the latter.)
Sandy's devotion in the movie Grease paid off - after she wailed about her sadness she chose to transform herself into what she wanted to be to get what she wanted - her main squeeze Danny. In Sandy's case this involved leather pants, really high heels and confidence that her love would shape up.
It is said that we think anywhere between 50,000 - 70,000 thoughts per day. That's a lot of opportunities to guide what we are devoted to. We can use these thoughts to cultivate what we really desire- love, kindness, ease, financial freedom, a cute guy with a nice swing in his hips - or we can use them to cultivate what we don't want. Our devotion is totally devoted to what we think about most.
Which means sometimes our devotion may lay at the foot of what we don't want. It can keep us tethered to what is and not believing in the possibilities of what we truly desire. If our thoughts go there, we stay there.
If we find ourselves on the wrong side of what we want we can decide to turn the boat around, or put on leather pants, however you want to approach it.
We can allow our thoughts to be beneficial, it just takes some awareness, practice and patience.
Get to Know Your Devotions
What are you hopelessly devoted to? Looking at this with clear awareness means if you don't like what you see, you can change it. That's a really powerful statement in a world that tells us what you see is what you get. What you see is what you believe you'll get. Every time.
This is where practice comes in. Build momentum behind what you really want to be devoted to by practicing the thought of what you really want.
Now on to patience, which may be the toughest aspect. When we change our allegiance to what we are devoted to, it takes a little time to come to life. Just like Sandy had to wait in her window for her love to come around and her confidence to build, we too will see our best thoughts come to life when we stay with them, regardless of what's around us. Stay devoted and the reward is all yours.
Devotion is derived from belief, and our thoughts get us there.
Knowing we are in the driver's seat every step of the way means we get to stay hopelessly devoted to whatever we want. Seriously -- whatever we want. That's pretty incredible when you think about it.
Which is exactly what we need to do -- think about it. Think about all the things that light you up, that get you excited, that put a smile on your face, then become completely devoted to them and watch them grow.
I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below.
Till next time, I'm hopelessly devoted to you,
Danielle