Why Do Some Goals Seem to Take Forever?

Have you ever chanted for a goal and it didn’t seem to be falling into place. In this vlog let’s look at why goals might seem to hang indefinitely.

We all know the Buddhist concept of oneness of life and it’s environment. That means that “every environment is uniquely customized, tailored to suit each of us according to the state of our inner lives.” “We are all going around with our personal universe, one that extends from the inner depths of our hearts outward to all of the phenomena of our surroundings.” That means that what we project to the universe is what comes back to us and has produced the life you are living now.

If you have set a goal then something in you is going to have to change in order for you to get that goal. If it’s not happening, something in you is not allowing it to happen. If you look at your life today, this is what you have created without any changes. The feedback from the universe is telling you that something in you needs to change if you want that goal. Our life is always produced from the inside of us to manifest in the outer world.

Questions for Self-Reflection

The following are a series of questions for self-reflection.
1. If I got this goal, how would it change my life?
You think you want the goal, but when you really think about it and imagine it happening are there some quiet reservations about how it might change your life underneath the surface. Be really honest with yourself. Do you have fleeting thoughts that would indicate reservations that you brush aside? Do you feel a little uneasy when you think about achieving your goal?
For example, let’s say you had a business goal and you are the mother of young children. Would getting this goal mean you would have to travel and be away from your children?
One reader wrote to me and said, I want to find a husband. Then in the next sentence, she tells me that that in her family, women lead a happy life before marriage and a miserable one after. I can certainly see that if this is the family history, she might have serious reservations about getting married.
Look at how achieving this goal will change your life. This can be a valuable exercise in bringing up any reservations you might have about it. Those reservations are being projected to the universe along with the goal you say you want and may well be keeping it from actually manifesting.

2. When I’m chanting, am I looking at the fact I don’t have what I want, or am I chanting seeing the goal already accomplished?

If you are chanting looking at the problem, then not having what you want becomes your prayer. For example, if you are overweight and see yourself as needing to lose 20 pounds, you are seeing yourself as heavy when you are
chanting. That becomes your prayer. If you chanted to be your goal weight and see it as accomplished, then your goal is much more likely to happen.

3. Am I unable to see this goal as completed? Am I always seeing it as being in the future?

If so, imagine yourself living in the future looking back at the goal you have already achieved. How does it look completed? Write it down in detail.

4. Is my goal still vague? Is the clarity not there?

Since the universe responds to clear and specific goals, you are going to want to sharpen your vision of what your goal will look
like when completed. I would do a writing exercise and write down what you want for your completed goal and what that would look like if you got what you wanted.

5. Am I trying to control how this goal will happen? Do I have the path in my mind?

You might want to loosen up, so the universe can determine the best way to get to your goal. Too much control can block the universe from functioning.

6. Do I need to grow in some way before this goal will be possible?

Here are some questions to ask yourself.
Do I need to change in some way? For example, do I need to let go of fears, or stop procrastination? Do I need to learn a specific skill? Do I need to recover from an addiction? I know one practitioner who had a goal of a career level job. He had held marginal jobs for years as he was an alcoholic. To grow into a job like this, he needed to work the steps and be in recovery for almost two years. Do I need to see myself differently? Imagine yourself in your new situation. How would you see yourself then?

7. Is this a karmic issue. Is it a recurring issue, one where I keep returning to square one?

If an issue seems deep-seated, it probably is. If so you may have to change your karma  before you will achieve your goal. Some karmic issues have roots which lie deep in causes we have made in the past. This kind of issue can take longer to clear. If you think  it may be due to karma, make a determination that you are going to overcome and past causes that have lead to the situation today and pray to discover what in you needs to change. Nichiren Daishonin has a great discussion on this in his Opening of the Eyes.

8. Am I taking action steps towards my goal?

Action is the other half of the puzzle. Chanting alone is not enough.

9. Do I really believe this goal can happen?

If you have doubts, you are dealing with fundamental darkness, which obscures your ability to see that you are connected with the Mystic Law. Chant earnestly with the determination that you are going to break through any doubts.

10. Am I resisting personal change?

We are all very good at doing this. Have you had ideas for actions to take and resisted them, brushing them aside or actively fighting with them? Remember you have started a dialogue and ideas that come to you are in response. Don’t brush them aside even if you don’t think it would work. Instead, take action on them.

11. Is the time right?
I have heard a couple of older practitioners comment on their goals recently. Both had goals that had taken a long time. One had to move out of state before the conditions were right for her goal. The other person said that her goals had always come about but it might have been much later before it happened. So I think that if you have tried all these
other things and your goal is still not happening, it may be that simply the time isn’t right.

In Summary

Today we looked again at the concept of oneness of self and environment – that your life today is the result of your past causes. If a goal seems to be hanging indefinitely, there
has to be something within you that is blocking it, since our life is created from the inside out.

Then we looked at 11 different questions for self-reflection.
1. How would getting this goal change my life?
2. Am I chanting looking at the problem or at the completed goal?
3. Am I unable to see the goal as completed?
4. Is my goal still vague.
5. Am I trying to control the path to my goal?
6. Do I need to grow in some way before this goal will be possible?
7. Is this a karmic issue?
8. Am I taking action steps towards my goal?
9. Do I really believe this goal can happen?
10. Am I resisting personal change?
11. Is the time right?

Other Related URL’s

Chanting But Feel You Aren’t Receiv8ing Answers from the Universe? https://wp.me/p3V1J9-162
Do You Know How Reservations Can Impact Achieving a Goal? https://wp.me/p3V1J9-14D
Do You Know How You Set Up Barriers to what You Want? https://wp.me/p3V1J9-XK

Script Download: goal not happen 1a

Comments:

Thank you so much for all your comments. I’m enjoying hearing from you.   I’m always interested in your questions and ideas for topics.  Please keep them coming.  And, I’ll see you in two weeks.

  • Heather McBride says:

    Thank you, Margaret. What a fantastic reminder!

  • Jenny says:

    Excellent post, thank you.

  • Divakarchopra says:

    insightful.. loved it..

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