Unleashing Your Inner Drive

One of my yogi's sent me a request for a theme on how to unleash your inner drive.  Being the google freak that I am, I googled that. I didn't come up with anything that struck me as helpful, but did you know there are sites for unleashing your inner geek, inner Jedi, inner Hasselhoff, inner beast, inner foodie, and inner Odysseus...who knew?  I guess I am already more enlightened!

Let's start by defining inner drive.  In my opinion, your inner drive is your force that pushes you forward to try and/or accomplish certain feats or goals. Let's use donuts as an example. If you feel like maybe you should stop eating donuts because they are bad for you (a mind thought) yet  you have no inner drive to stop eating donuts (a heart truth), the force is not there and you are going to eat all the donuts you want. That doesn't mean eating the donuts is wrong. It simply means that not eating donuts is not a truth to your heart.  To release your inner drive, you need to find your truth; what you are passionate about.  In fact, what are you so passionate about, you almost cannot help but act and move forward?

 

 “For those who have an intense urge for Spirit and wisdom, it sits near them, waiting.”
― Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

 

Your inner drive becomes squandered when you allow it to be. When you give your power to someone else to control.  If I am not sure if I should quit eating donuts and ask someone else to make the decision for me, how can I have a driving force to act no matter which decision is chosen? Your inner drive is directly tied to the amount of passion you hold in your heart regarding the situation.

Therefore, to unleash your inner drive, you simply need to choose to act in alignment with your heart and intuition. 

I was watching a Dr. Phil show about this man who had an affair and chose (not accidentally) to have a baby with his mistress.  At the time of show, the mistress was 5 months pregnant.  To give them some perspective of the mess they had created, Dr. Phil had on a woman who was the intentional pregnancy of an affair her father had.  She felt it was her fault that her illegitimacy had broken up two different families. She said she was worthless and undeserving of love.  She was completely broken as was her marriage and she was furious with her father and his mistress for being so selfish as to bring her into the world.  Although I  felt for this woman, it was apparent that she has given away her power.  She has a lack of will to live because her inner drive has been extinguished.  But the optimistic aspect is that we all have choice and she can choose to take back her power at any time. 

Father of yoga  Patanjali says we create our own suffering.  This woman did not create her circumstances or how family members treated her but she chooses to live from that viewpoint.  You know deep down her heart would choose happiness and life and love (who wouldn't?). When she takes her power back she will unleash an inner drive that no one can buffer.

Swami Satchidananda says in translation of the Yoga Sutras, "If a handful of people come forward with strong wills, nothing is impossible. One Buddha changed half the globe; one Jesus, three quarters of the world. We all have that capacity. ”

He also writes, “The cause of bandha and moksha (bondage and liberation) is our own minds. If we think we are bound, we are bound. If we think we are liberated, we are liberated. . . . It is only when we transcend the mind that we are free from all these troubles. ”

And lastly, "We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy. If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing?" ― Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras

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