Whose business are you in ?
After watching author and teacher Byron Katie’s interview on Oprah’s SoulSeries webcast the other night (see link below), I was reminded of some important and powerful questions Katie uses in the process she calls The Work. These questions help individuals bring peace to their stressful thoughts and are simple and easy to use by everyone.
In my personal life and also professionally as a Life Coach and Intuitive Consultant, I benefit from asking these questions to inquire into my own thoughts. As I do this, I am naturally guided back to myself, back to my own wisdom and my own self-responsibilities.
I attended The 9 day school for The Work in April of this year and benefited profoundly from the experience. Because it is such a powerful process, I am always eager to be reminded of the tools that make it so meaningful. Watching Katie the other night reminded me of those tools: Simple yet profound questions used to inquire into our stressful thoughts to bring us greater peace and freedom.
One of the questions Katie invites us to ask through the process of The Work is :
Whose business am I in?
According to Bryon Katie’s The Work, there are 3 different types of business.
There is:
Your business
Other people’s business
God’s (reality) business
If you are experiencing stressful thoughts, it is likely you are in everyone else’s business other than your own. In Loving What Is (pg.4) Katie writes, ” If you are living your life and I am mentally living your life, who is here living mine? We’re both over there. Being mentally in your business keeps me from being present in my own”. The Work invites us to give the advice we’ve been giving out to others back to ourselves. When we do this, we can create our own happiness, our own peace and our own fulfillment from within.
The beautiful thing about The Work is that it takes you back to yourself and keeps you responsible for your thoughts, your choices and your actions. Only we can truly know what is best for us and only ‘they’ can truly know what is best for ‘them. Any time we offer others unsolicited advice we are in their business telling them how to live their lives when we would serve them and ourselves more by being in our own business.
On May 1st I wrote a blog post after having just returned from The Work. I wrote
There is no greater answer out there than the one we find within ourselves.
When we are in our own business, tending to our own lives, we become more self-aware and connected to the present moment. When we focus less on how other people should be living their lives we free up time and energy to be mindful and responsible for our own lives. The more present we are to ourselves, the more connected we are to our intuition. And when we listen to our intuition we connect to our inner teacher, for what lies within us is essential for our fulfillment.
May you enjoy the present moment and notice whose business you are in when you are not feeling at peace or at ease. Remember that being in your business serves to sharpen your intuitive connection and opens the doorway to your inner wisdom. When we do this, not only do we benefit, but everyone around us does as well.
Please feel encouraged to share your experiences below.
All the best!
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