...During these years of Hollywood magic and excitement, I began to notice a deep and growing sense that my efforts toward greater achievement in the film and television business were not really moving me toward the areas of greatest soul priority in my life.

When it is time for us to rearrange our priorities, the clue can often come as a subtle sense of dissatisfaction with what we are doing. Of course, obstacles and dissatisfactions can arise even when we are on the right path, so it is not as simple as saying that challenges mean that you should be giving up or changing your goals and priorities.

One way to check whether you are living in accordance with your deeper priorities is to imagine yourself reaching the pinnacle of your present goals, and to contemplate if that accomplishment would bring you a deep sense of satisfaction. How would it feel to reach the best outcome of wherever you are headed? Would it bring true fulfillment and happiness?

For me, this contemplation happened during that Thanksgiving evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I thought, "This must be what it is like at the end of the Hollywood journey - hanging out with other super-famous folks and discussing all of your movies, television shows, and other projects."

Let's say that I moved forward with all my heart and soul and became as creative and successful as someone like Arnold, or Steven Spielberg. Would that give me a sense of fulfilling my deepest ambitions and goals? The answer was, no.

I realized that even if I made it to the so-called top of this profession, I would not feel deeply satisfied from that accomplishment. Something was missing in my life, and I could feel it knocking on my heart's door.

I had been swept up by the mentality and priorities of this new social system called Hollywood, and that sweep had kept me too busy to stop and reconsider what was most important in my life. I'm sure this must happen to many people in various fields of life and career. We get too busy and absorbed in the necessities of each day to stop and contemplate why we're even doing all that we are doing.


...more of this chapter is available in the book, "Secrets of Spiritual Happiness," by Sharon Janis.

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