To view this newsletter in the browser, click here                 Issue #79       A newsletter from Creativegarh to help you live a life of passion, purpose and meaning.         Live it forwards. Look at it backwards.                     There's a difference between active surrender and passive surrender. Passive surrender is surrender from a space of fear, hopelessness, waiting for miracles and still trying to control the outcome.           Active surrender comes from a space of love and being an active participant in your life. Of playing life from the centerfield, not from the sidelines. Of living in the intimacy of trust and hope. Of making miracles a part of your storyline. Of letting go of control. Or trusting that the outcome of everything that you show up for will be for your higher good even if it doesn't seem like that in this present moment.           Play your life forward. And trust that everything is happening for you, not to you. Higher consciousness is about trusting the universe. Trust comes when you fully surrender. And surrender doesn't mean that you let go of free will. It means that you let go of everything that is not in your control.           But as you play life forward, look at it backwards and you will see that every dot connects. Every. Every action, inaction, every word, relationship, event, book, lesson, book, movie, job... everything connects in the divine order of the universe. And as you look backwards, you look at your life in awe to see how far you have come. And the farther you want to go from here depends on how deep you are willing to go inside you.           But keep moving forward. Sometimes it's very tempting to go back to the places that gave us a sense of security but didn't allow you to spread your wings. The child can't go back into the womb, the butterfly can't go back into the chrysalis, the chick can't go back into its shell.           You cannot create the new if you still have one foot in the old. You need to have both feet planted firmly in the new and realise that with every step forward on your spiritual path the new step will become the old when you look back at it.           Show up for your purpose. Show up for the things that give you joy. Show up for yourself. Live life forward and look back only in awe and pride, not regret, guilt or shame.                 Happiness comes from the things you do. Fulfillment comes from why you do those things.                     Happiness has a short shelf life. A car, a promotion, a holiday, a new client, all give you happiness. A few months later, the joy of the promotion dies, it's the same fight for deadlines, now with a more fancy designation. One holiday creates the desire for one more as soon as the image dump on social media happens. The scratch on the car does not hurt anymore, the new client is just another one on the roster and life moves on as we search for more moments of short-lived happiness. We look for the new drug that gives us our next big hit, never realising that slowly and slowly we are sliding along the sharp edge of a downward spiral looking for our next shot of dopamine. Happiness is not bottomless. One day you will run out of reward.           Happiness is not in the stimulation, in the excitants from the outside, in the sex, drugs and alcohol. That's not happiness. It's a pleasure, albeit short-lived. Happiness is not in the achievements, goals, rewards, attaining, gaining or winning. That's satisfaction, and that too is limited and bereft of wonder.           The third kind of happiness needs no reason. It's unreasonable happiness. It's joy and fulfillment. And that is a different animal altogether - the wingman of wonder, the doppelganger of purpose, the reason why you do that job in the first place, why that promotion pushes the purpose forward, how the car moves us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, how the holiday allows us to be grateful for the life we have. Fulfillment is infinite wonder. Fulfillment comes from meaning in life. It comes when you devote yourself to your ikigai, your seva, your swadharma, to the service of others. It's the love you pour into the world and not attached to the outcome of the love. It's the karmyogi in you that takes responsibility for one's own life and devotes it for a cause larger than yourself as an instrument of the universe. And once you find this joy, you can never run out of it.           Be selfish enough to find your 'why'. And once you've found it, be selfless enough to use it. Take a pledge to honour it. And once you start showing up for your 'why', the 'how' then happens on its own.                     Watch All Episodes Here                 From Our Community                           This week, let's revisit     Andretta May 2023                               For a daily dose of Creativegarh and our retreats, follow us here:                         Experience a life full of purpose                     The purpose of my life is to educate, enable and energise young entrepreneurs to help them fast-track their careers and businesses.   Hemant Gholkar Tirthan Valley, December 2022         The purpose of my life is to help people rediscover their self-love through storytelling.   Swati Gandhi Nainital, May 2022         Our upcoming retreats                         Kasauli Sold Out 21st to 27th April     The stunning vistas and holistic experiences at Kasauli create the perfect space for self-discovery, and ensure this retreat is a transformative and unforgettable experience!   More details         Andretta Last 4 Seats Left 2nd to 8th June     To reconnect to your inner child at a beautiful hillside retreat with 14+ soulful individuals will make this a life-transforming experience. See you at Andretta!   More details     Reignite conversation     Kolhapur Registrations Open 7th to 13th July     Escape the city's clamor, reconnect with your inner light. Indulge in a life changing retreat, experiencing the discovery of your true self, within the arms of nature.   More details     Reignite conversation             creativegarh.com             You are receiving this newsletter because either you have subscribed to it through our website, interacted with us by filling an invite form or because you have asked us to put you on the database. If you would not like to receive any more newsletters from us, please click here to unsubscribe.