Being Inspired vs. Jealousy... and How to Stay on Your Path

I played a game with 3 kids a few weeks ago, where I took a bunch of blocks and made 3 separate "paths" with the blocks. I then asked the kids to go from where they were to the end of the path. I had them hopping and skipping blocks, and figuring out how to get from one block to the next on their own. Each path was different, so in order to jump from one block to the next, they would each have to come up with their own individual way to do it. One of the little girls kept watching the older girls, so I stopped and said, "It isn't going to help to watch their paths! You have to figure out how to get to the end all on your own. Watching them isn't going to help you get to where you have to go!"

And then I realized I was being a hypocrite.

There is a lot of inspiration around us. And if you're open to all of the amazing things in life, then you're most likely going to be inspired by everything and everyone in some way. So what's the difference between being inspired... And losing your own path? I recently read an article by Bob Lefsetz. He's a great writer with a LOT of opinions, many of which I agree with - Many of which I get frustrated by... Because I agree with them :) Anyway, Bob wrote about a musician we should all follow. He wrote that she is "the queen" when it comes to this particular topic he was writing about. I immediately felt inspired... And competitive... And maybe a little jealous. And then I stopped. And I realized that she and I have 2 separate lives! What works for her could totally work for me... Or it might not, because we have 2 separate lives!

Jealousy doesn't work. Inspiration does.

Today, I am committing to converting any initial feelings of jealousy that I have, into feelings of inspiration. I am committing to recognizing that I love the path I'm on, and staying on it will be way more productive than jumping onto someone else's... Which is essentially what we do when we get competitive and jealous. Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret, says that jealousy is sending it out to the universe, that there isn't enough to go around.

So find your path and stay on it. And when road blocks come, get inspired. Take inspired action, rather than frantic pursuits of happiness that will amount to nothing but frustration and a feeling that you're not good enough.

You are more than good enough.

XO,

Devyn

Check out Bob Lefsetz! www.lefsetz.com

Read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne!

My debut EP, Time, is now available on iTunes!

 Twitter: @devynrush

www.youtube.com/devynrushmusic

Working Hard vs. Working Smart...Maybe We Should Just Work Easy...

So the 4th of July was AWESOME for me this year. I went to Coney Island with one of my best friends, sat on the beach for hours and talked about life, laughed, and went out for dinner afterwards. The only work I was doing on the 4th of July, was desperately trying to get a tan... Am I a bronze goddess yet? If red is the new tan, then Yes, Yes I am!

I will now rewind to the 4th of July 2011.

I sat in my apartment, by myself, trying to figure out what I could do to be *productive*, freaking out because everyone was at the beach instead of sending emails, and instead of slowing down with them, I chose to stay inside and drive myself crazy for not being *productive* enough.

A year later, I recognize that I have made huge strides. 

Sometimes the real challenge is in learning when to stop challenging ourselves.

What opens the door for success? We hear things all the time: Hard Work, Dedication, Motivation, Perspiration, Perseverance... Sometimes I feel like I've hit a plateau. Sometimes, especially when I have a day like today - where I have about 2 hours between appointments, and end up accidentally walking 60 blocks in Manhattan - I feel guilty, like I'm not doing enough. But now I'm learning to stop and breathe.

Maybe it isn't about working hard. Maybe it really is about working smart and realizing that part of working smart, is omitting the things that you would define as "busy work", asking yourself, 

"What is the root cause of this? Am I working toward a greater purpose here, or am I simply working to distract myself from something that is so much smaller than I am?"

One of my favorite books is The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten. In the book, Victor writes about a teacher he had, who told him to "Try Easy".

Maybe it's time to stop trying so hard to get results. Maybe we should define what the result looks like to us, and just maybe the work that we have to do will come to us out of inspiration... and not out of stress.

Something I'm thinking about now is

Do I want my accomplishments to come as a result of my stress? 

Just some food for thought :)

Love,

Devyn

www.devynrush.com

www.twitter.com/devynrush

www.youtube.com/devynrushmusic

Want me to do a concert in your hometown? Email me: devynrush@gmail.com

Want me to do a concert and speak at your school to prevent bullying? Email Betty Hoeffner: preventbullyingnow@heyugly.org

Regression

I recently read that regression doesn't actually exist, and as I was comforted, I thought about it and had to agree... My latest realization:

Regression is an illusion that presents itself as a substitute for the existing progression.

I think it was Randy Pausch who said, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." Definitely true, AND sometimes that experience turns out to be a blessing in disguise. 

When I'm going through a stressful time, I usually pause and realize that I have been working hard, but not necessarily working smart. Sometimes I am consumed with the need to be busy, until all of the busy-ness piles up, stresses me out, and leads me to an understanding that being that busy all the time is not natural... or productive. 

Maybe sometimes the greater challenge is knowing when to stop challenging myself so much.

And the times that stress me out the most, are times when I feel like I'm regressing - when I feel like I'm going back to square one... possibly a fear that most people have... all of the hard work you've done going straight down the drain. But my recent realization is leading me to believe that it is impossible to go back to square one. We are always, always moving forward. Sometimes the current of life makes us feel like we're being pushed back, but we are still moving forward. Sometimes there is resistance, and sometimes we stop in our tracks and hit a momentary plateau. But regression itself does not actually exist! And sometimes... that "regression" we think we're experiencing, is actually progression in disguise.

So take comfort in knowing that your hard work IS paying off. You're doing great. Keep loving yourself.


Oh hey, and maybe think about it this way: In order for a slingshot to work, you have to pull the elastic, rubber thing back so that it can gain the momentum to fling whatever it's flinging...  


I'm so eloquent, I know. 

XO,

Devyn

NEWS:

My single, "Time", is available on iTunes NOW! Click HERE to get it.

My full EP will be released June 28.

Knowing YOU Deserve It

I had a recent realization that I want to share with you. This is amazing me! It's so simple, yet it took so long to figure it out. 


You know when you are leaving your house with your keys in your hand, ready to lock the door behind you,... and you can't help but think you forgot something. Maybe you did... Maybe you're just driving yourself nuts. And all day, you're wondering when it's going to pop up. That THING you forgot at home, that THING that you're going to kick yourself when you realize you forgot it... 

That's what's been looming over my head for several months. 

Sometimes, if I get myself into a funk over something or feel like I'm "stuck", I think to myself, There's gotta be something missing here; something I'm forgetting to realize; something that would make this entire situation all better. What's the root cause of my issue? And then I realized.

Sometimes, I don't feel like I deserve "it".

Whenever there's something I really want... success, money, a loving relationship, to book a show in zimbabwe... anything... If it stresses me out to think about it, I finally realized that that stress is coming from a place of wondering if I'm actually worthy of those things. Who am I to have everything I've ever wanted? Doesn't there have to be some friction in my life? Don't I have to be sad about something? I mean, if everything is going great, what do I have to grip on to? If I'm smooth sailing all the time, when am I gonna crash into a dead end?

Along with realizing this underlying cause of frustration... this "fear of success" situation... I realized I can do something about it!

Whenever I feel like the success, the happiness is too much or isn't going to work out, because I couldn't possibly deserve all the good, I stop myself and I say,

"YES." 

"YOU DESERVE THIS!"

"YES." 

YOU ARE WORTHY OF THIS!"

"YES."

YOU ARE HAVING YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE 

AT THE RIGHT TIME, IN THE RIGHT WAY!"

And maybe it's as simple as that. Maybe it is as simple as realizing that you deserve all the good that is coming to you. 

And there is so much good coming to YOU.

Love,

Devyn

There's a Hole in My Sidewalk

     I was taking an amazing yoga class at Yoga to the People in NYC (www.yogatothepeople.com), and the teacher read this poem at the end of class. I thought I'd share it with you. It's interesting how it comes up for me in my life. Before you read it, all I want to tell you is not to get discouraged if you're in a place where you feel like you are only on Chapter 1 or 2. Likewise, don't get down on yourself if you feel like you are regressing and repeatedly go back to Chapter 1. I recently read that regression doesn't actually exist. It sometimes comes in the form of a standstill/plateau, or it might feel like, after taking 3 steps forward, you've taken 2 steps back. But regression doesn't actually exist, and if we keep this forward motion in our minds at all times, I think we will all be much more satisfied with ourselves. 

There's a Hole in My Sidewalk

by Portia Nelson

Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost .... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter Five
I walk down another street

Recommended Reading:

The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge

Please visit www.devynrush.com! Lots of excited things are happening, and I want YOU to be a part of it.

XO,

Devyn

Bullying is the Cause of Bullying

“You can’t give someone something you don’t have.” I always say this when I sing and speak at schools around the country through Hey U.G.L.Y. (Unique.Gifted.Lovable.You.- www.heyugly.org). If you’re angry, you most likely make the people around you angry. But if you fill yourself up with tons of love, you give tons of love to other people. This is the message that I want to get across to students and adults. 

Bullying is a seemingly inevitable part of growing up. A child is having self-esteem issues, which could be a product of his environment or something going on internally that he is working through. That child spills his negative emotions onto the kid at school who appears to be weaker. The “weaker” child then begins to hate himself. He starts to believe the things that are being said about him. He starts to feel like the bully is right. This child begins to hurt himself every day. Then, he finds someone who appears weaker and takes out his self-hate on the next “weaker” guy. And so goes this domino effect. Bullying is the cause of bullying. So how do we stop it?

My take on this is that emotional awareness and self-love must grow and change parallel to the changes in our lives. If we don’t keep our awareness and feelings in check, we end up spending tons of time playing catch-up with ourselves. Therefore, as children are going through puberty, as their brains are being wired in relation to their environment, their awareness and acceptance of the given situations must do the same. 

So what is it that we can do to make this a reality? Teach children empathy, teach children to ask themselves, “How am I feeling today?”. Teach children to accept and love their own dimensions. If we all had these key concepts ingrained in us as young children, we would collectively grow into a beautiful, nurturing, mentally stable society!

Recommended Reading: The Brain That Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. This book is all about neuroplasticity- the brain’s malleability, and supports my reasons for instilling emotional awareness and self-love in people from the beginning.

Please check out my music and projects at www.devynrush.com and www.youtube.com/devynrushmusic. Follow me on Twitter @DevynRush!

First School Today!

Today was Day 1 of my Hey U.G.L.Y. Find Your Inner Child School Tour! It was AWESOME. Seeing the notes that the kids took, that said, "I am enough" and "I love myself" made me so happy.

This week has been insane and amazing.  I played a show in Elverson, PA with my good friend and American Idol co-group member in Hollywood, Caleb Hawley. Then, Devyn and the Rush played a show at LIC Bar in New York, with one of the best crowds I have ever played to. Today was an incredibly fulfilling one, and all I can say is that I'm very excited about Thanksgiving- So much to be thankful for :)

Next week, I fly back to San Francisco to sing at One Mama's Big Event!

Always feel free to email me: devynrush@gmail.com.

Thanks for the continued support, my loves!

XO,

Devyn