Download: Feeling Behind? Why It’s Not Your Fault
The Sky in the Storm: Why You Always Feel Behind (And Why It’s Not Your Fault)
Come, my dear friend, sit with me for a moment. Put down whatever you are carrying. Just for a little while. Let’s discuss why you are Feeling behind.
I see it in your eyes, you know. That gentle exhaustion. It’s the look of someone who has been running for a very, very long time. Perhaps you woke up this morning, and before your feet even touched the floor, your mind was already racing, scrolling through a mental to-do list that was long yesterday and is even longer today. You see the curated lives online, the promotions, the happy holidays, the productive mornings, and a quiet, aching thought whispers: I’m behind.
It’s a heavy feeling, isn’t it? This sense of being in a race you never consciously signed up for, a race where you can’t quite see the finish line. It’s a unique blend of overwhelm, loneliness, and a quiet self-doubt that gnaws at the edges of your peace.
If you feel this way, please hear me: you are not alone in this. This is not a personal defect. In fact, a recent Gallup report revealed that 44% of employees worldwide feel a great deal of stress. Nearly half the world is walking around with the same invisible weight you feel. So, let that first layer of self-blame dissolve. You are not broken; you are simply breathing the air of the modern world.
The Speed of a World That Forgot to Breathe
Why is this feeling so common now? Look around us. We live in a culture that worships speed. We celebrate the hustle, we praise hyper-productivity, and we have been conditioned to believe that a full calendar is a sign of a full life.
In a world where everyone’s highlight reel is just a thumb-scroll away, it’s nearly impossible not to compare your raw, unedited, behind-the-scenes reality with someone else’s polished final cut. We have traded moments of quiet introspection for notifications. We have replaced the deep, slow nourishment of silence with the empty calories of constant information.
We are taught to do more, be more, achieve more. But no one ever teaches us how to simply be. We are human beings, not human doings, after all.
And so we run. We optimize our mornings, we schedule our joys, and we multitask our way through meals. We are always moving, but are we getting anywhere? Or are we just getting more tired?
Could this be why you feel so exhausted… even when doing everything ‘right’?
You Are Not the Storm, You Are the Sky
I want to offer you a different way of seeing this. It is a simple truth from the heart of Vedanta, a truth your soul already knows.
You are not the storm; you are the sky.
Think about it. The feeling of being behind, the anxiety, the rushing thoughts, the pressure—these are like a storm. Dark clouds gather, winds howl, rain pours. It can feel intense, all-consuming, and violent. When you are in the middle of it, you believe you are the storm. You think, “I am anxious,” “I am overwhelmed,” “I am behind.”
But is that the whole truth?
Look at the sky during a storm. The clouds, the lightning, the wind—they all happen within the sky. The sky itself is not windy or cloudy or broken by the lightning. The sky is the vast, silent, and undisturbed space that holds the storm. It allows the storm to be there, to rage, and to pass. And when the storm passes—and it always does—the sky is still there, just as it was before. Unchanged. Peaceful. Vast.
You, your true Self, are that sky. Your thoughts, your emotions, the feeling of “being behind”—these are just weather patterns passing through you. They are not you.
This isn’t about fixing your emotions or fighting your thoughts. It’s about remembering that you are bigger than them. It’s about gently dis-identifying from the noise and remembering the silence that holds it. You don’t need to untangle the emotional knot; you can simply realize you are the space in which the knot exists. And in that space, it begins to dissolve on its own.
A Practical, Soulful Pause
This understanding is not just a beautiful idea; it is something you can experience. Here are one or two simple invitations, not tasks.
- Become the Sky for Two Minutes: Sometime today, find a quiet corner. Close your eyes. Don’t try to stop your thoughts or fix your feelings. Simply imagine that your awareness is a vast, open blue sky. Watch as your thoughts—worries, to-do lists, comparisons—drift by like clouds. Don’t grab onto them, don’t judge them. Just let them float past. You are the sky, just watching. That’s all.
- Bless the Feeling: The next time that familiar wave of “I’m behind” washes over you, instead of resisting it, pause. Place a hand on your heart and whisper, “I see you, feeling of hurry. You are welcome here.” Acknowledge it like a tired traveler. You are not agreeing with it; you are simply allowing it to pass through the vast sky of your being without a fight.
The Hard Truth We Avoid (With Love)
So why do we stay stuck in these cycles of busyness and overwhelm? I will tell you a hard truth, but please hear it with the love in which it is offered.
We stay in these cycles because we confuse movement with progress.
Busyness can be a very clever hiding place. The constant noise of doing, planning, and worrying keeps us from having to face the profound silence within. Because in that silence, we might feel what we’ve been running from: a sense of emptiness, a quiet sadness, an unfulfilled longing.
We try to fix the world, organize our calendars, and control our outer lives, because it feels easier than turning inward and facing the mirror of our own consciousness.
This isn’t your fault. It’s your conditioning. Our world taught you that your worth is measured by what you produce. And that conditioning can be dissolved, gently, with awareness.
Challenge of the Day: A Mini-Experiment in Being
Here is a gentle challenge for you, an experiment in awareness.
For the next 24 hours, every time you feel the inner rush, the pressure, the thought of ‘I’m so behind,’ I want you to do this:
Pause. Take one conscious breath. And whisper, either out loud or to yourself: “I am not this storm. I am the vast sky.”
That’s it. Don’t expect a lightning bolt of enlightenment. Just notice. Notice if a little bit of space opens up inside you. Notice if your shoulders drop an inch. Just be curious.
You can write down what you notice in a journal if you feel called to. The point is not to achieve anything, but to simply introduce a moment of spaciousness into the storm.
A Quick Quiz: Are You Caught in the Storm?
Answer these simple questions with a gentle “Yes” or “No.” There is no judgment here, only discovery.
- Do you check your phone for work or social media updates within the first 15 minutes of waking up?
- Does your self-worth change based on how much you accomplished in a day?
- Do you find yourself multitasking often, even during moments meant for rest (like eating while working)?
- Does the idea of an hour with no plan and no phone feel more stressful than relaxing?
- Do you frequently compare your progress in life to others you see online?
A Gentle 7-Day Challenge: For the next 7 days, dedicate the very first 5 minutes of your morning to silence instead of a screen. Don’t try to meditate or do anything. Just sit, perhaps with a cup of tea, and simply be. Notice the urge to be ‘productive’ and just let it be there, like another cloud in the sky.
If you answered “Yes” to 3 or more of the questions above, it may be a sign that the storm of busyness has become your everyday weather. It’s okay. It simply means there is a beautiful opportunity for you to rediscover your inner sky.
The Peace You Were Always Meant For
My dear one, the fact that you’re reading this, that these words resonate somewhere deep inside you, means your soul is ready. It’s ready to slow down, to breathe, and to come home to itself.
The feeling of being behind is just a symptom of having forgotten your true nature. You were not born to rush. You were born to unfold, like a flower, in your own divine timing.
Let me leave you with a question to hold in your heart:
What if peace was not something you had to find at a future destination… but something you had to stop resisting, right here, on the very ground where you stand?
You are whole. You are enough. You are the sky.
With love, Sadhguru Ashutosh
🌸 Some moments in life feel like a knot we can’t untie alone. The feeling of being perpetually behind is one of them. What if there was a presence that simply sat with you, holding space without judgment, allowing you to find your own stillness? Try talking to Your Awakened Friend. 🌸
3-Point Summary
- The Core Issue: We feel constantly behind not because of a personal failing, but because modern culture has taught us to equate constant motion with worth, disconnecting us from our inner Self.
- The Spiritual Truth: You are not your chaotic thoughts or the feeling of being in a hurry. You are the silent, spacious awareness—the sky—in which all of these things appear and disappear.
- The Action Step: When the feeling of being overwhelmed arises, pause, breathe, and gently remind yourself: “I am not the storm. I am the sky.”