awareness tools
Life is full of doors that invite us into magical and meaningful paths. The question is; how to recognize these doors? They are right in front of us but we often pass them by without noticing they are there.
One way to notice these magic doors is to catch a moment when your ‘normal self’ is unusually disturbed. For example, when unusual events and accidents happen; when you have emotional charge towards someone or some event; when you have strong attraction to something; when you know that doing certain things is bad for you but you just can’t stop it; when you had a nighttime dream that leaves you with great impression, and more. At such times, something larger your normal self may be trying to catch your attention and help you stretch your boundary.
Normally, we try to dismiss or avoid such moments. However, it helps greatly to switch your attitude into one of curiosity; “Mmmmm, this is unusual. What is Life trying to show me?
Once you find the doors, there are many ways to further explore the paths. One way is to find out what the essential energy / quality of what disturbs your normal self is, and try to think how and where in your life you need to integrate the quality more. It is similar to the idea of projection – you project out onto the outside what you cannot accept as yours, except that in this case, you consider not only people but also life’s events as having similar meaning for you.
Example
Katy is a friend of mine who is known among the circle of friends as being efficient and tidy. When I visit her, her house is always spotless to the point I’m a bit embarrassed to invite her to my own. When we meet outside, she is always on time or a little early. It's great to have a reliable friend like her, although she can be a little rigid about things sometimes.
When we met for the lunch the other day, she was a little late. She told me what had happened just before she left the house. When she was cleaning the bathroom, the toilet overflowed. This had never happened to her since she moved to the house years ago. She spent a lot of time cleaning up the mess. Afterward, she tried to drink some fruit juice but dropped the glass and the juice splashed on the carpet. She said it was as if something had knocked the glass out of her hand. She cursed to herself and tried clean the carpet as she became nervous about being late for the lunch with me. “It’s so unusual. What’s happening to me??” she said. “Let’s find out,” I suggested.
As she was familiar with this kind of work, she was willing to go a little further with the morning’s experience. We took some time to find out that the basic energy of both incidents is something like flow and spontaneity. “Maybe it’s time for me to become more like the water, less rigid and more spontaneous!” she offered half-jokingly. “Maybe so,” I said.
Living like this is like aikido, the Japanese martial art. When the force comes from outside, instead of fighting or resisting it, you blend with it and make the force your ‘ally.’ As you become more familiar with living this way, many events in your life may become less stressful, and life becomes a continuous journey of self-growth.
In the upcoming Tele-Workshop, we are excited to share with you more awareness methods to support your personal journey. For more information, please click here.
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