Natural Inspiration
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Nature Moment
Learning Through Living: Insights from a Colonoscopy
Seeing something fresh and new is not special. Human beings are designed to receive insights, fresh thinking, aha moments, whatever you want to call them. It’s built into each of us and you don’t have to do anything special for it to happen. With that said, it’s possible to see life’s truths, simply by living. By doing what’s in front of you to do, in this moment. Recently, two insights about being human occurred to me and I wanted to share them with you.
It was my turn to have a colonoscopy. I’m a huge proponent of this procedure because it helped several people very near and dear to my heart catch diseases that would have otherwise gone undetected.
You hear lots of stories about the prep for this procedure. To prepare, I began reading all the instructions over and over because I didn’t want to miss any details. I knew for certain that I only wanted to do this dance once, so following the directions to the letter was imperative.
On the day before the procedure, I wasn’t allowed to have any solid foods, only clear liquids. For me this consisted of chicken broth and popsicles (no red or purple flavors allowed). What I found so interesting was, when I took food off my mind, such as, what I’m going to eat, getting the right food, and when to eat, I realized there was a huge open gap of space in my mind. It really surprised me how much ‘food thought’ fills my head daily! When that topic was taken off the table, WOW, my mind felt so spacious. Less on my mind felt great! Change is interesting.
The second part of the story, which I found so clever, was how my mind was trying to tempt me to break the fast! I bought a fruit bar as one of my popsicle options and when I went to eat it, I noticed it had chunks of pineapple. My mind is saying you’re hungry, eat it, it won’t matter, it’s not that chunky, etc.
The clarity in me said, no way! I’m not about to blow this process by eating something solid. With the vigilance of a D.C. lobbyist my mind wasn’t letting up. I was amazed how my mind was operating on its own agenda while the clarity in me didn’t budge. It saw the cost and said no way!
This mental tug-a-war brought a simple but significant insight. It showed me that as human beings, if we REALLY understood the cost to our experience or sense of wellbeing, we would not indulge our thinking. The clarity in us would stop us from languishing in events that have passed or made-up future events. If we found ourselves in the weeds of those two topics, we’d come back to the present moment.
What I know for sure is, I’m going to feel whatever I’m thinking about. If it scares me, I’m feeling scared. If I have thoughts of regret, I feel rotten.
Engaging with life brings insights. Since I’m a girl who likes bullets, I’m going to make it simple.
To me, this looks universally true for human beings:
1. If our minds are freed up from habits of thinking or anything else that consumes space in our heads, we have an invitation to see what else is on offer from life. When minds are less burdened, life feels lighter, more hopeful, more promising.
2. Understanding the TRUE cost of indulging our thinking, supports us in exercising free will. If we want to feel better more of the time, we can’t afford the mental indulgence. By indulging our thinking, we leave the present moment and live life through the story being created in the mind. If we’re playing it out in our heads, we’re not present to life. We’re not in touch with what’s alive, life, we’re in touch with our story.
This timeless video clip continues to bring me smiles every time I catch myself in my humanness!
I want to share my deep appreciation to all of you who commented on my last blog. It was wonderful to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to say hello!
Sending smiles,
Cherie
Saying “YES!”
For the last 10 years, I’ve been consistently surprised by what life offers me and what my mind makes of these offers. When I speak of ‘offers’ I’m referring to invitations and inspirations that reach me through other people or fresh ideas that come into my mind. You know the ones that kind of shake your reality? The ones that you immediately say NO to, in your mind but then they don’t leave you alone. Those are the taps on the shoulder from the source of all life saying, want to play a bigger game?
Recently, I’ve received a few of these big-ass taps on the shoulder and watched how my mind quickly determined what was possible for me. And just as quickly, I believed what popped into my mind as a GO/can’t GO. As if the TRUTH police or Judge Judy made a determination. More times than not, my mind says NO, nope, nada, it can’t work, not possible, etc.
I can trace this conditioned NO response to an upbringing that embedded in me the answer to every invitation to do something ‘unnecessary’ came back with a NO. I laugh out loud when I think of my dear father’s response to me asking if I could spend the night with my best friend. His response was, “no, you have a bed”. Seeing the cause of this historical NO habit doesn’t help. It still looks and feels true.
It’s at this point of the self-talk conversation where I would live with the answer NO and move on. Now, after the initial NO response, a whispering curiosity comes on the scene, “Could I do that?”
Recently, I received an invitation to attend an event 2400 miles from home. Immediately my mind said NO! My internal monologue continued with a litany of, What? Go all that way for one night? Ridiculous! Get a plane ticket, rent a car, secure a hotel room and what to wear? The idea really did look absurd to some part of me but another part was answering, why not?
This time I said YES! With YES, the ball began to roll and the adventure began to unfold. By saying YES, a rich sense filled me! I was delighted and amused by staring absurdity in the face.
Within moments the entire adventure was planned. It was simple and easy. Who knew this was possible? Not me! I marked my calendar and boarded the plane.
The gifts for me in saying YES to the concept of ABSURD:
- While deplaning upon arrival, my phone alerted me to check-in for my flight to Houston the following day. LOL!
- Participating in an event that was filled with joy and celebration.
- Connecting with people that I don’t usually get the chance to have lengthy, rich conversations with.
- Experiencing fields of tulips and daffodils! A vision that compares to Holland and Belgium in magnificent beauty, I’m told.
- Standing solo in the tulip fields at sunrise. The vibrancy and vitality from Mother Nature was palpable.
- Seeing I really do love an idea that engages a, ‘what the hell’ response!
- By saying YES, so many concepts of limitation fall away.
- Having the opportunity to see that NO is a habit, not life informing me of what’s TRUE.
Looking back with immense gratitude for this learning opportunity, I see how much I would have missed by living in my habitual NO. I see that by following feelings of delight, inspiration follows.
I encourage you to face absurdity head-on and to partner with delight. Your experience of life will grow as naturally as the tulips!
Connection: We All Want It
Listening for Understanding
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A desire for connection seems to be something we all share. People want to feel more connection in their lives, loves, families, and friends. Another form of connection, often discussed in coaching conversations, is a desire to feel more connection to potential and possibility.
This is a natural feeling of hopefulness, in the core of our being, that anything is available to us in life: new LOVE, new health, new inspirations both personally and professionally, new opportunities, and new invitations to explore life.
Connection and what separates us from feeling connected is in my wheelhouse. This is where I like to play. The kryptonite to connection is the same for everyone! I find that truth amazing. That’s why I’m so excited about this Saturday’s workshop being offered at The Jung Center of Houston, “Listening for Understanding.”
This workshop offers a fresh way of connecting while teaching you how to have more productive conversations. Stop having the same base conversation again and again, never making progress or gaining resolution. By learning to listen in a new way, with a desire to understand, connection is possible in the most challenging situations, in both your personal and professional lives. What if how you listen is more essential than how you speak?
When we gain understanding, our natural ability to connect organically happens. From this point potential and possibility are present and obvious to us where it was once invisible.
>> Please join us if this interests you!
Wishing you much rich connection in your life,
Cherie