Does your mind subtlety suggest to you that you have limits to your capacity, your resilience, your potential? I find it fascinating that our minds are so convincing about what’s available to us in our lives. What’s equally fascinating is the reality that our bodies get flooded with emotion matched with what looks real in our minds. A feeling of stuckness, defeat, disappointment, why bother? It runs the gambit. Where our minds go, our emotions follow. I also chuckle that there is this part of me, my thinking mind, which dwells in the past or the future, rarely present in the moment, offers me convincing input on how life works in real time.
This comes to mind because I saw Willie Nelson and his sister, Bobbie, perform at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this week. My mind subtlety projected into the future and filled me in on how the concert would be. Well once again my mind was wrong, way wrong.
As I watched Willie play tunes, he’s played a zillion times before with passion, presence, and energy, I was struck by what I was seeing. Here’s a person 87 years of age, performing in front of 70,000 people and having a blast. On one song his sister Bobbie was featured. She was banging those piano keys at the speed of Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis. I was so taken by her performance that I looked her up and saw that she’s 89 years of age!
I wanted to share this story because I found so much inspiration around what’s TRUE and what we perceived to be true around our capacity, our resilience, and our potential. Too often we believe what we think without question. It’s helpful to see we have the option to align with our perceptions or we can align with what’s TRUE about life. Anything is possible for us. If we have a heartbeat, it’s a sure sign that pure potential is present.
Recently I noticed that when I considered following a new idea or inspiration about my business, some very familiar thinking would show up almost instantly. I also began to notice the same dynamic kicked-in when considering the holidays or thinking about other things in my life. What I noticed was a flood of very real familiar thinking, very specific to the topic at hand, would show up in my mental conversation. This immediate-believable-absolute-feeling-seemingly-truthful flavored thinking showed up almost on que to tell me the truth about how life works.
As I noticed this dynamic happening more and more, these thought patterns occurred to me as my First Responders. Just like emergency first responders that show up on the scene to support us in times of need, these familiar thinking thought patterns show up on the scene to offer me a helpful dose of my reality. Something smelled fishy; my mental 1st Responders had a bias toward limitation. I found this interesting too!
In the game of life, if you look around, the nature of life is synonymous with potential and possibility. How could something live in my head, be so familiar, feel so definitive, and not be true about life? In understanding more about our human operating system, we live in a world of thought and then see it as real, so this is where my curiosity kicked in again. If my First Responders are not telling me the absolute truth about life, what else is there to see to around the topic I’m looking at? So, it occurred to me to consider there are holes in their stories and to keep my eyes and ears open to seeing something fresh. Guess what? New fresh possibilities are coming to me and it can work the same for you.
Here are some bullet points to raise your awareness to your First Responders:
1st Responders are not informing you about how life works. It’s informing you of how you believe it works.
1st Responders are reflecting your habits of thinking.
1st Responders are not informing you of what’s possible for your in life.
1st Responders are a mirror to your current mood. High mood, things look possible. Low mood, things look bleak.
1st Responders look real and feel true. Remember, this is all happening in your mind, not in life at the moment. For example, a busted water pipe in the mind is very different than a busted water pipe in front of you. The one in front of you is really happening and calling for your immediate attention. The other only exists in the mind but it still feels real.
You may always have the same 1st Responders show up on the scene for you, whether they’re historic or futuristic, remember they are still not occurring now.
This is all good news. Why? Because we all get a chance to see more of our humanity as just that, an aspect of being human. Not a problem that needs to be overcome, just something to be aware of. The more you see the role of thought in the moment, the more relaxed you effortlessly become. Get curious. There’s always more to be seen.
It’s fall! It was very exciting to step outside this morning and feel a hint of fall. With the change of weather it occurred to me how that seems to stimulate an awakeness to life. All of a sudden any feeling of stuckness goes to the back and aliveness comes to the fore front. Aliveness is a topic that fascinates me and seems to show up in the majority of my coaching client’s desires for seeking support.
My curiosity about about aliveness brings me many insights. Why? Because I’m looking in the direction to see more. When we give our mind an assignment it seems to put in the coordinates, like GPS, and begins to serve up fresh information.
What has appeared true for me recently is that aliveness exists in engaging in life at the speed of life. Not living in my thinking about living, but about showing up in life and engaging with what’s next for me to do. It fascinates me on how our thinking can stall us from living. This may be common in most human beings but it’s not helpful.
My invitation to you is to engage, regardless of what seems to be stopping you. ENGAGE! Let it be simple. Let it be easy. The engaging will bring a new perspective, not what’s accomplished and acceptable to the mind. I promise. It’s in the engaging that aliveness and fresh perspective appears.
Have you ever wondered where limitation exists in your life? This has became so obvious to me lateley that I felt the need to share.
Recently, I have been surprised by the notion of just showing up in life regardless of my preferences and perceived capabilities. It occurred to me, to move with the flow of life and to not micro manage its unfoldment.
Participating in life this way has found me in situations I would never have chosen, even avoided, because I knew I ‘didn’t have it in me’. What I’m seeing is that I have no clue what I’m capable of.
Secondly, showing up in situations I would have avoided at all costs has brought opportunities for a very rich feeling.
What I’m trying to explain is that I see how my thinking has held a formula for meaningful experiences, what I was capable of, and where good feelings come from. In this formula there was a correlation between ‘pleasant’ and my desired good feeling. I’m surprised how an unexperienced rich feeling can come from engaging in life, not the situations I prefer.
It has also become screamingly apparent that any notion of who or what I am and limitations in my life only exist in my mind.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use our site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
