Turn Up Your Awareness and Come Alive (leaf lesson #2)

 

“All you have to do is to pay attention; lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.” – Paulo Coehlo

So the question is. . .do you pay attention?

Time after time, I’ve learned that it’s all about awareness. It really is a muscle that you can develop with practice. And when you consciously turn up your awareness (think of it like a dimmer switch) everything zooms into focus.

Solutions become clear, often in abundance.

Next steps open up, right there in front of you.

Confusion fades away.

How do you turn up that awareness then?

The exercise I shared from my retreat is a good way to start. Being with an object (for me this leaf) with no expectations, no judgments, no concerns, created space for my mind to see it (and life) in a new way.

Each time I looked at it I saw something new.

Each time I held it in my hand I felt something I hadn’t felt before.

Each time. . .I allowed myself to see what was there in the moment.

Not what was there in my memory nor what I already knew about leaves.

Simply what was there in that moment.

Whatever object you chose for yourself in that exercise, notice what came up for you as you let yourself be with it. Like many, you probably felt discomfort at not doing anything. That’s how unrelated you are to just being.

Now, imagine being that way in life, with people and situations that arise. It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it?

Here’s something I think is true for all of us. . .

It’s easier to be that present with some people and situations than it is with others.

For example, I know that when I’m working with a client, all else falls away and I am that present.

That presence allows me to often hear what’s in the unsaid, and I feel guided by my intuition and spirit more in those conversations than any other time in my life (other than retreats).

It’s what I love most about coaching. Distance, time and all external distractions fall away and I am present.

I wonder what it’d be like to wake up and be that present every day.

I wonder what it’d be like to see my husband each morning the way I saw the leaf.

What if I could see something new in him, something I’d never seen or felt before each morning?

And what if, I could be with him exactly the way he is in that very moment?

Think about it before you dismiss the idea.

What if you could be present to another person in that way?

Part of me thinks how amazing that would be, and another part (I’m sure related to my ever watchful lizard brain) worries it would be too vulnerable, too open.

And therein lies the ongoing struggle.

Open up and connect to others. . .or. . .curl up and protect yourself as the leaf had begun to do.

What I really appreciated about the leaf in that moment was its flexibility. It was still alive enough to unfurl as I slowly, gently coaxed it open.

Maybe like the leaf you just need a little coaxing. Kind of a lovely thought, no?

Instead of working so hard to fix or change some aspect of your life, what if a little coaxing is exactly what you need right now?

And what if turning up your awareness is the way to do that?

Here’s the best part. . .

Imagine this new level of awareness turning up your aliveness as well.

A bonus gift just for you.

Don’t thank me. Thank the leaf.

 

Over to you:

• As if your hand was on the dial of the dimmer switch, turn up your awareness.
• Let yourself be open to newness – in yourself, in others, in the things around you.
• Notice what you notice.

You know I love experiments and this is one that can only have a positive outcome.

Are you, like my leaf, alive enough to unfurl?