Have we made the world so familiar that we don’t really see it anymore? I think that a lot of us do.
We go through our daily lives with blinders on and we don’t take the time to really look at what we see all around us. You see, our eyes are so powerful. They allow you to see the inner souls of others. The beauty in the world. God’s wonders. What a blessing it is to have eyes that can see this spectacular world we live in.
Even with all of this around us, most of us totally miss it because we aren’t being mindful of the present moment that we are in right now. And now….and now.
Now.
Believe it or not, the thoughts above woke me up at 3am and I have been itching all day to write about this cause its a really neat thing to think about.
I thought back to earlier that day. I was sick. Miserable and headed to the doctors. There were a flurry of contractors at my house working feverishly on my bathroom. I drove to the doctors and then drove home. Sat on my chair and worked on projects. Just a day. Too sick to go to work. Nothing special. Pretty melancholy. Blah. Bored. Sick of sitting around doing nothing.
Until I thought about all of the things that I really saw all around me today: Hard work, kindness, frustration, love of the dogs, each dog’s reaction to all of these people going in and out of the house while mom is home…barking at some and then wanting to be petted by others, frustration, helpfulness, love of God, my team had completely pulled together on the busiest day of the month without me, stress, joy, sickness, sadness, exhaustion.
Now that’s a lot of things to truly see! The interesting thing is that I really could had “seen” my day two very different ways as described above.
We see what we want to see and we steer clear of what we don’t. How much are we really limiting ourselves by “controlling” what we see?
If you are a person who is scared, you will see things that affirm that you are scared. You can think of a million things that startled you, but you won’t remember the man you talked to at the store.
Are you one who envies? Do you look at just the labels on everything and covet what you see? You can’t remember the conversation that you just had with your sister while she was right next to you.
Are you judgmental? Are you always looking for what is wrong with everyone else?
Are you angry? You go through your day talking about those who have wronged you.
Unsure of yourself? You walk with your head down and all you see is the ground.
Superior? All you can see is how much better you are than everyone you come in contact with. It is all you can talk about. Everyone is so stupid.
Or are you loving and compassionate? These are the people who live in the moment. They see in the way that was described in the second paragraph of the recount of my day.
Most people who do not ”see” let some negative emotion dictate how they really identify with the world around them. It is easy stoppable if they recognize it and choose right then and there to live in the present moment. It is only then can they can feel the loving and compassionate viewpoint. When you stop dictating how you will see the world, you will find that you will actually have to stop and smell the mother f*&*^^ roses. It is that simple.
So here’s the thought: Start listening to yourself when you talk. What are the conversations you are having actually saying about yourself? Do you talk over and over about the guy who cut you off and everyone else that wronged you that day? Or do you talk about how worried you are about everything? Do you talk about how everyone around you is an idiot? Are you too afraid to talk to people? They make you nervous? Do you explode in anger in conversations and talk about how everyone is out to make your life hell? Do you want to buy every single designer thing you see on someone else and you won’t shut up about it?
If you sound like that, then, Houston, you got a problem. You are not living in the moment. You have your blinders on. You are missing out in a truly authentic life filled with so much more than you are experiencing right now.
When we take the time to take in our surroundings and look for positive things, everything about you will change.
And, this is the shit that wakes me up at 3am.
Ha.
Jen
