When the holiday season magnifies the hidden patterns in life.

Transformative coaching through the lens of spiritual psychology.

Looking at life through a lens

The Power of the Hand Lens

This blog is shared to support you with a slightly different way of seeing life when you feel pressure, fear, and dread, or maybe you are down right emotional. It means accepting where you are to begin with and in that acceptance not adding more stress and anxiety. It's here that we see clearly - like peering through a lens to see with sheer clarity at the choices we have available to help ourselves. Good clear choices not those tinged with fear or stress.

Sometimes when things go wrong or are not lining up to where we imagined, we think we have to go over and over every detail of the experience minutely.

That is not where I am pointing, the parts of life causing you resistance, anguish, and despondency, are asking for you to see beyond the story. I am pointing here.

To go beyond something does not mean we pretend it doesn't exist it does mean we don't go over and over those very parts that worry us and disturb our day or night. It is to see them more clearly and to focus on what is really important beyond the intense feeling. Rather than be stuck on the feeling itself.

When my grief overtakes me I quietly ask myself what do I need to feel OK. Parts of my grief keep me scared and I want to grow beyond that. I recognise some of my triggers (going somewhere new, being with people who are not open hearted) and I can tell when I feel the discomfort because I begin to dread more things and that is my sign to stop looking in the fear direction and take a fear break!

Sometimes as I doodle, read a book or move around the room, my answer arrives and when it does I can feel instantly lighter and I can see clearly what might help.

A dread that feels huge suddenly disappears, especially when I accept it for now, and sit quietly, my own inner wisdom always helps me out I just need to be aware of it.

#yoursoulsstillpoint

Rupert Spira talks about the inner landscape or wisdom that we all have :

“Love, peace and happiness are inherent in the knowing of our own being. In fact, they are the knowing of being. They are simply other names for our self.”

The focus back into ourself is where our peace lies.

If you zoomed or focused into your life, what would you see?

Would you recognise that same old chestnut, the pattern that keeps you triggered?

Or would you prefer to numb the sadness and pain out and avoid any further possible hurt?

The idea of seeing clearly moves our perception beyond the supposed source of the resistance, which you may think is external, out there, over there, a person, a task, a fear response like mine, or a jolly season all around you when you feel totally sad and lost. It appears to be something other than you. I want to share a different view, and so let me offer you a hand lens into one simple walk with the offer of the smallest gift for the greatest shift—a simple action to move you from that place of anguish.

The Smallest Gift for the Greatest Shift

Let’s begin with this . . . what makes you smile?

I ask because it is such a beautiful gift that takes our senses from the unseeing basement to the penthouse of peace in one easy action. And yes, I hear you, sometimes it’s hard to smile. Then perhaps it’s time to decorate a box with gift paper and go on a smile hunt and fill it up. Allow me to show you:

My Smile Hunt

I walked to my local shop for fresh bread a few days ago and on the way I saw the brightest house filled with every holiday light possible, they dripped, flashed, and sparkled everywhere. Such a smile gift.

Further along, a baby in a pram was dropping crumbs of rice puffs, shoes, its hat, a toy, and leaning right over the pram edge looking backwards to see where each piece landed. Innocent curiosity - when was the last time you were curious about life?

Inside the bakery, a young child was imagining the gooey pink iced cupcakes before him could be tasted through the glass display case. Yum, eyes closed, a small finger scraped the glass pretending to scoop up the buttercream. They could taste it nearly! Mum was buying plain brown bread.

Imagination is an easy place to start, close your eyes and imagine your favourite place, where are you? What can you see and hear? Move those memories to one side just fior now and head straight to that beach, forest, mountain or wherever your place is.

My smile hunt continued on the way home too. I took a shortcut through the local park and sat on a bench in the frost. A tiny wren landed on a reed in the pond before me and stared me out. I stared right back - I even waved. It just stared and stared. A small moment of letting go of my grief and holiday nerves. What a giggle. The stream behind the wren splashed and flowed, and I caught myself sighing with peace. I might not have noticed half of those things had I focused on my sadness.

So, what does make you smile?

The holidays can be triggers—all that joy when we have lost a relationship, a beautiful son like me, our home and country even, our job, or we just can’t make ends meet and all of the goodies in the shops seem beyond our means.

Whatever your trigger is, whatever keeps you focused on sad – take time to find one thing to make you smile today. It’s the smallest gift for the greatest shift. P.S. my sister (who is managing breast cancer and chemotherapy) told me today my calls and texts keep her going. That made me smile all the way past the grief up to my eyes.

You see, you never know how much turning up in your life matters to you and to others. Sent with a smile :0)

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Anni Poole Coaching   

@AnniPoole