Posts Tagged reflection

Practice gratefulness daily

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

In July 2008 I began the daily habit of selecting something I was grateful for and noting it in my diary. Gratefulness is one of the most powerful emotions we can have and for me the daily habit of reflecting was a moment of quiet and stillness as the world rushed around me. My experience of being grateful is whole of body; like a large sigh without the angst, or the feeling of a warm bucket of water tipped down my back.

The notes of my Ontological Coaching course suggest the following way of thinking about the mood of being grateful.

  • I assess that I have been and am the beneficiary of many possibilities in life
  • I assess myself to be very fortunate to have experienced these possibilities and benefits
  • I declare that I am grateful to the world in general, and also specific individuals for this enrichment
  • I also declare that it is a privilege to be alive

Today I will reignite my habit and bring it to the new world. A tweet a day with the hashtag #gr8fl. There is nothing too great or small to be grateful for as I have previously acknowledged: Update 7 January 2009 I’ve not been able to develop this habit the way I would have liked to. The gratitude is there. The habit of posting on Twitter isn’t.

  • Warm socks to put on my feet (mid-Winter item)
  • The opportunity we had to swim together as a family
  • The patience of my wife
  • Microwave popcorn
  • Learning that gratitude is a feeling and not just words.

If you would like to follow along please do so on my Twitter feed. I’ll subscribe to #gr8fl and if you post with the same tag I’ll see it.

, , , , , , ,

1 Comment

Highlighting your memories

Reading time: < 1 minute

One of the ways to make all your days fantastic is to do all you can to savour and remember the day. My family are very important to me and I can sometimes be found lamenting the moments that have been lost, especially those of my girls. The moments they say something bizarre or do something new. These are the moments of life in an otherwise repetitive day.

As soon as the idea was presented to me I had a way to savour each day. I want to write at least one treasured moment per day on my family website. Just something small, no need to edit or craft it, save for capturing the moment as best as I can.

, , ,

Be the first to comment

Start the year by stopping to listen

Reading time: < 1 minute

The new year has begun and many people will be finding themselves back at work, refreshed and ready. It may seem odd when the promise of a fresh start pulsing through your veins that one of the best things you can do is stop, find somewhere quiet and listen.

,

Be the first to comment

It’s A Wonderful Life

Reading time: < 1 minute

It’s been a wonderful year for me and I hope you have experienced the same. The Christmas holiday period is always a good time for reflection, so let’s each find some time to spend by ourselves amongst the hussle and bussle of the season to sit quietly and reflect on all that we have achieved.

Seasons greetings to you.

,

Be the first to comment

What stands between you and greatness today?

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

Jack Vinson reports he was just asked, “What stands between you and greatness today?”

This is no doubt a powerful question. Asking it of myself sends a wave resonating through my body. Yet, I can also feel a strong pull away from answering it for to do so would mean looking deep inside and an associated fear that I may not find the answers.

If you are feeling the same, then it is likely you are centering in on one of your core enemies of learning. That is, something which prevents you from observing your world in a way that you need to move forward. I’d suggest the following activity to help.

Find a quiet place, take control of your breathing and ask yourself “What stands between me and greatness today?”. Listen for all your responses, especially the quiet ones which can’t be heard over the din of voices directing you elsewhere. If the din is to loud, simply acknowledge our thoughts and refocus on your breathing, then ask the question again.

One of the miracles of our identity is that we can treat it as a story we have invented for ourselves. A story which has served us well in making sense of our world. The power lies in the story itself. Because we created the story, we can edit it any way we like.

“What stands between you and greatness today”, is a fantastic question to ask at the start of the day. An alternative would be to ask, “What stood between me and greatness today?” before you go to bed.

, , , , , ,

Be the first to comment

Pausing for Thought (and Life)

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

Recent events in my life have forced me to focus on what is really important. I’m looking at a new business opportunity that will have me coaching full-time. With that has come a new sense of peace and reduction in pressure to complete certain self-appointed projects.

I have become more selfish (in the true sense of looking after oneself) and with that comes a pruning exercise of cutting back much which is not really essential or important. All of a sudden I have more time, a greater ability to catch up on lots of little important things and a sharper clarity for the future.

It was no surprise then to come across a couple other posts on the same topics. One is from David Allen who says:

What are your “pause buttons”? I was on stage with Beverly Kaye this morning in Phoenix, and she mentioned a wonderful little trick that we all do, but probably not enough. She said, “What do you do to put the pause button on, so you can just stop and reflect about what you’ve been doing (like, this week) and what you want to be doing (like, next week)?” I reflected on what my own “pause buttons” were, and was heartened that I was able to come up with quite a few. A hot bath, pruning my trees, a nice dinner with my lady and friends, a good massage, a good movie, playing GO on my computer, to mention a few. These are real doing-nothing-with-a-vengeance kind of things that interrupt my patterns and give me very different kinds of zones to get into. I also do spiritual retreats at least once a year, sometimes more, and those are a biggee in this regard.

The second is an article by Paulo Coelo on TimeShifting.

Time is not a measure: but rather a quality. When we look at the past we are not rewinding a tape but remembering a gift of our passage on Earth. Time is not measured like a road is measured, since we take gigantic leaps backwards (memories) and forwards (projects).

Managing is not living: “time is money” is nonsense. We have to be aware of each moment and know how to take advantage of each single moment in what we are doing (with love) or in just contemplating life. A day has 24 hours and an infinity of moments. If we slow down, everything will last much longer. Of course, washing the dishes can take longer too, but why not use that time to think about pleasant things, singing, relaxing, being happy at just being alive?

Yes, we all have our problems, which have to be faced – why not do this today? Stop. Think. Maybe suffer a little. But in the end, understand who we are, what we feel, what we are doing here at this very moment – instead of wanting to determine the Agenda of Life. [Warrior of the Light, a www.paulocoelho.com.br publication.]

Find some space to pause and reflect. Imagine what it would be like if you didn’t need to make that call today or write that blog post. Maybe you will find that you don’t have to. Let it go, without guilt.

, , ,

Be the first to comment