What is right in front of me that I’m not seeing?
I’ve always had this sense that there is infinitely more going on around us than we perceive in any given moment.
You create your reality. Your thoughts become things. That being the case, how do you shift your thoughts to create each moment as you would like to experience it?
If you are reading this, you are most likely familiar with this concept and have had some success aligning your thoughts with your desires to create the life you would like to live.
Awareness is defined as knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. It is also described as consciousness, recognition, realization, understanding and insight, among others.
I look at awareness as my internal guidance system, the connection to my inner knowing.
Being in awareness is always the key to moving forward and to stepping into a more expanded life and version of yourself. When you develop the ability to be present with everything that is going on around you in each moment, you fully recognize powerful questions to ask and the information you require to step into your next action.
When you are out of alignment with your awareness you may find it difficult to navigate certain areas of your life. Relationships become strained, daily tasks become arduous, you find it difficult to make decisions or you may feel disconnected from the things you love to do.
A few days ago my partner Sid and I were reminded of the importance of being present and what can happen when you become cut off from your awareness.
We were away from home over the holidays and left our cars parked on the street in front of our house. Two days before Christmas we received a text from our neighbor that both of our cars had been towed.
Without prior warning the city had put up no parking signs for street cleaning, leaving residents very little time to respond.
I remember so clearly the day we received the message that our cars had been towed. I immediately felt angry and distracted.
Why would the city tow vehicles only two days before Christmas when so many people are gone for the holidays? I worried about the inconvenience, the cost of retrieving the vehicles and the time that would be involved in pursuing a claim.
The morning we arrived home we walked to a nearby cafe to meet Sid’s brother. From there he drove us to the impound lot. Our first surprise came when we arrived to an empty lot. It had moved to another area of the city.
We arrived at the new location where the clerk was unable to locate my license plate number. She confirmed the date our cars had been towed, then pulled out a ledger. Handwritten towards the bottom of the spreadsheet were our license plate numbers, along with the location of our vehicles.
Apparently the city has a service they call “courtesy towing”. Our vehicles had been towed and parked within a two block radius of our home.
We arrived back in our neighborhood to find both cars parked around the corner from our house. Here’s the kicker; on our way to the cafe earlier that morning we had walked by both vehicles but didn’t see them!
The Universe has an awesome sense of humor! Based on our past experience, we had both concluded that our cars had been towed to the impound lot. This assumption is what determined all the events that unfolded.
When you allow past experiences to influence the present you don’t see what’s right in front of you. In other words you become disconnected from your awareness. As you learn to see the world around you without the influence of past experiences, infinite possibilities become available.
Life becomes easy as you become more fully aware of your physical and energetic surroundings. Maybe you decide to make a phone call to city hall and ask a few questions before undertaking a wild goose chase around the city!
I was reminded of a simple awareness exercise.
Set aside a couple of minutes and try this. Do step number one, then read step number two.
1. Find a comfortable chair and sit down. Look around the room and notice how many red objects you see. Write that number down.
2. Now that you have noticed how many red objects there are, do you know how many blue objects there are?
Most of us don’t notice the blue objects as we focus on counting the red ones. Now take a quick look around and count the blue objects.
This is a simple but powerful exercise. Another example that you may have experienced is when you buy something new, like a car or clothing. You suddenly become more aware of that particular brand or color. You see it everywhere.
What we focus on is what we see. Or in our case, what we didn’t see.
What is right in front of you that you’re not seeing?
Thank you for joining me. I would love to hear your comments below.
Blessings for a beautiful 2015,
Pamela
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