How Much Do You Notice?

Often we go through our day not seeing what is around us.  It is there, but we just don't see and notice it.  We're too busy in our minds to stop and observe.

I see it every day with people.  The birds chirping outside.  The trees swaying from the breeze.  The sun shining down and giving us warmth.  The clouds forming different shapes in the sky.  All of these things are around us, but we're too busy to notice.

We get on our phones and we're walking down the street texting away, but oblivious to anything else going on.  Our thumbs and neck muscles work harder than our minds.

We get on social media and we comment, share, and like everything about the latest "news storm" of the day, yet we don't fully engage.  We don't notice the bigger picture of what is around us.  We are so microscopically focused on only the rants and raves of the day.

So darn disconnected from it all...

We get in our cars and we turn on the radio, but we never stop to truly notice things around us.  There may be someone that needs some help, or a homeless person that has lost their way.  There may be other things going on around us, but we're just so darn disconnected from it all.  We don't notice.

There is so much going on and if we don't take time to stop and observe it, we are really robbing ourselves of the human experience.  We're not meant to stare at our phones constantly or go from one busy task to another.

Meant to find balance...

We are meant to find balance in our lives as humans.  One of the ways to do this is by stopping and observing what is going on in the world around us.

Most of the latest news rants and political firestorms are nothing but ego, fear, and greed competing for dominance.  They are not as critical to life's sustenance as we think they are.

An experiment...

Try and experiment if you will.  Time yourself if it helps for you to do this little experiment.  Take one minute when you step out the door of your house to notice one thing.  Maybe what you will notice is a bird, a flower or a tree.  Maybe it is the blue sky or the clouds.  Maybe it is a sound.  Whatever it is, just take one minute to notice it.

 

Then on the way home from work, stop and take one minute to notice one thing before getting into your car.  See how it makes you feel.  See if you can breathe into it.

Just stop and ask, listen, and connect.

I've got a feeling one minute will go by very quickly.  More than likely it will change your view and perspective for the day.  More than likely, you'll let go of some of the stress of the day and refocus and center yourself.

You'll most likely find the balance that human body so badly needs, especially in these days of nonstop destruction of our time and attention.

So, go ahead.. try the experiment.  Comment below with what you found.  I'm anxious to hear it.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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What Have You Learned Today?

We go through our days and do we stop to account for them?  Do we ever stop to think, what have I learned today?  Its almost like we just go from one day to the next, doing this task and that task without stopping to notice what we have learned.

The days do get busy.  I will grant you that.  Sometimes it is hard to find time to stop and reflect.  The kids need this ready for the next day.  The boss is emailing us late at night with a question that he needs answered.  We've got household chores to do, bills to pay, groceries to get, and many other things to finish.

Yet, if we don't stop and take notice of our day, we're missing out on so much.  We are giving up a big part of our life's experience that we will never get back.  When that day is done, there is no way to go back and redo it once again.  You either grab it while you have it, or you can just cross it off of your day calendar.

Opportunity...

Stopping to focus on what you have learned today gives you the opportunity to gain so much more out of your day.  It allows you to be a participant, rather than an observer going from one moment to the next.  It gives you a chance to embrace tomorrow with more knowledge than you have today.

Possibility...

Stopping to focus on what you learned today helps you to see the possibilities that lie ahead.  It helps you find the answers you seek to moments and experiences and situations in your day.  Without stopping to reflect, you miss those moments and they could end up becoming a key piece of your life's puzzle.

My question to you today is "what have you learned"?  Please leave a comment below and share your reflections of what you have learned today.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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What Happened Before You Noticed The Pain

We don't ask ourselves this question enough and so we go through life not connecting outside forces with internal body pain.  The question that is the most helpful when you notice body pain or a an emotional state that is taking you down is, "what happened before you noticed the pain?"

It sounds too simple, right?  It sounds too much like new age thinking, right?

Unfortunately, it is more grounded and connected in reality and in your body than anything remotely connected with simplicity or new age thoughts.

I through I knew how to relax...

I know, I know - I was one that talked the talk, but I didn't truly understand the concept I'm writing about here.  I thought I knew how to relax and let go of stress.  I thought I was connected to my body and knew myself well.  I thought I had life all together.

Unfortunately I was anything but that.  My own ego led me to believe that when I thought this way, I was strong.  I was anything but strong.  Yes, I played the role well and I convinced and fooled many people.  Most importantly, I was just fooling myself.

So now that we have the basic foundation down, please know that most of us do exactly what it is that we don't think we do.  Hey, its part of the human experience.  It is part of being human and living in a human body.  Its part of the process of becoming more than we are today in this moment.

What happened before you noticed the pain?

If you really want to understand pain that you're feeling, ask the question, "what happened before you noticed the pain?"  What was going on right before it.  What emotional things were you dealing with and what stresses were there.

If you can't think of anything, start to list events that were taking place right before you began to notice the pain.  Make a time line of what transpired and when.  It will help you see it because all too often, we just don't want to see it.  We struggle to see it.  We have difficulty in making that connection.  Even if the event seems too insignificant, jot it down in your timeline.  It may be the combinations of little events that show the greater picture.

Becoming aware of what was happening right before the pain or emotional state kicked up will shed light on the mind-body connection.  It will show you what up close and person what events and experiences have connected with something you feel in your body or mind.

It's important to make that connection...

While we may discount events and experiences and question why or how they could impact us, the important part is to make that connection.  Sometimes these things connect with other neural pathways and bring out the pain or body issue that we've been hiding and disconnecting from in our life.

You might not magically change the pain or emotional state of mind at that instant, but it gives you the opportunity to start rewiring the brain and taking back the control.  It is a process that the more you do this, the more in touch you become with your internal body.  The more in touch you become, the more power you possess to change things from what they are to what they can be.

Asking and questioning what happened before you noticed the pain is the way to connect the body and mind together.  It is the way to see things more clearly and help lead you on a path of self-discovery bringing you to the answers and possibilities before you.

Yes, it does sound too simple to be true.  Yes, you may question if this idea is true or not and the only thing I can say, is begin to test it out within yourself.  See how it works for you.  Leave the doubt behind and focus on what you allow your mind to see and your body to feel.  If at first you don't succeed with it, keep trying because I promise you that there is a connection there.

We are taught to fear the pain coming up...

Recently I had another situation prove this to me once again.  I had to make a decision and take some actions that were very difficult.  In the process I ended up with severe back pain.  When I began to finally make the connection between the difficulty of what was going on in my life at that moment and when the pain started, it was then that things started the process of improving.  It didn't happen in two seconds, but the process of moving out of the pain started.

We all are taught to fear the pains that come up.  Again, this is a biological mechanism of being human in a human body.  We are not taught from birth onward that we have much more control over our physical body and mind then we realize.

Our body and our mind can take us down.  I know that from experience.  I also know now that our body and mind can bring us back and lift us to greater heights.  It doesn't mean it is easy, but it does mean it is possible.

This blog post on "Observing Stress In My Body" may also shed some additional information on this subject.

(click image to read)

Allow yourself to connect with what is going on with the outside world while seeing where it connects to your internal world.  The connection is there.  It may not be easy to find in the beginning, but keep practicing it and I guarantee you that your outlook will change and so will your life.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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