You're Better Than You Think

Paradigms and Emergence

Those who know me well, know I like to clean things out....

I clean out the old, ALL THE TIME.  My poor kids.  We are always going through the toys and clothes they no longer use, and we move them on.  I don't hold onto things that are not working for me, whether its an actual item, or a situation or idea.  Just the other day, we were talking about Winnie the Pooh movies, and we had a hankering to watch a few.  But guess what!  They were gone.  Moved on to another home.  I guess I had a longing for some of that feel good about yourself messaging that is laden in the Winnie the Pooh stories and movies.  Maybe I just was reminiscing on the little toddlers I once had in contrast to the teenagers I am about to have. 

This idea- that you are better than you think, is a prime theme in those stories.  But if you read through the Yoga Sutras, or any ancient text, or modern self help, you find the same theme.  And it may sound a bit "woo woo" or "new agey".  But maybe your oversimplifying it.  If you ever have a moment of despair, and feel like hope is lost, that you keep running into the same problems over and over in life, or  you just feel like things are not flowing well in your life, you haven't quite figured out that you are better than you think.   Maybe you need to watch some of those movies too.

I believe that the problem is that we get stuck in what we believe about ourselves, about our environment, and we just can't move past it, only because we won't let ourselves.   We get stuck because of a Paradigm.  A Paradigm is a distinct concept or thought pattern.  We believe that these paradigms are true to the core and there is no possible way anything could be different.  We might believe something about ourselves, "I can't do ...."  "I am only good at..."  "This is what I am."  It doesn't matter what it is.  What matters is that we don't think anything else is possible.   Pick a core thought about yourself, one that might be limiting you in some way.  What if it wasn't true?  How do you know, without a shadow of a doubt, beyond 100%, that its always true?  And what, just what if, it wasn't true.  What would your life look like in that case?  Play this out for yourself, and watch your paradigm shift...

In yoga we say its most important to be aware of what is happening.  We don't even need the intention of changing it, we just need to be aware of our thoughts around it.  This paradigm is the key to the yoga practice. Action happens, change happens, simply by the ever deepening layers of knowing that we have thoughts but they don't always have to be TRUE.  We see our true state is beyond what our thought state is, and in this way we become better than we think. Emergence:  the process of coming into view or becoming exposed after being concealed.   WE step into our biggest self, our most important self that feels connected, we EMERGE.

Emerge with me...

Inspiration in a mustard seed...

I have a theory of life.  That we all long to connect and to live a life of meaning and inspiration.  Now these might seem like HUGE topics that are overwhelming, some grand life event, but think about it for a minute.  How often does a tiny moment inspire you?  This morning, a friend reached out to me to ask how she can make her days more stress free.  She was going though a rough time, and she needed a boost.  I spent a few minutes typing out how a regular yoga practice and meditation really can help, I said a mantra can make a world of difference, and gave her some ideas, and offered her a video on EFT tapping, and she perked right up.   It went a little further, after she said she was trying to help everyone, I said you really can only help yourself.  The rest was their work.  Her perspective changed. There was hope.  I told her just a few minutes of consistent practice can change her life, and then to let that radiate to those in need.  It felt great to a: connect with her, she's all the way across the world!  and b: feel like I was helping through this struggle, even if in a tiny way.  She perked up after reaching out to connect, and knew that someone was behind her and giving her a boost.

This all happened in a span of about 2 minutes.  I felt inspired.  There was meaning in that moment. If we can just find the tiny moments to connect, if we focus on them, we can watch that effort grow exponentially in our lives.  It depends on what story you want playing in your head, and where you choose to put your attention.  I remember having a bracelet my grandmother gave me.  There was a tiny glass ball, and a note etched on a little golden plate: "If ye have faith as large as a mustard seed, no thing is impossible".  Those words etched themselves onto the plate of my mind.  Inspiration can be tiny.  But it grows.  It isn't always the big moments that make our lives magical.  Its usually the tiny ones.  Watch for them.