Keeping in the Clear by Linda Nija Nations
Did you know … That which you focus on, becomes your reality? Lately I have been stuck in a sticky mess, not of my making. I have had the image of a cartoon character attempting to move forward with goop, like slime, coming off her back, arms, and the bottom of her feet, holding her back and making it impossible to move. Then I learned something very interesting: Although it is not my slime, it becomes mine the second I focus on it. Today I took my usual walk in the woods this morning with Ellie, my girl doggie. She was bounding ahead focusing on anything that moved, finding interesting smells, marking her territory, and grinning from ear to ear. I decided to do something similar. I took a deep breath, breathed it out while saying in my mind, “I release whatever doesn’t belong to me. I choose to focus right here, right now, being in the moment with every step I take.” On several inhales, I pulled the white light of God/Goddess/the Universe down through the top of my head and sent it out through my legs and feet, into the ground, effectively grounding me. I continued to walk, breathing fully and focusing on my surroundings. Suddenly a bird I have never seen before landed on the top wire of a fence two feet away and looked directly at me, chirping loudly. I talked to it, saying: “You are so beautiful. Thank you for visiting me. It stayed right there another full minute before it flew away. Ah, confirmation. In the moment is where true happiness lies. The muck was gone.
Another technique I have often taught my clients is to imagine that the person you are having difficulty with is casting a fishing line right toward your mouth, or even better, throwing a pile of sh…t at you. Your job is to just step aside and let it go by. If you are sitting down, lean to one side or lift your feet, or duck, as if to pick something up off the ground. Imagine that stuff flying right by you. I used to use a small pillow, tossing it at my client and even though she or he knew what it represented, she would go out of her way to catch it! Yuk!
I find when I am focusing outside myself, getting wrapped up in other people’s problems to the point where I begin to feel their pain, sometimes I only have to pull my focus into myself, breathe slowly, be in the moment, and the pain I only moments before was experiencing, is suddenly gone. The heaviness is gone, my lightness is back. I can still be empathetic with others, a good thing to be, so long as it is not a constant state of being. Sometimes we need to just dance with joy with the animals and other joyful friends. It is sympathy, the taking on of others pain, that gets us in trouble and wears us down.
Life can be full of beauty, joy, and amazing connections with humans and animals when we focus on the light, not the darkness.
I am available to do counseling and life coaching with you if you need a guide to help you dance your way into the light. Call me at (970) 823-0124 for a no cost interview.
