Shifting the lens

So often in our modern world, we are fixated on the next moment. Where we are going. What our future holds. Our upcoming trips. Business plans. Choice of future family life. The tracts our mind can take us on, planning our lives ahead, are endless.

But what really lies beneath the surface of all this future projection?

Sometimes it’s a dissatisfaction with the present moment. Other times it’s an addiction to planning. There are a multitude of reasons why the human brain shifts into this state of being.

However what I have been reflecting on, is sometimes it can be really helpful to ask ourselves why we want the things we think we want in our lives.

And often we uncover that in actual fact it is less about the circumstances themselves and more about how we expect that they will make us feel.

And perhaps then we can consider whether these feelings are really only to be found in some distant moment far from where we are at right now, or could in actual fact be accessible to us at this present time.

For many years I held the dream of opening up a holistic wellness centre. I would write it out. Draw out floor plans. I fully, whole heartedly believed that this was where my journey was leading me.

And then I started encountering difficult workplaces. Conflict. Human dynamics at play. And over time I started to question, would I really want to manage people in this type of setting?

Time had passed. Experiences had been had. And so I had to accept that perhaps my dream had changed too.

So I think more helpful questions to ask ourselves when considering what we want from our lives are twofold.

Firstly, what do our lives want from us?

And secondly, how do we want to feel in our lives?

Our lives present us with the exact people, triggers, circumstances and events we need, to propel us to grow into the highest version of ourselves. We are here to evolve. To expand our consciousness. To connect more deeply with the awareness within. And so cultivating an acceptance that our particular life circumstances are in fact designed for us for this purpose, can be a very helpful perspective shift.

And on the question on how we want to feel… What I came up with when I asked myself this question, was love, connection, fulfilment, joy and peace. And after a bit of time I realised, through another perspective shift, that in actual fact these feelings were already present in my current life experience. That I had been holding on to the idea that a certain career outcome would be the thing to bring me these feelings states that I desired, missing that in actual fact they were already present in my life.

That I had a rich and meaningful life filled with love, connection to self and others, fulfilment through writing, teaching yoga and having heart based connections, joy and increasing moments of peace.

That by shifting my perspective, by widening the lens through which I had been viewing my life, I could start to see that the things I had been chasing were actually right in front of me! And this was irrespective of what I was actually doing in my career. Relief! Pressure off! By realising that we can access the feeling states we desire in other ways we may have considered, helps to take the pressure off finding the one thing that will bring us all the fulfilment, satisfaction, connection and feelings we seek.

And perhaps if you consider your own life in this way, by shifting the focus from an outcome based to feeling based perspective, you too might find that the things you have been searching for, are available to you right here, right now, is this present moment.