- We can do life differently with conscious thinking
George is an extraordinary teacher for us all given your responses to last week’s post, To create, we have to think more.
Wilma’s day out with George highlighted how much we go about our day relying on auto pilot and hence shutting off opportunity to create, be present or do things differently.
Diantha said it so well “It takes a George now and then to wake us up out of our dream state we often live in doesn’t it!”
There were a great number of realizations in what was said in the comments.
Our collective understanding is extremely encouraging given that this conversation is about change and doing life differently. It is the continued generosity of the sharing that gives us such powerful insights into ourselves.
We are deepening our understanding here and together we are coming to grips with what ‘being present’ actually means and what is required from our self in order to do creative thinking everyday.
Normally I wouldn't think, I would panic, get annoyed at the rain and everybody else but not today. Today I thought and gracefully dealt with it.
It is amazing what a break in routine did for me.
It showed me how much routine I have in my life and how much I rely on my auto pilot, thus ruining my chances to do things differently and consciously create my life.
I, like most of us, have a very established routine around shopping for example.
I prefer to go to the same supermarket.
I know where everything is; I mostly buy the same things every time I go.
I even park in the same part of the carpark, so I do not have to pay attention to where I park the car.
This whole familiar routine allows me to switch onto auto pilot and I do.
I never prepare or make a list; I just go and walk along the shelves with my hand automatically reaching out to grab the same old products.
It works.
I am barely conscious and while in this sleep-walking trance I get my shopping done without much effort.
But with little chance to create, be present or to do things differently either.
- What is it that we are creating?
In this week’s post Context is King Wilma explained how choosing the context we live in leads to possibilities and being the change we want to see.
She did warn however that we must choose our context very carefully and surround ourselves with talk of abundance, freedom and possibilities and avoid idle talk of lack, duty and what is NOT possible.
We all related to this and shared how we’ve had a context at one point or another in our lives that did not serve us.
Peggy made this comment; “I had this scarcity mentality…and it made me feel and act small and petty. …I have been fortunate to meet and surround myself with people who think in terms of abundance and gratitude rather than lack and scarcity. I can tell you that my life has changed for the better just by changing the context in which I have the conversation.”
- Different context, different conversation, new experience. John picking apples.
“Our context either holds us firmly where we are or allows us to become the change we want to see.”
(WomenLikeMe on Context is King –How to use it Powerfully)
To become the change you want to see, you have to carefully choose the context you live in. For most of us it is the context that either eggs us on or drags us back.
And with context I am referring to the daily conversations you are having.
I came to New Zealand to live differently but all I managed to do was live a similar life in another country. Big deal!
Nothing changed because the conversations I had with my ex-husband and with friends were the same as I had in Holland.
The conversations focused on problems and never on possibility and solutions.
Living was fearful and even with money in the bank scarcity conversations prevailed and change became impossible.
The conversation was certainly not directed at trust, abundance and joy; it was on worry, what could go wrong and doing it all myself.
Do your conversations have you do life differently?
Wilma introduced another aspect of change in this week’s post Don’t let change in your circumstances fool you.
We were all in agreement that we can be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that we are changing just because our environment has.
Jodi captured it beautifully; “Wherever you go, there you are” with Lisa, Chris and Nadia echoing the same sentiments.
We realized that change comes from within first and shows up in our daily ongoing conversations that we have with our self and others.
Yet we could see how our conversations can be so invisible to us at times, how life can plod along on auto pilot and as Wilma put it; “life happens to us, rather than us being constantly aware of how we are creating it”
Even this was not enough to change me, it has been the daily conversations that really made me change.
We want to live fearlessly in pursuit of our dreams. Don’t we?
We want to let go of the struggle of daily life. Don’t we?
We want to have our daily lives be different from what we are doing? Don’t we?
How come, being the change I want to see, is not as easy as it sounds?
How come I cannot do things differently and keep doing things I do not want to do?
Because Context is King.
WomenLikeMe on ‘Context is King; How to use it powerfully’ has this to say;
“The context is determined by our daily conversations.”
Huh?
Although we all want to be free from our money worries, although we all want to be free from diseases, although we all want to be free to follow our passion, it is our context -which is our everyday conversations about what preoccupies us in our daily life- that is firmly holding us where we are.
Let me illustrate the power of our context, the power of our daily conversations.
Change starts within first
Wilma’s post A whole new world, a whole new community, certainly got a reaction from you this week.
The post is a realization that change must begin at grass roots level, within us and in our immediate world.
Wilma explained why we have been set up, from an early age to fail at it and why we need to be vigilant with ourselves, be patient, not be deterred by the world’s problems and remain focused.
Once we declare our possibility for change, our context plays a huge role.
To keep possibility continuously alive in conversations, to learn the skills to connect with people right in front of us, to have sponsorship and take actions is not an easy feat, not at all.
With that said, it does amount to fundamental change in the end.
RSS
