Perspective! - Personal Practice

I know how I see life!

I’m clear on what my journey has been and my experience and intuition guide me!

Then I take a step back and notice that my behavior and my decisions when faced with choice are guided by perspective.  My Perspective!

How do I open up and allow a new perspective?  There are infinite possibilities when faced with choice and I let my emotions get all tangled up in the direction I’m taking based on past lessons.

So, I decide to listen to new perspectives.  I decide to take time to really listen and not interrupt others, even thought I want to interrupt.  I want to interrupt because I have perspective and experience to share that might help someone else.

But I’m trying to learn something new!  I’m trying to quite my mind and listen.  I find it very hard!  My ego is shouting to me that “I know best!”

Still I stop.  I regroup and remind myself I’m practicing listening to others.

I’m working on opening my mind to something new.  I’m working on the possibility of gaining new insight and a new approach to an old challenge.

I value the people I’ve asked for a new perspective from in the past.  And I find that they have begun to “know me” and may be feeding me information they “think” I want to hear.  So I seek out people I respect that I have not asked for perspective from in the past.  I listen to what they think.

I’m challenging myself to try something new and to allow new opportunities for my life.

I find my brain almost hurts with the influx of new thoughts and I struggle to let go of the definitions I have of myself and the definitions I let others use to describe me.

I’m trying to open up and it’s difficult.

I take one day at a time and encourage myself to continue with the practice of gaining new perspectives!

Perspective! - Yoga Lesson

Perspective is so personal!

We all like to think we have the best perspective on things.

Why not open up and listen to someone with regard to their perspective on a subject?

Or, take your perspective and talk about it with someone to see what they think about your perspective?

Opening up and allowing yourself to be challenged by a different point of view can be daunting.

However, you may gain insight and have the opportunity to take your journey in a new direction with a fresh perspective.

Pick a perspective you have on something or someone and challenge it by allowing someone else to provide their perspective.

Give it a try!  

Sharing - Personal Practice

Opening up and letting someone else know my deepest thoughts can be terrifying!

Sharing all that I hope for in life has been something I reserve for discussions in which I pose as someone sharing the “wouldn’t it be cool if” mentality.  This way I had an out if the other person I shared with thought my hopes were silly.

I started to realize I was doing this.  I was protecting myself.  

I noticed I had no voice when it came to expressing my hearts desires for my life.

But how was I going to change this?  How was I going to start sharing and believing in my dreams?

I had to get clarity.  I had to practice saying out loud what I wanted with people I trust.

I felt silly, but I kept doing it!  I kept practicing!

Then sharing started to come easier and easier with people that had known me for a long time.

Now the challenge was getting my voice to share with those who have not known me.

This added a new element to believing in me and my dreams.

I decided to take a chance and start being vocal about what I want out of life.

I’m amazed at how receptive people are!

The challenge for me now is to continue to express myself, even though I’m still stumbling.  I’m getting used to sharing.  It’s still a challenge and I believe will continue to be for a little while longer.

I have time.  I have lots of time to practice sharing what I want out of life.

I just need to Practice!

Sharing! - Yoga Lesson

Sharing can be so difficult!  

Especially when we think of all the inconveniences sharing might cause us.

When you catch yourself thinking of the inconvenience of sharing, why not think about the rewards instead?

Sharing takes many different forms and the difference you make by sharing is a far greater reward than the time you save by not sharing.  

Why not share today?

Help! - Personal Practice

I use to find asking for help a very hard endeavor, as for most of my life I either expected it or refused to ask for help from those in my life.

In certain relationships I would expect help, and when I did not receive it I would act like a martyr and pout if it was not provided.  Even though the person I expected it from had no idea of my expectations for help.

In other relationships I would refuse to ask for help.  I would struggle and make my life miserable in an attempt to do what ever I needed help with on my own.

And in many situations, if I was offered help, I would start to sweat and get nervous.  I would think to myself, I have to do this on my own and I feel stupid that this person knows I need help.  I physically and emotionally became very uncomfortable and upset.

I refused to admit to myself that I needed help.

I even refused to ask a higher power for help.

Then there was the day that I could not take my life as it was any longer.  I was at a dead end and needed to figure a way out of a predicament.

I asked for help from friends that I would never have asked for help from before.  In fact I would go out of my way to offer help to them, but never accept it if they offered.

The response was amazing!  They opened their hearts to me fully and I felt overwhelmed by the amazing response to my request.

This was a pivotal turning point in my life.  I realized the power of asking for help!

Asking for help has been a journey for me.  At times I still struggle with the concept of help, even after years of practice.

There are times when I still sweat when someone offers help.  As well I struggle to ask for help when I need it.

I notice when I struggle after taking the time to acknowledge I have this issue of asking for help.  

I continue to learn about myself and know myself.  

I continue to practice.

Help! - Yoga Lesson

Help is often a hard thing to ask for.  

We learn to expect help or to not ask for it, all in an effort to avoid saying the words “I need help”.

Why not ask?  Why not put yourself out on limb and be honest when you are in need?

It could be as simple as saying out loud to yourself that you need help.

Amazing things happen when you ask for help!

Ask!

Talk About It! - Personal Practice

I found my mind wondering with all the “if this, then that” scenarios of life. 

I’d been trying to play out every situation and how it will most likely end in the long term to ensure I know where I stand.

I use to do this without talking about how I feel about specific “things” with others in my life.  

Now I recognize this behavior and I’m practicing opening up and communicating.

I’d found myself a bit lost and uncertain because I’d been trying to find control around something I have no control over.  

I’ve recognized that I’m creating my own issues with lack of communication.  

I am asking myself to live in the moment and let go of the control and the fear of the unknown.  I’m asking myself to refrain from recreating past scenarios and let this one play out as it is unique.

I’m writing my concerns down and giving myself time to think about them.

I’m writing my goals down and making adjustments as I see fit.  It’s been a while since I last did this.  I’m giving myself time to do this and think about it.

I’m reminding myself that change is something I can count on and I can embrace it and accept that it may be a bit uncomfortable.

I’m being gentle on myself by reminding myself that I don’t have to have all the answers now.

I’m taking a hard look at myself and my behavior now, my past behavior, and reminding myself that no one is perfect and I can relate to the “perfectly human imperfections” in others.

I am asking myself the hard questions to clarify what is truly important in life.

I am reminding myself that each moment is special and should be treated so.  Even the moments I don’t like so much I’m working to find peace in.

I am practicing acceptance of myself and others.

I am communicating, even if it is only with myself to start.

Talk About It! - Yoga Lesson

So often we let things go unsaid.  We miss the opportunity to express ourselves or say how we feel.

When identifying something you would like to discuss.  Why not let others know you would like to do so?  

You can tell them you need time before you are ready to discuss the something with clarity, but you would like to sometime in the future when you are ready.

There is no time limit on open communication.

Opening the lines of communication and expressing yourself may aid you in peace of mind.

Why not Talk About It!