How to see opportunity amidst chaos

Do you feel like your mind has been stretched to the limit by what we’re collectively experiencing these days? Do you feel sometimes like the world is standing still and other days like it’s moving out of control?  Are you having difficulty coping with all the unknowns?

Well, I’m going to ask you to stretch your mind a little bit further. You’ll be glad you did.

When you stretch your mind, you stretch your perspective.  And when you experience new ways of operating or when you allow new information to percolate and be absorbed, you actually change. You are not the same person as you were before the new information or experience.  You’ve evolved.

That’s what nature is all about.  And we’re all changing at an accelerated rate right now whether we are conscious of it or not.

So today, I’m asking that you expand your mind even further, but with intention.  I’m asking you to imagine a new way of being once this global health crisis is behind us.  I’m asking you to see the opportunity.

For every challenge, disappointment or loss, ask yourself,

“What opportunity is revealing itself to me?”

Just as businesses are having to rethink how to do business, you and I need to rethink how to do life.  Not just the day-to-day adjustments that you may feel that you have no control over.  I’m asking that you take this time to do some inner work – the kind of work that enables you to see the big picture and your new role in it.  This is what I mean.

When we learn to accept that life is not the same as it was before and we release the need to try and control things, we release ourselves from pushing against the stream, so to speak.  We allow new ideas, inspiration and opportunities to flow to us more readily. Then our only job is to notice and act upon them.

Here are a few ways I’ve found to help me let go and open up so I can feel and see the opportunities more clearly.

Meditation is a big one.  Once you quiet the ego mind from telling you stories that aren’t true, it’s easier to hear the messages your soul is trying to tell you.  That you are safe.  That you are worthy.  That this too shall pass.

For me, walking or sitting in nature is deeply meditative. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, open your ears to the messages.  Nature heals and reveals like nothing else.

I also find that writing, sewing, and other creative pursuits offer a much-needed diversion from thoughts of scarcity and worry.  And when your mind is expanding in a creative way, you feel more joy.  Joy fortifies whereas worry weakens.

Reading inspirational wisdom books is another one of my favourite ways to stretch my mind.  In fact, that’s the way I begin my day. I devote at least one hour every morning for reading. Sure I get up an hour earlier to make sure I am not rushed, but the expansion I receive from this daily ritual reveals itself to me in profound ways throughout the day.

Right now, I have five books on the go, and I read one chapter from each book every morning.  Maybe one of these might call out to you:

• The Tao Te Ching with translation by Ralph Alan Dale
• Power Freedom and Grace by Deepak Chopra
• The Voice of Knowledge by Don Miguel Ruiz
• There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem by Wayne Dyer
• The Way of the Wizard by Deepak Chopra.

I’ve had all of these books for many years, but each time I read them, something new is revealed.  All in perfect timing for when I’m ready for the message.

So I ask you, is there a creative project you’ve been putting off that might be the catalyst you need right now to stretch your mind and help you see new ways of being?

Are their books on your bookshelf that have been calling out to you to read?  Perhaps one of the ones I have mentioned in this blog. And of course there is my own book Being Joy™ that you might also find helpful.

Whether you choose to adopt a meditation practice, begin a new creative project, read an inspirational book, or simply observe the pace of nature, you will be expanded through the experience.  And that’s how using the power of your own creative mind will open your eyes to a new way of being so that you can truly remember your joy!

Love from your Joy Mama,

P.S.   If you need a bit more inspiration on how to transform your life during these times of upheaval, my book might help.

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Image courtesy of Pixabay.