Beyond The Limited:Practical Steps

In my previous article, "Moving Beyond the Limited", I talked about how getting what we want in life can often be sabotaged by the existence of deeper underlying fears and beliefs that we may not even be conscious of and that these need to be brought to light and cleared in order to achieve what it is we truly desire.

So how can we do this on a practical level?

Well, let me give you an example of something that happened to me the other day which might help to put it all in perspective. I recently came out of hospital after major surgery for a total hip replacement. Whilst I was away my partner had worked very hard to make the bedroom as comfortable as possible for my return and convalesence, putting down new flooring and refreshing the layout, including, for my convenience, the construction of a very functional and well-crafted bedside table on wheels.

However on the very day that I arrived home I found him suffering quite badly from a flu virus that resulted in swollen tonsils and aching muscles and so he was in need of rest and recuperation himself.

This immediately 'triggered' in me the old lament - just like the song - that he (i.e the whole world!) wasn't available just when I needed him most. I was flooded with feelings of being abandoned and alone and with an unfulfilled yearning to be rescued and comforted. Neeedless to say the by now all too familiar tears welled up and overwhelmed me, leaving me to feel an utter and total victim to my perceived 'lot'.

And with the increase in emotional pain came a corresponding increase in tiredness and physical pain in and around the newly replaced hip.

I could have stayed there wallowing in this state, feeling sorry for myself and remaining a victim to pain ... and many years ago I would have definitely remained stuck in this miserable condition for quite some time. After all it was a well learned family pattern. Who am I to be disloyal!

But this time I was well prepared, after years of personal growth experience behind me and some excellent tools I could use to change things around. One of these is the practice of AWARENESS. This involves slowing down enough to listen to the body and its emotional responses, noticing its reactions but from a place slightly removed, as an observer or witnesser and this helped me to disengage from being completely immersed in or overtaken by the experience, enough to make use of another very simple yet very effective practice of making the choice to focus my thoughts on SOMETHING BETTER THAN IT

And according to the Law of Attraction the best way to attract what you want into your life is to always start by looking for thoughts that are better than the current negative ones (even if only slightly better)

So I chose to remember all of the heartfelt effort that my partner had put into making life comfortable for me, despite the fact that he wasn't well.

I'd like to add that, in reality, I didn't IMMEDIATELY go to a place of supreme ecstasy and joy. The addictive 'pull' towards feeling abandoned was quite strong - maybe because there was a higher percentage of 'abandonment' vs 'joy-receiving' receptor cells clustered together on the surface of the cells in my body, linked to thoughts and learned beliefs about 'support' in my body structure

But it did enable me, as a first step to GO INTO NEUTRAL - neither deeply sad nor
blissfully happy - and then from there it became much easier to make the transition to feeling joyful which I accessed -now that I was no longer held back by heavy feelings of abandonment and such - by making a conscious choice to appreciate the beautiful flowers in the room that had been sent by various dear friends to wish me well.

With this transition came ease of physical pain too.

So if you find yourself hooking into a particular way of thinking that you know doesn't serve you, that maybe even sends you on a downward spiral to feeling hurt or angry or lost and alone, that somehow you can't seem to get out of even though you really want to be happy and joyful, it is no use beating yourself up for not being able to just 'snap out of it'.

This will just make things worse because you are still focused on the negative and on the problem. In fact the body's addiction to bad feelings may even be leading you to make things worse by inviting self-criticism. Maybe this feels somehow friendly and familiar in a funny kind of way.

The way to get out of this spiral is to let yourself become aware of what is
hooking you and how you are responding to it.

You could try taking a few deep breaths and this will give you some space to reflect and start listening to and observing what's going on inside. This will help you to disengage enough to turn your attention to thoughts that are better than where you are currently, even if just slightly better. You could, for example, bring to mind a time when you watched a magnificent sunset or listened to some beautiful music or looked into the delightful eyes of an innocent child, or even just concentrate on your breath which can be quite calming. By the law of attraction such thoughts will magnetise more thoughts and feelings towards you that are of similar nature and you will begin to feel much better.

It is something that needs to be practised and this practice can be enhanced with other useful tools and processes such as various forms of energy medicine. Over time, as you come to embody what is essentially the Truly Abundant and Joyful Being that you are at heart, you will find yourself naturally coming to a place of peace within yourself and the world, able to attract towards you whatever you desire

Wishing you much love, light and laughter

Joy

P.S Please feel free to comment or pass this on. I would love to get your feedback