What if…(some good thing)

When I was a public school teacher, if I described something new that would be happening, the student reaction was the same whether it was a good thing; field trip, kickball game, or party—or a possible bad thing; test coming up, new unit, new kid. When I asked, “Questions?”

Pause. Then, almost without fail, “What if (insert catastrophic possibility)?” When I was a newbie teacher, I entertained those ‘what if’ questions with sincere answers, but after awhile, I tilted my head with, “Not playing the what if game, any more non what if questions?”

Our brains are hardwired for the negative, the possibility of the worst thing. Survivally minded, our instinctual brain shoots those ‘what if’ scenarios front and center whenever even the teeniest bit of threat is sensed. If you are prone to anxiety mind like me, you know these thoughts can spin around and around til you just can’t take it any more, so you dive into distraction, or comforting habits, play the blame game, or pretend any problems just don’t exist.

But what if….. the power to change really is in our hands? Or, more specifically, in our eyes? What if my choice of where and what to focus on, what to see, can shift my attitude, my reactions, and my empowered sense of capacity?

Try this: think about a ‘what if’ scenario concerning a problem in your life with work, relationships, health, resources, maybe the world. Quick, before you start the drowning mind spin and inevitable search for comfort, lift your eyes. That’s right, just simply lift your focus as if you were looking into your own forehead. Then, lift your eyelids and eyebrows, just a tiny bit. Stay there, soften your shoulders, and breathe evenly for a minute or two. Go ahead, try it, I will be right here waiting for you.

Our consciousness rests just behind the eyes, between the ears, where our brain is taking in sense information and processing it. If we simply lift our gaze, consciously shifting upward, we are changing the rhythmic energy of our heads. This is a mindful moment, where the patterns of ‘what if’ thinking get a little pause. This is blue sky space, the field of all possibility the ancient mystics wrote about. Experiment with where to place your inner eye attention, as you shift your awareness around in the head, maybe further back, or higher up, you will find that softening space where cares disappear. All of us have this energetic capacity to connect to a space above our busy thinking mind. The more you practice, the easier it gets to access, and the more resilience and spaciousness you begin to enjoy.

Now the fun part begins. All change starts with the imagination, working with the subtle energy world of spirit. When we allow ourselves the time and space to daydream, or place intention into our night dreams before we fall asleep, we are calling into being a new way to live our lives. This is working with energy, so the focus in not on things I want to get or have, not on needs or wants, the focus here is how it will feel when I have the abundant life I seek. The question I am asking is, “What if I have the fulfilling relationship I dream of? How will it feel to be in that experience? How will I see the world, myself, others? What if I am already loved, admired, celebrated, and chosen?”

What if I am already blessed, abundant, and joyful, and what I need is to shift my gaze?

What if?

This is powerful work, and practice makes this shift profound, but humans also need support on the path to greater awareness, presence and joy. If working with me, either in a group, class, or one to one calls to you, please check out my offerings on my event page here, or classes online and in person here, or intuitive healing sessions here.

May our hearts be woven, our minds open, our spirits free.

love and light, Terra Lea