What if I told you that training yourself to stay open and to hear your inner voice could help you ground yourself and have access to living a more positive life?
I read something today that spoke to me on this topic and I want to share what I experienced with you.
The piece was about feeling overwhelmed because we try endlessly to have all the answers, solve every problem and figure things out. Including things that are far beyond our control. Which is frustrating and nerve-wracking (and exhausting).
The point that hit home for me was how important it is to bring our focus back to staying open.
Open to our own inner wisdom.
It’s always there, it just gets drowned out in the chaos of our busy minds.
“People need to know that they have all the tools within themselves.” – Deepak Chopra
So, what does it mean to stay open?
Let me back up for a minute and explain: I’m writing this as I sit in an ambulatory surgery waiting area while my middle son is undergoing surgery. I’m anxious (that’s putting it mildly) and praying for his safe and successful surgery.
But if that’s not enough to be fretting about, at the same time, my mind is darting to worry about my elderly mother and how to make her feel more loved and comfortable, and help her better cope with this time in her life as she slowly loses ground to dementia.
On top of that, my thoughts went to my ten-year old dog who is literally on his last leg as his hips are slowly giving out. And how can I possibly be so heartless as to go to the beach this summer with my family and leave him behind with a dog sitter…
My mind was frazzled with a zillion worries as I nervously flipped through my phone and stumbled upon the piece about the calming effects of staying open.
I quickly slammed my eyes shut and took a few deep breaths…
I imagined my mind opening up to hear my own inner voice of wisdom. (I knew there had to be some in there!)
I immediately felt a wave of gratitude. As I sat alone in a cold over air-conditioned waiting room, I felt an immense, warm and fuzzy blanket of thankfulness envelope me .
I started thinking about how blessed I am.
How grateful I am to have the option of this surgery for my son. To have health insurance, even if it’s not the best, and the ability to slowly pay off the cost of the remaining deductible.
How thankful I am to have my mom. Even with the challenges aging has brought her.
How much I love my dog and how blessed I am for the many years I’ve been able to look into his sweet brown eyes.
How instantly grounded that intuitive voice made me feel when I gave it enough space to hear it. How the wisdom of gratitude calmed and soothed me. Yes, I still have all the problems I had a few minutes before, but…
My problems are so flipping small! Things could be so much worse.
I realize your problems on this particular day may be much bigger than mine. But I encourage you to stay open. After you swing down to feel the low, rise up to stay open to new thought and a fresh perspective.
We can all use the reminder, especially in moments of emotional chaos, to pause, close our eyes and breathe. Listen for that inner voice that intuitively wants to give us grace and ground us. That can count out and remind us of our numerous blessings.
The ability to stay open to that voice is not an inborn talent.
It’s work. It takes deliberate, conscious practice to bring yourself out of panic, anxiety, fear, and to pause, breathe and to open up.
“We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
Practicing visualization and using affirmations are also helpful in welcoming our inner voice to speak to us for our highest good.
Learning to stay open won’t stop the challenges and anxiety. We’ll never be perfect and neither will our life be. We are continually evolving. Sometimes making magic, sometimes screwing up.
Dwelling on our challenges and deficits helps absolutely nothing.
It makes us feel heavy and incapable. And can stop us from seeing the truth of what our priorities are (which I guarantee do not match up with the ones that fill our to-do lists.)
As I wait and pray for my son in surgery, I’m also thinking about you. You, who I may not know personally, but I know you are enough like me to be reading this. And so, I know that you, like me, need to hear a kind and supportive word. That you, like me, need to be reminded of how you can feel more positive, stay open, live more fully and consciously, and hear your inner wisdom more clearly.
“Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cheers to finding gratitude amidst our never-ending challenges, to staying open, and to allowing ourselves to hear our inner voices and let them give us grace and ground us. <3
– Marlene
(PS. He’s now out of surgery and I am even more grateful to report that all went well!)
FREE DOWNLOAD
Looking for immediate inspiration to help you think more positively?
This free sheet will give you 11 self-affirmations to help you begin to shift your mindset and turn down the negative self-talk (so you can get your kick-butt mojo flowing!)
You will also receive a once-a-week blog post update so you can be kept in the loop on new stories and offers.
Your email information will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
