Change is as simple as moving your gaze. When you look at a situation or a person from a different perspective, you discover new options, new motivations, and unique solutions.
Examine a Small Point of View
I am often prompted to move my gaze by something I read. A phrase, a concept, or a word resonates deeply within me and I stop what I am doing to consider it. What does that mean? How would l apply that in my life? What would I discover if I changed my perspective? I have entire articles and books and poems that have emerged from the impact on my thinking of one small word or phrase. What resonates to you out of the whole? What small concept would you like to incorporate into your life.
Change your viewpoint
I have a rocking chair in my living room. In the normal usage of the room, it faces the center of the room and thus the other chairs. I sit in that chair a lot to read. Recently I turned the chair to face a different direction. It was in the same place, it was simply turned to face another direction so that when I sat in it to read, I could easily glance up and see the birds at my feeders, or the clouds moving across the sky or the birch tree branches moving. Moving the direction that chair faced a mere 45 degrees allowed me to enjoy an entirely different view, one that had been closed off to me when I faced the “expected” direction. A different view can come from moving your gaze only a few degrees. How can you change your viewpoint.
Gain a new perspective
I avoided getting old for a long time. I hung out with younger people. I didn’t even go to the doctor because I wanted to keep holding a positive view of my life. Finally, I had to move to get closer to my children. I went through some physical stuff like knee replacement and cataracts, but then there I was, in a home with a lot of seniors wondering who I was. And I began to joke that my 5-year plan was to simply be here. That viewpoint did not lead me on any adventures. It did not open any doors. And it certainly was not at all satisfying. When a friend asked what I would like to tackle in the next 30 years it opened up such fields of possibility that my entire life changed. I had a purpose. I had interesting things I wanted to explore. I had things I wanted to produce and share. What do I want to achieve in the next 30 years? That’s a long time. How can I make an impact? How can I enrich lives? I have many skills to bring forward. I have lessons I have learned from my past. If I want to make an impact, what group of people do I want to impact and how do I want to do it? What happens if you raise your eyes and look at the next cycle of your life? How can you impact others? How many lives can you touch? What do you want to tackle in the next 30 years?
Move a few boulders
Move some of the fixed objects in your life, if not in reality, in your imagination. One boulder might be in the form of a physical activity you can no longer do the way you did when you were younger. Choose a smaller boulder to conquer.
Another boulder may be a difficult person in your life. Look for ways to flow around that barrier. Figure out ways to turn away from and go around that person.
Most boulders are placed there by you. They come from your beliefs, your fear, and your interpretation of a circumstance. That makes them extremely easy to move – you simply have to change your own thinking.
I wrote these poems 18 years ago.
On Prospective
I came to a hard place.
It was more than a bump.
It was more than a boulder.
It was like a river—
A wide gulf I could not cross.
Until I made it less significant.
Until I saw it as a creek.
As a trickle.
As a dew drop.
Then I could cross over.
© 1996 Cara Lumen
Along my path
Along my path there are many objects.
There are steep places.
There are low places.
There are boulders and ledges.
There are rockslides and canyons.
Along my path.
Sometimes I struggle on my path.
To get over or around.
To by-pass or leap over.
But always I move on.
Always I move forward.
Along my path.
When I know myself as simple energy
I can be like the fog.
Moving forward.
Filling every crevice.
Expanding into every hole, every space.
When I am energy.
When I know myself as simple energy
There is nothing to climb over
or go around.
There is simple flowing –
Flowing my energy out.
Reaching the boulders and the bumps.
Filling the ditches and the canyons.
When I know myself as energy
When I know myself as simple energy
There is no stopping.
There is only
a soft,
gentle
movement
forward.
© 1996 Cara Lumen
Get off the “safe” path
It is safer to follow the beaten path of your profession, but it certainly can be dull. What if you went exploring? What would you find? There are so many opportunities today to deeply pursue an interest, to find like-minded people and to participate with people all over the world. Look at the detours that show up and take a few of them. Explore your own potential to see what uniqueness you have to offer. Great adventure awaits you off the beaten path.
Let go of perceived limitations
It’s very easy to wallow comfortably in your present circumstances. I am surrounded by people who are simply watching where they take their next step. They never look up, they never look ahead. I nearly fell into that trap of low expectations for my life. The idea of a 30-year plan has turned me into an aging but rejuvenated energizer bunny. I have let go of all concepts of that limitations that might come with age and continually make plans to move forward as if I had all the time in the world and all the tools and insight and stamina I need to make a difference. What limitations do you perceive for yourself?
Know Yourself
If you don’t know what you want, you’ll never get it. If you don’t know what nourishes you, you’ll never attract more of it. Strengthen your practice of self-cultivation., Create your own spiritual journey.. Learn to interpret and trust your intuition. Notice how others response/react to you. Notice what they seek from you. How do you want to be in service? How do you want to shape your life in this next cycle?
Uncover your options
The best place from which to choose an option is where you are right at this moment. Explore your emotions. Examine your successes and your failures and absorb their lessons. Look into your heart and see where you want to go next. Then examine the options laid out before you and measure them with the criteria you identified. Examine how you feel right now. What do you want more of in your life? What could you do without? When you practice moving your gaze, you will begin to see all manner of new opportunities. Then you have only to choose.
Raise your expectations
My goals are simple. I want to educate, motivate and inspire people until I’m no longer in physical form. And I would love it if my words kept touching lives after that. My major purpose is to meaningfully affect lives so I’m now giving all my writing away free. I wouldn’t mind knowing of some results, like emails from readers letting me know what changed for them. That would help me better meet their needs. I expect to soar. I expect to discover new concepts, I expect to change, I expect to be a better friend, I expect a deeper spiritual life. What do you expect?
Notice how you feel
The most important part of moving your gaze is to see how you feel about the new position. When you work within your passion, when you have an impact on the people you really want to serve, it is unbelievably rewarding. If what you are doing does not feel richly satisfying, go do something else. Move your gaze. How can you better honor your talent? What new skills do you possess that could take you in a new direction. Who needs what you have to offer? Create your area of service around your strengths. Spend the majority of your time doing things that make you feel enriched.The freedom to choose and to change belongs to us. Practice moving your gaze and see where it leads you.
