In this Moment Where All Things are Possible!
"In this moment, where all things are possible..." I have been using this statement at the end of the guided meditations that I lead in my yoga classes. Each time I say it, I ask myself, "Is this really true? How does this show up in my life?"
I went to a Jack Canfield workshop in August of 2016, hard to believe it was nearly 10 years ago. It was entitled "Breakthrough to Success." Canfield stepped into national recognition when his co-authored book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, sold 500 million copies. During his workshop he showed us The Selective Attention Test, a video of a handful of college students playing basketball. We were asked a question.
I watched the video and actually arrived at the correct answer. However, he then asked another question. I was so surprised because I had no idea to what he was referring. He replayed the video and, because I was now aware, I could answer his second question. This was startling to me. How could I have missed it the first time? I was concentrating on counting the bounces. That was what was consuming my awareness. I was not in an open, relaxed awareness in which I took in everything. I was being tested and I wanted to get the correct answer.
In Canfield's workshop I "got" again that "perception is reality." What I see, hear, and feel are my reality markers. It doesn't matter what is out there; what I perceive I assume is reality.
We all know that once we are introduced to something, i.e. a new model of car, we see it everywhere. Have you ever taken the driver's education course to lower your car insurance rate? It turns our drive to the grocery store into a defensive match. The cars that line the sidewalk have doors that can open at any moment. There could be a child chasing a ball at any moment. This experience changes our perception. It makes us hone in on our driving environment in a more defensive way. We aren't just thinking about getting from A to B; we are focused on what could arise in the process.
At Canfield's workshop, Kathleen Seeley gave a lunch workshop entitled "Tools to Maximize Your Learning." One of the points she drove home she calls "Tapping into the Gap Between the E and the R":
- The Event
- The Story, or interpretation of the event made up by you
- The Feeling, or feelings you created as a result of your story
- The Response, or what action is taken as a result of the story
Where I put my attention is crucial to my state of mind, beginning with my interpretation of an event.
Let's consider Isaac Lidsky's TED Talk. He discovered at age 13 that he had a degenerative eye disease and lost his sight by age 23. His talk is very inspirational. In it he states:
"Hold yourself accountable for every moment, every thought, every detail. See beyond your fears. Recognize your assumptions. Harness your internal strength. Silence your internal critic. Correct your misconceptions about luck and about success. Accept your strengths and your weaknesses and understand the difference. Open your hearts to your bountiful blessings."
Now, are you thinking this is too time consuming and taking self-awareness too far? He is putting into words the statement, "In this moment, where all things are possible."
Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote the following:
"The only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You're only here now; you're only alive in this moment."
The producer of the Selective Attention Test video reminded me in an email that "the limits of awareness and attention are structural. You can take in different things depending on how and where you focus attention, but you can't fundamentally change how much you take in."
I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to be more open and aware of your perceptions of an event and the result. My statement, "In this moment where all things are possible," is an invitation to be more aware and open to what is taking place in any moment.
The Breath Diva tells us:
Attention is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself and to others.