It is hard to believe it’s the first day of summer in the UK today, and I know I’m not alone in thinking that time is flying this year. It’s been a busy last few months for my sister and me helping our Ma move out of our family home after 45 years … and my tip to anyone who might have a move coming up is start now!?
Seeing something new
I’ve been meaning to write a nudge for a while, and inspiration struck earlier this week when I learnt a new word ‘eclaircissement’, which was the winning word in a spelling competition in the US that was on the news. I’m glad I’m writing it not trying to pronounce it! Intrigued by what it meant I looked up the meaning, and saw it was a french-derived word synonymous with enlightenment. Or as other dictionary definitions described it a ‘clearing up of something obscure’, or ‘the state of understanding something’.
It immediately made me think of the understanding about Thought I share in my work, and our innate capacity for fresh insights … for seeing something new, which my gut tells me is so desperately needed in the current turbulent times.
So, a bit like the image above in the photo staring out to sea, which for me just engenders that spacious feeling of quieter reflection we can slip into when we have less on our mind, I sat with the question ‘what have I been seeing new?’
Listening without judgement is more important than ever
As I’ve written about in previous nudges, listening with nothing on our minds can feel like an elusive state. Listening with an open mind has a completely different feel to it … not to make judgements, evaluate or get our point across, but to get a feel for others’ worlds. For instance, in my work, I spend very little time focusing on the content of a conversation, and far more listening for the person’s own innate wellbeing and wisdom knowing that is always there just beneath any noisy thinking. When people feel really listened to, free of the idea that there’s something wrong with them, or they need to change in some way, they get a different feeling too, and from there tend to see new possibilities and options for themselves.
Knowing how well we work makes all the difference
When people see how well they naturally work, and get a new understanding of how we create our experience, they often tell me it’s life changing. And all I’m ever doing is sharing what I’ve come to see to be true for all of us … that we work inside out rather than outside in. Thought not our circumstances creates our experience, and as Thought is fluid and ever changing, so is our moment to moment experience. Pointing people towards this nature of Thought, rather than what they might personally think, opens up a space for them to get new perspectives, see something new. Absolutely life happens, but our experience of it is up to us depending on our own individual thinking, the meanings we give to things and where we put our attention.
I’m reminded of the saying ‘we may not be able to control the wind, but we can adjust our sails’, which is such a good metaphor for how Thought works.
Seeing your innate wellbeing and wisdom
And the other thing people usually have a sense of, even if it can be hard to put into words, is seeing that we all have an innate wellbeing and wisdom that resides in us beyond anything that we think! The human capacity for amazing resilience even in the face of the most difficult of circumstances, or for fresh thoughts to come to us seemingly out of the blue that give us previously unseen answers or move us to act.
I’m sometimes asked what’s the difference between our personal thinking and wisdom. And the simple answer is wisdom comes with a different feeling … that knowing feeling that just feels right. Some describe it as more from their gut or their heart than their head. It often comes in a quieter headspace, when we just turn down the noise on our thinking, and give our minds a break. Or to use another metaphor, turn down the volume of the brass band playing in our head, and listen more for the quieter flute. And I know that can seem so hard to do when we’re in the midst of a thought storm, but gets so much easier when we know what to listen for.
I hope you have a lovely Sunday, and maybe a little quiet time to reflect on this nudge, and see something new for you.
All the very best for now
Tamsin
My focus this year is helping people to live in a nicer feeling. So if that resonates, and you’re drawn to the idea of living with less pressure, more living in the moment, and freeing up a heap of headspace and time in the process, here’s some ways to do that.
1 Sign up to my Living in the Flow insights series – you’ll receive a short, daily insight about living with less thinking over the next seven days … see it as a quiet moment to clear your mind and set you up for your day.
“Looking back now, I can see how far I’ve come; how much easier and less stressful life has become living in the flow. I’ve moved from problem-focused, frustrating indecision and procrastination to easy, dynamic, motivated flow in all aspects of me and what I love to be and do.” Cathy, Gloucestershire, UK
2 Taster ‘nudging’ conversation
– a free 30 minutes call to get a fresh perspective on how we create our experience, and how that can change things for the better.
3 Transformational nudging package
– invest a little time in you to create a whole new relationship with your thoughts, and give you greater freedom and peace of mind (3 spots available).