Reflection

As we look at the barren trees, we can witness the cycles of life and nature and reflect on the cycles of our own lives.  Just as nature appears to have gone inward, we too should focus our attention inward.  Just as the trees have shed their leaves, we can shed those outer parts of ourselves that we tend to focus on and begin to turn our attention inward, below the surface reality. Quite often we create circumstances in our lives and set up roadblocks in order to concentrate on something else, thus preventing us from looking closely at ourselves or our situations.

We create external problems including; health issues, eating issues, work issues, relationship issues, that take our attention away from the real issue – you. Once you become aware of this, you can start to see the patterns of your behavior and start shedding those parts of yourself that you no longer need to hang onto. As we start to delve below the surface, we may feel a sense of falling without an anchor. We need to fall without fear and be cleansed of what has limited us in the past.  We need to contract that shadowy part of ourselves and increase the light within us.

When I first started to see clients quite a few years back, I had this one client that I would see every couple weeks to help her with an eating disorder and an exercise obsession that were both all consuming. She would go through cycles, doing really well and losing the excess weight, then by the next visit having binged on excessive amounts of food and having put the weight back on.  This went on for quite some time until one day I couldn’t stop the words from leaving my mouth and I said to her, “you don’t have an eating disorder, you have an unhappy marriage.” She looked at me and was silent for what felt like an eternity, and then she said, “You’re right.”  From that moment, she began to see how she had created this eating disorder and exercise obsession to not focus on what the real issue was, her marriage.

We all hide behind our issues, to a certain extent, and when we look at the beauty of the barren trees we can see that we too are still beautiful without the added layers we aim to remove. We must always remember that we are a part of nature, not apart from nature and we need to go with the flow. If we resist this flow, it will persist until we have no choice but to deal with whatever we tried to sweep under the carpet, possibly having morphed into something bigger. As much as we want to make changes, we are oftentimes frightened of change, wanting things to remain status quo. As we face our inner resistance and look at our current situation, we see how it is no longer serving us, causing only stress. We are meant to move forward in our lives and not resist the necessary change. Most often, we only move forward when we are up against the wall, unhappy in the way we are living, experiencing stress related health issues and now willing do whatever it takes to change.

This is the turning point, and the question comes to mind, “how can we direct our energies in ways that are optimal for our health?”

Here are some suggestions that I have found helpful.

Observe your negative thinking patterns. What thoughts are you consistently thinking that are not serving you? When are they triggered? Where have these thoughts originated from? We may find that they reflect beliefs about ourselves and our life that are not true, yet we oftentimes believe them to be true, and live our lives accordingly. For example, if you are unhappy because you dislike your job, when you change jobs, you still may not be happy, until you find the real source of why you are not happy. True happiness does not come from outside, happiness is an inside job. Until you find the real reason for your unhappiness, there will always be perceived reasons why you are feeling unhappy. Affirm that you have everything you need and create the reality you want.

We need to become aware of the fears that are limiting us. What we fear is often where we need to go, in order to grow and to expand. We need to have faith and trust in god, the light or our higher self. This will enable us to go through things, knowing there is a higher purpose to all of it.  I read today that we should “doubt our doubts.” Fear is the barrier we need to cross in order to grow and realize our limitless potential.

Start to love yourself unconditionally, be grateful for everything, and accept yourself for where you are now. To be nourished you must be able to receive, but to receive you need to be open and believe you are worthy. We judge ourselves and others so harshly. Don’t compare yourself to others and believe that they have what you are striving for.  In reality, you possess everything you need inside you. I can help you uncover and discover. Whether you want to shed 20 pounds of weight or 20 pounds of baggage, I can help you learn from my past successes.

The beautiful picture at top is a self-portrait of Liat Aharoni, photographer/artist.

http://facebook.com/liataharoniphotography