Austa Lavesta Baby!
Animals are such amazing beings; they are full of surprises, insight, wisdom inspiration, joy, love, and a child like awareness that is so pure.
I can truly say I never know what is to come while in conversation.
In a recent session I was chatting with a big ol’ beautiful yellow lab named Sarah.
I am not really sure how the subject came about but Sarah was concerned about her person Janet.
She wanted me to ask Janet “what she wanted in life”.
Wow, that was a big question!
We turned our attention to Janet.
I repeated the question: What do you want in your life Janet, Sarah wants to know.
Her long pause was a give away, she had no idea.
In that moment she became aware that she had lost her vision, she lost touch with her child within; the child that took time to play, the child that had a vivid imagination, the child that believed in magic, the child that had dreams and desires, and the child that had a vision of her future. She had lost touch with Janet.
There was a sadness and hopelessness in her voice as she spoke, I could feel the tears.
A vision came to mind as I listened, a vision of a large platter that was piled high with a variety of different food, so much so it was falling over the edge. As I shared this vision with her and we began to discuss what this represented, it was clear that this full platter represented the responsibilities in her world.
The responsibilities, the duties, the expectations, the requirements, the should’s, the have too’s, etc. had become more than she could handle.
The heaviness of her responsibility load literally drained the energy of life from “Janet” and made Janet disappear.
It was time to clean the plate, lighten the load.
I guided Janet thru an exercise that I felt would be effective and asked her to continue to do this exercise daily.
I asked that she take one item at a time from the platter and examine in detail.
Being as honest and objective as she could be, questioning the item, what was the need for this in her current life. Was it a fit, was it necessary, did it bring her joy, was it a “should have” or a “have to” that she placed on herself or had someone else placed upon her. This is very important, to recognize what you put on the plate or what others put on the plate.
If it was something that needed to remain on the plate, then I asked her to try and see how she could change the dynamics of it to suit her life, to lighten the load.
If it was something that no longer suited her, something that she had not chosen to pile on the plate, then visualize the elimination of it, turn it back over to whom it belonged.
This can be an easy process by just becoming aware of what has piled up, seeing it for what it is and taking control of it, at times clearing the plate can be challenging.
But it can be done!
It is important when one feels overwhelmed in their day or their life to simply stop, look, listen and just take a moment to be. In that moment it is important to identify what they are feeling and justify if it is real or necessary or how to change its grip.
Visualize the platter, what is creating this feeling of heaviness or overwhelm.
Can you let it go, eliminate it or change it to suite your needs, to lighten the load?
Life is a responsibility, but it was not meant to be full of responsibilities!
No matter what your day brings, it was meant for you to live, to smile, to breathe, to love, to care for, nurture and appreciate yourself.
The have to’s are just a small particle in the big picture.
As we continued our work, suddenly Janet made a comment. She said, “I know what I want in my life. “I want the child within me to surface and just enjoy”.
We smiled and thanked Sarah for opening up a window of opportunity, enlightenment, and a chance for Janet to find herself again and truly live.
Take a look at your plate. Is it full?
Is it time for your child to come out and play.
Are you living happy? Would you like support in lightening your load? Say yes to you.
I am offering discounted packages to support – Living Happy. For details: http://karenwrigley.com/
Come Out and Play,
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