I came across Shots of Awe on Youtube last week, Jason Silva creates inspiring videos to make us think and see the world differently. In Awe, the video above, he invites us to stop and inspire - breathe in - and come out of our habitual way of being, thinking, acting and seeing and see the world differently.
In my last post I talked about life not being a rehearsal and I had some comments from a couple of people who felt that because of life circumstances the idea of living life as though it was not a rehearsal was an impractical, impossible idea. Now I admit that for some people it is not possible to completely change their life and go off and do something completely different. But interestingly I was not actually saying that we have to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
What I was saying is that however you live your life, do not settle for something that holds no joy. Seek to live your life fully - whatever your circumstances. If you can't make a major change what can you add to life to make it feel more balanced, more alive? This video about awe has that same energy. It is about seeing your world from a different perspective. It is about seeing your world - full stop.
When we settle - when we give up on it ever getting any better - then we stop seeing. We stop seeing the possibilities that are all around us. We stop seeing the people we love who are lying right next to us in bed. We stop appreciating the good things that happen every day. We stop being in awe of this amazing world we live in.
In my work I have seen people completely change their life without actually changing anything major, as in job, partner, house, country. However they have made a major change. They've changed their attitude to everything and by doing so have started to experience their life in a completely different way. Not only that but they have also grabbed life by the throat and started to truly live it. And this change starts with gratitude, that's why I have a whole chapter about gratitude and attitude in my latest book. There is no more powerful daily exercise than to look around you and feel the gratitude for all that is in your life, even when you don't feel like it. It literally shifts your mindset and you begin to see other opportunities around you for more things to be grateful for.
Why is that? Well what you focus on grows stronger in your life. When you put your focus on the good stuff your unconscious will start to look for more of the same. It is simply set up like that. To put it simplistically - every thought you have creates a neural pathway in your brain and the more you think the thought the stronger that pathway becomes and the more your unconscious will look for corresponding things to match it. So focus on what's wrong and you will notice more of what's wrong. Conversely focus on what's right and you will notice more of what's right. And the odd thing is that those 'right' things were there all along - you just couldn't see them.
Hence the concept of awe. Start to open your eyes and see your world in its entirety. I live in the south of Spain - it is an absolutely beautiful place to live and I feel blessed every day that I can live here and work with my clients all over the world. I also make an effort to notice where I live everyday because I remember a few years ago now, a friend coming down to visit and just being blown away by the beauty. At that moment I realised that it had become normal to me, and I had stopped noticing it. So from that day forward I set an intention to notice my surrounding and as Jason Silva said, be in awe. I now do this wherever I am - even if I am not in a beautiful place like Spain - awe can be felt anywhere.
What are you in awe about? Please do comment below and share the awe in your life - it can be people, things that you've witnessed, places, anything that makes you inspire - breathe in deeply and stop for a moment, things that simply make your day.