The power of perspective. Image blirk.net.
“Hurry up and eat your greens Susan,” said her father as he watched over her. What about all the refugees who are starving around the world, they’d give anything for that food. “Then why don’t you pack it up and send it to them!” she replied. Trying to make someone grateful or appreciative does not always have the desired result.
My father always said “Be grateful for what you have and thankful for what you don’t have,” a statement that I still hold dear many years on. Unfortunately for some this statement only makes them feel worse. On occasion I have been told “I know that I should be grateful but the fact that I am not makes me feel worse about myself.” Finding the balance between appreciation and denying or negating our own feelings is a tricky path to tread.
Back in the eighties I remember people would say “oh just get off it”, a pop psychology rant, devoid of compassion or real understanding. It is hard to be told “well it was not really that bad” if you had just shared a profound and traumatic event from your childhood. Shaming or glossing over someone’s feelings does not create resolution. It just makes them hide away their feelings where they fester causing damage out of view.
Over the years I have devised many tools and created many processes to help others and myself see that the glass is indeed half full and not half empty. My latest, “it’s just another first world problem ” has so far worked very well. Not to be used as a stick to beat someone over the head with it’s designed to assist us in gaining access to the bigger picture of life. It helps me to keep my world and all its twists and turns in prospective. So now when a feeling, awareness or observation takes me to a place in myself where I feel aggrieved, angry, agitated or totally P…… off, I have a way of halting that downward spiral. I have to admit that I don’t always remember. I still on occasion rant and rave at my lot and lose my emotional balance but this statement is another useful tool in the box of life skills that helps me and I hope it might be of use to you.
Phil Flanagan is an intuitive, healer and a coach. His healing work combines these three elements, making his sessions truly powerful and transformative. He honed his unique abilities under the guidance of a well known American healer called Patrick Collard and has been helping people all over the world since the 80s. His vast and diverse experience includes working with businesses to life’s more personal emotional challenges. Helping people unlock potential, reveal worth and reach maximum fulfilment and success is what continues to inspire him.
Phil works at triyoga Camden. For his schedule and more information please click here.
