“The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
– Marcel Proust
How you see things or your beliefs in the certain ways of things can hinder your feelings of freedom and choice and then these feelings limit your actions and it becomes a cycle of reality that justifies your beliefs and limits your discoveries.
“The current housing market is limiting my choices. The current unemployment statistics limit my opportunities or are making me stay in a painful job. My definition of success is limiting my choices in what jobs I will be open to or what I will do to be fulfilled.”
How can you open up your possibilities by having new eyes? Consider that nothing physical has to change in order for everything to change. The story of discovering the earth is not flat helps me keep this philosophy anchored in reality. When this belief/knowledge changed, nothing physically changed and yet everything changed with the new eyes that the earth is round.
Some ideas for obtaining new eyes:
- Use the power of disputing the facts versus the story to help see what is real and then try and stay fully present in that reality.
- Look at the situation as if you are a three or four year old. Toddlers are some of the best teachers for living in the moment and seeing things differently.
- Talk with a friend, mentor or even a Coach! Express what you are seeing and ask them for their perspective. Only do this with someone that has an open mind and wants the best for you.
- Give yourself some space of time (possibly sleeping on it) and then get into a state of gratitude by writing out at least five things you are sincerely grateful for and then re-look at the situation with new eyes.
- Limit your time and exposure to people or events (possibly the news) that bring you down and pull you into a state of anxiety or frustration. Negative emotions are not all bad but they do need to be minimized to allow your creative brain to open up and see new possibilities.