Your Golden Nugget

"Close Both Eyes if You Want to See"

One day I was sitting in the woods on the coast of Maine looking at the water and reading Rumi. Rumi was a thirteenth century religious scholar living in Turkey. He is considered by many to be a “mystical artist.” Three quotes from his work, The Community of Spirit, had an impact on me that day.

“Close both eyes to see with the other eye.”

How often do you give yourself an opportunity to close both eyes so you really can see? My eyes have deceived me so often: I thought I saw reality; I thought I was being fair; I thought I saw both sides; I thought I appreciated beauty; I knew I did not take things for granted; I thought I was a good friend.

Do you have the courage to see things as they really are? And how will you know?

You can know by shutting both of your eyes and truly see and hear what is going on around you. You have brought to your world that which you are. To know what is going on around you – to see with the other eye:

1. Take yourself off to an isolated spot – a park, the woods, the beach, a mountain – it is best to be in the presence of that which is real and undisturbed - nature.

2. Be alone – what a gift to have time with the person who deserves your attention and honesty. Relax and feel freedom. Be one with yourself.

3. Now focus all of your senses on the moment. What do you hear, smell, and feel? How keen is your awareness? Are you attuned?

4. Next think of what makes you truly happy: Where are you? Who are you with? What are you doing?

5. Think back to your actions over the past several days. Were you attuned? Were you aware?

6. Now focus on the current moment again, and reflect on that which makes you happy.

7. Finally, think forward. “Feel” how you will take current awareness and happiness with you when you leave this place and grasp reality.

“Open your hands, if you want to be held.”

Anything you imagine you can have. Anything you have ever thought is a reflection of yourself. Any quality you possess, can be for good or bad, depending on how you use it. Every aspect of your being can be used to move you toward centeredness or away. Your hands may be used to fight, teach, hold, destroy, or build. You choose how to use each of your resources. That which is a weakness can be turned into a strength, once it is acknowledged. Embrace all of who you are without fear. Facing who you are provides you with the ability to choose how to direct the quality. It provides you with freedom.

Acknowledge and validate all of your feelings. Then you may realize you want to be held and have the power to attract that to yourself just by choosing to open your hands.

“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?”

You are choosing to stay in prison. Yes you are. Dr. Phil on Oprah would ask you what payoff you are receiving by choosing to remain. You must be getting something out of the situation, out of: putting off getting the degree; being unkind to someone close to you; staying in a relationship that is painful; putting up with the grief at work; maintaining a habit you are not proud of; poor grooming.

Two methods for helping you to walk out the open door:

1. Determine what the payoff is and think of a positive and fulfilling method of meeting that need.

2. The door can not only look closed but bolted and barred if you are living a life in which your actions are not aligned with your values. You have to identify what really matters to you and then consciously align your actions to match that which is your essence and your yearning. Otherwise you will loose energy and not be able to push the door open. Aligning your actions with your values energizes you and gives results that enhance your authenticity.

You know the door always was open – you just needed to get a clear picture of the view outside.

This week see with your other eye, open your hands and confidently walk out the door to your destiny.