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	<title>A Guiding Hand - The Positive Psychology People</title>
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	<title>A Guiding Hand - The Positive Psychology People</title>
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		<title>Courage – Fear unmasked</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/courage-fear-unmasked/</link>
					<comments>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/courage-fear-unmasked/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:55:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=802523</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Listen to the podcast version of this article &#160; In drawing this card, you are invited to explore the extent of your courage. More to the point, if you were to be the most courageous that you have ever been – how would your life change? What difference would being more courageous make? The photograph [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/courage-fear-unmasked/">Courage – Fear unmasked</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Listen to the podcast version of this article</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-15820584"><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2189774/episodes/15820584-courage-fear-unmasked.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-15820584&#038;player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore the extent of your courage. More to the point, if you were to be the most courageous that you have ever been – how would your life change? What difference would being more courageous make?</p>
<p>The photograph associated with these words, was a moment on a great fjord in Norway when, from behind the clouds, the Aurora Borealis suddenly appeared. As a photographer I love to capture the Lights most when the clouds begin to part. Somehow, the presence of the clouds, make the Lights even more remarkable – maybe we need to know both the Light and the Dark within our lives to make meaning of either or both? What I believe I am drawn towards as a photographer, as in my life, are moments such as these caught on film &#8211; moments of revelation.</p>
<p>Have you had moments of revelation in your life?</p>
<p>If so, when?</p>
<p>Describe what suddenly emerged into your awareness in these moments?</p>
<p>What came to you in these moments of revelation?</p>
<p>Take what time you need to consider and respond…</p>
<p>These moments of surprise, where we suddenly realise something new – that appears to come out of the blue and from beyond and behind our everyday thinking – are like an unveiling that has meaning and value – whereby we discover a deeper wisdom beyond and behind whatever we may have thought.</p>
<p>What likely limit us in our lives is fear. Take a moment to validate this for yourself.</p>
<p>When you consider what you fear – what happens to you?</p>
<p>What’s your experience of fear and how does it impact you in your life and work?</p>
<p>Take whatever time you need to respond…</p>
<p>In fearing, we separate ourselves. Not unlike the photograph, we experience being a part somehow separated from the whole story. But what if fear was not alone but had a best friend, such that when you face into what you fear, you begin to recognise your courage.</p>
<p>Take some moments if you are willing to look at what you fear?</p>
<p>To describe, accept and own.</p>
<p>Notice what happens when you do.</p>
<p>Does your experience of fearing change? And if so, what more is revealed?</p>
<p>What if the courage we often seek in life is hidden behind our fears and we must first unveil them to harness its full potential and impact in our lives?</p>
<p>Imagine that you discovered the courage that you have sought in life – right here right now – how would your courage influence and guide you? What more would courage offer you? What would you do differently? And realise?</p>
<p>May you face into your fears and discover where courage may be waiting for you.</p>
<p>May you harness your courage permitting the experience of what you may have denied.</p>
<p>May you enable others to discover and help realise their courage and to live more fulfilling lives.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/courage-fear-unmasked/">Courage – Fear unmasked</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">802523</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Choose to be original or copy</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/choose-to-be-original-or-copy/</link>
					<comments>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/choose-to-be-original-or-copy/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:45:36 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=802515</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Listen to the podcast version of this article &#160; In drawing this card, you are invited to explore your originality. What is it that makes you – you? And different to anyone else &#8211; original. What distinguishes you from any other person you may know? What may you vitally and uniquely bring into your life [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/choose-to-be-original-or-copy/">Choose to be original or copy</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Listen to the podcast version of this article</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-15820571"><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2189774/episodes/15820571-choose-to-be-original-and-or-copy.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-15820571&#038;player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore your originality. What is it that makes you – you? And different to anyone else &#8211; original. What distinguishes you from any other person you may know? What may you vitally and uniquely bring into your life that is own mark and fingerprint.</p>
<p>If you look around, you may see that many of us revert to what we should and must do. Who we return to, is a form of ourselves, the person that we think we should be to draw the attention that we need from others. Of course, we are shaped by significant others, parents, idols, special friends, those we respect and love. We are ever in the making as we travel through life. Whenever we do what we should, must and ought &#8211; outside time of immanent crisis – we shape ourselves in the way others wish and so copy. We become like others.</p>
<p>The photograph associated with this card is one of a perfect reflection. It was a very special evening in Finland, where the Northern Lights were not only on show but also caught in perfect reflection. This mirroring of the Lights invited me to reflect on how I am in life. If and how, I copy others. I have been referred to as a ‘carbon copy’ at times since I was born an identical twin. I have someone – a dear brother – who appears to look the same as me. However, whether you are a twin or a sibling or an only child – one of the invitations of life is whether we choose to copy or not. Though others may have continually pointed out our remarkable similarity as twins &#8211; what has emerged in our lives over time, which may be true for all of us, is our originality and what it is that makes us different.</p>
<p>Take this moment in drawing this card, to consider the extent of how much you may be a ‘carbon copy’ of what others have wanted you to be and equally how you may be different and original?</p>
<p>Take what time you need to consider this important question today.</p>
<p>If you think of evolution, often regarded as the ‘survival of the fittest’, each one of us is in some way different, original, and unique. Part of your contribution to your life and work, may be discover this uniqueness and give it form and place. For who knows, your originality may in some way, once made conscious, influence the future development of our species and how we are to evolve. Evolution may reside on the conscious expression of originality instead of our temptation to revert and to be like others may wish us to be. Today in drawing this card, you are once again invited to reflect deeply about what makes you unique. In essence our uniqueness is associated with our naturalness. And so, another form of the question might be, who are you when you are at your most natural? And if this person consciously stepped into the world, how would you be different? What would stop and start? And what more would you bring forth into your life and work?</p>
<p>Take time to fully respond to these questions.</p>
<p>As you take your time to come to know – who you are most naturally – when free from any must should or ought and therefore temptation to copy and be like others – consider what makes you – you, and if you were you, without censorship – who would step out and into the world – and what would you unique contribution be?</p>
<p>May you be clearer of your choice to copy and or be original.</p>
<p>May you come closer to the expression of who you most naturally are, when free from the pressure to be like anyone else.</p>
<p>May you discover the quality and or gift, that you may ideally wish to bring into your life and work – your original contribution – owning an inner fingerprint and gifting your outer mark on life.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/choose-to-be-original-or-copy/">Choose to be original or copy</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">802515</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Anxiety – The extent to which we stray from our essence</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/anxiety-the-extent-to-which-we-stray-from-our-essence/</link>
					<comments>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/anxiety-the-extent-to-which-we-stray-from-our-essence/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:03:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=802508</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Listen to the podcast version of this article &#160; In drawing this card, you are invited to explore your anxieties. To face into, rather than turn away, from them. To explore how they may be able to guide you forward and what you may learn from this experience. The photograph associated with these words shows [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/anxiety-the-extent-to-which-we-stray-from-our-essence/">Anxiety – The extent to which we stray from our essence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Listen to the podcast version of this article</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-15820550"></div>
<p><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2189774/episodes/15820550-anxiety-the-extent-we-have-strayed-from-our-essence.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-15820550&#038;player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore your anxieties. To face into, rather than turn away, from them. To explore how they may be able to guide you forward and what you may learn from this experience.</p>
<p>The photograph associated with these words shows an enormous display of the Northern Lights – one that took my breath away. With the great enormity of the show, I only noticed after taking the shot that there was a small boat in the corner. Take a look, if you will. Immediately this juxtaposition of the huge and miraculous Lights and the small boat made me feel anxious. The boat seemed so small and insignificant – out there alone and at sea. Apart and separated. Notice for yourself how when you are anxious you may feel this sense of being separate, isolated, alone, ‘apart from’ and like the little boat – ‘at sea’.</p>
<p>See if you are willing to explore your own anxiety. And what is making you anxious currently. Gently connect with and own your anxieties.</p>
<p>Acknowledge what you are anxious about.</p>
<p>What concerns or worries you?</p>
<p>See if you can simply name what you are anxious about.</p>
<p>This is an opportunity to meet with your anxieties to give them your attention more fully, rather than a temptation to turn away.</p>
<p>Commonly and automatically, we push our anxieties away – which may create the scene in the photograph – a sense of being separate and feeling very small in the face of something unknown and very big. But what if our anxiety – rather than something to be feared &#8211; is a useful if not a vital marker – a valuable measure of how far we have strayed away from home and our most natural self – a useful indicator – inviting and guiding us to return home. In befriending our anxieties, we may be giving the little boat in the photograph our deserving attention and the chance to realise how far we may have strayed and how we may instead safely choose to navigate our way home.</p>
<p>If you are willing recall once again what is making you anxious now?</p>
<p>In owning your anxiety what do you experience and discover?</p>
<p>If your anxiety were a lens, what do you see through the lens?</p>
<p>How are you guided?</p>
<p>And what have you learned?</p>
<p>Take what time you need to fully respond…</p>
<p>May you be more willing to see your emotions as a vital compass – helping you to re-orientate and move forward.</p>
<p>May you learn what value is to be discoved in being willing to turn towards your anxiety rather than away.</p>
<p>May you help and enable others around you to turn towards what they may automatically push away to realise the prospect of growth and development.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/anxiety-the-extent-to-which-we-stray-from-our-essence/">Anxiety – The extent to which we stray from our essence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">802508</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Belonging, becoming the person you long to be</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/belonging-becoming-the-person-you-long-to-be/</link>
					<comments>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/belonging-becoming-the-person-you-long-to-be/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Dec 2023 15:23:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801831</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore your belonging. Automatically, we go towards questions around belonging that include: “where do I belong”. But maybe belonging has more scope than knowing the outer place where we ideally may choose to live. The image associated with these words held a very powerful moment of realisation [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/belonging-becoming-the-person-you-long-to-be/">Belonging, becoming the person you long to be</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="font-weight: 400;">In drawing this card, you are invited to explore your belonging. Automatically, we go towards questions around belonging that include: “where do I belong”. But maybe belonging has more scope than knowing the outer place where we ideally may choose to live.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The image associated with these words held a very powerful moment of realisation for me. Note that the Aurora was intense and illuminating the night sky on a fjord in Norway. The Northern Lights graced the whole sky filling it with wonder and remarkably appeared to emanate from a single source. I found myself thinking whilst observing this spectacle about belonging. And as shared above, how we tend to locate our belonging solely in a place. Such places may hold great importance I have realised through my life. For these are the places where we feel most at home. Where we recognise the folk and the cultures and wherein, we feel at our most natural and content. So often belonging takes us towards a place where we choose to be. However, on this evening, witnessing the Aurora, I realised that there may be a much deeper source to our belonging. That we each have a longing, and could it be that when we become the person that we long to be – we then experience <strong>belonging</strong> – not necessarily highlighting a particular place outside of ourselves – but more discovering the experience of belonging in our own skin.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">So, in drawing this card you are invited to explore different dimensions of your belonging to deepen your awareness and experience.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">For what do you most long?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Take some time to respond to this question. What this question invites is for you to go within and to reflect upon “to what you are drawn”, “what calls you in life”, “what do you most love” that you may not have yet fully permitted? This inner calling is a continual source of inspiration and motivation. So once again we can include “what motivates and inspires you most?”.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Such questions continually shape and inform our lives. They invite us to invest our attention in what we believe to be essential to us – that which we inwardly realise is vital to our life and work.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">See if you can distil what is vital to your life and work?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Again, taking whatever time you need to revisit this question.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Also, to fully encompass the experience of belonging. Imagine who you become when you permit that for which you long? Who is this person? How would you describe them?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Who we become when we are true to our inner call and longing – is who we most naturally are – being true to oneself is a measure of personal authenticity – it is an owning and admitting and further then permitting, what you most personally need in your life – what is vital to your journey, and this offers personal value and meaning.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Imagine when you have felt at your most comfortable, being fully at home in your own skin. At your most natural and employing your natural talents and abilities. Reflect carefully on who you then become? We each have different versions of ourselves that appear at different times due to different situations and circumstances. Often, we wear a mask when faced with challenges – as if someone steps forward within us to front the challenge. But who is the person behind our masks? Who is that person in you? Who comes to the fore when all pressures end, and fears have gone – see if you can make your acquaintance fully with that person today. Acknowledge them in your life and how they represent the person that you long and was born to be. Imagine then, what it would be like if you lived this person’s life?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">May you explore your belonging with keen interest and quiet contemplation.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">May you discover more fully the person that you long to be and become.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">May you come to know the person that you are most naturally – live their life &#8211; and allow their talents and natural abilities to inform your occupation and work.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Listen to the audio version of this article</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-14070540"></div>
<p><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2189774/14070540-belonging-becoming-the-person-you-long-to-be.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14070540&#038;player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/belonging-becoming-the-person-you-long-to-be/">Belonging, becoming the person you long to be</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">801831</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Might the something more we strive to find, be who we long to become</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/might-the-something-more-we-strive-to-find-be-who-we-long-to-become/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:24:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801827</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore more fully the person that you are becoming through your life and work. We often focus our attention much more on the ‘what’ we are doing which includes the goals we want to reach and what we wish to have. However, if you reflect deeply, you [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/might-the-something-more-we-strive-to-find-be-who-we-long-to-become/">Might the something more we strive to find, be who we long to become</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore more fully the person that you are becoming through your life and work. We often focus our attention much more on the ‘what’ we are doing which includes the goals we want to reach and what we wish to have. However, if you reflect deeply, you will realise that throughout your life you are evolving as person, you are ever becoming more self-aware fostering a sense of wholeness and completeness.</p>
<p>Reflect how much of your life is about wanting and having. It is a natural aspect of humanity that we have needs and wants. But in our preoccupation to have and to find we can often overlook the person behind, and how we are changing through our life and work.</p>
<p>The central question in drawing this card, is to reflect much more deeply on: Who you are becoming?</p>
<p>Take some time right now and through the day to map out your journey and to consider your evolution as a person. Notice the points in your life where you feel you have changed? And bring to mind and acknowledge how you have changed? Cultivate the clearest picture from looking in at yourself in this way? What do you notice most about you? What qualities inform your life now?</p>
<p>It is strange in life with our preoccupations for searching and finding – a continual seeking something more &#8211; that we overlook that behind the scenes we are continually becoming more aware of who we are. The game of seeking something more can essentially hide the someone other, who you are becoming. Today is a chance for you to become more fully acquainted with the who you are becoming and recognise and acknowledge this person, their achievements, and their qualities. Take whatever time you require to do this.</p>
<p>The image associated with these words is one of a tree – study it for a moment. The Aurora is beginning to break through the skies. And when it does in this way you see the beginnings of a corona, which is the source or opening that reveals the full presence of the Northern Lights. The tree reminded me of our striving our reaching outward and upwards. And yet do we in our striving overlook the source of our energy and how we are inspired and motivated to grow and change? Once again, this card reminds that we are continually growing, changing, and emerging into life and it is wise and well to stop from time to time and to recognise: not what you have or want but more our central question: who am I becoming?</p>
<p>Such becoming reminds that there is a source to our life that motivates our being and becoming. Consider how you may experience this source in your own life. To what are you drawn and or called? What inspires you? What do you love to do when you permit your ease and naturalness? These questions will help you to illuminate how you are motivated and inspired through your life and work. Growth in this way, is less judged by what we have and more a felt experience influenced by that which inspires and or to which we aspire.</p>
<p>May you take time on a regular basis to become more fully acquainted with the person you are now and to recognise and contemplate who you are becoming?</p>
<p>May you help others continually to see how behind and just beyond the wanting and having of life, there is a person emerging into the world, becoming more present and self-aware.</p>
<p>May you realise that your longing in life is less around having something more and more about becoming that person – that is the one who you were born to be.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Listen to the audio version of this article</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-14003113"></div>
<p><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2193070/14003113-might-the-something-more-we-strive-to-find-be-who-we-long-to-become.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14003113&#038;player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/might-the-something-more-we-strive-to-find-be-who-we-long-to-become/">Might the something more we strive to find, be who we long to become</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">801827</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>What we accept in ourselves, we can accommodate in others</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/what-we-accept-in-ourselves-we-can-accommodate-in-others/</link>
					<comments>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/what-we-accept-in-ourselves-we-can-accommodate-in-others/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:06:39 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801818</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to explore the nature of relationship and how your capacity to relate may be deepened. If we look to Nature and the photograph associated with these chosen words, we are taken to an evening beside the huge lake Inari in Finland. It was a very still and quiet [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/what-we-accept-in-ourselves-we-can-accommodate-in-others/">What we accept in ourselves, we can accommodate in others</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="font-weight: 400;">In drawing this card, you are invited to explore the nature of relationship and how your capacity to relate may be deepened.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">If we look to Nature and the photograph associated with these chosen words, we are taken to an evening beside the huge lake Inari in Finland. It was a very still and quiet evening and the Northern Lights had just begun to show as I looked out towards a small island. It was remarkable moment symmetry.  Nature as a way of reminding us of the symmetry of things and the vital role of reflection. As I captured this moment on film, I began to recall and reflect upon the nature of relationship – my relationships &#8211; and how in fact we learn how to relate to others. Such relating has a symmetry and reflexivity of its own. For what we judge and reject in ourselves, we are unable to be with and include in others. But what we accept in ourselves we can naturally relate to in others.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Notice that learning how to relate is what I call an ‘inside job’. If we slip into our automatic outwardly judging role – we not only reject the others view, but quite literally turn away from the chance to relate more deeply. In the symmetry we are exploring, what we reject in others, we are unable to accept in ourselves. Relationship then rests upon our ability not to automatically judge and reject but to instead to seek and accept. You might realise already that our temptation is to judge – for the certainty of being right offers confidence and safety. However, if we are to learn how to relate more deeply then, we are invited to resist the temptation to judge in order foster relationship.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Consider what is most important to you – being right or relating more deeply? This does not have to binary – there may be critical times when we need to offer a judgement or instruction, but equally are we able to continue to cultivate how we relate to others, opening the chance for a deeper understanding of someone else by resisting our temptation to judge?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The quality of empathy vital to relationships, comes from a willingness to recognise what others speak in ourselves. For this to occur we are invited to continually learn who we are in our wholeness. Such learning goes way beyond who we automatically think we are. We instead, reflect inwardly to discover more of who we really are. If you think about it, life is a continual journey of expanding self-awareness, whereby we continually discover and learn more about ourselves. And what we discover in ourselves and so, can be with and accept, we naturally relate to in others.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Our capacity to relate is something that we cultivate through our lives – it’s not something that we simply ‘turn on’ when we think we need it – our ability to relate links directly to the extent of our self-awareness. Acceptance of ourselves and who we really are, translates to a capacity to relate to others more deeply. Notice that at the heart of relationship is a wonderous reflective symmetry that we are invited to acknowledge and cultivate.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Consider how you relate to others.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">How might you deepen your relationships?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">What would this require of you?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">And what would the benefits be for yourself and others?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">What step might you commit too today that would cultivate and how you can relate more consciously?</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">May you ever deepen your self-awareness the key to your capacity to relate to others.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">May you discover that in self-acceptance resides our capacity to listen instead of judge and put this into daily practice.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">May you model for others the power of relationship and remarkable experience of what it means to be fully ‘seen and heard’ by another.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Listen to the audio version of this article</strong></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/what-we-accept-in-ourselves-we-can-accommodate-in-others/">What we accept in ourselves, we can accommodate in others</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">801818</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Resilience, befriending suffering</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/resilience-befriending-suffering/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:30:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801738</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Have you considered and or already realised what value there may be in befriend suffering? In drawing this card, you are invited to cultivate your resourcefulness and resilience as you go through life. Often the way we automatically think may be back to front. We think that if we ‘box’ or push unwanted emotions away, [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/resilience-befriending-suffering/">Resilience, befriending suffering</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Have you considered and or already realised what value there may be in befriend suffering?</p>
<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to cultivate your resourcefulness and resilience as you go through life.</p>
<p>Often the way we automatically think may be back to front. We think that if we ‘box’ or push unwanted emotions away, we rid ourselves of them. And doing so makes us strong and more resilient. But what if the opposite were true?</p>
<p>Takes some moments to reflect across your life to date. Consider the times when rather than turning away from emotions you have been able to turn toward them.</p>
<p>When we suffer, we are invited and learn how to bear our emotions. Rather than pushing them away we begin to ‘make with’ their acquaintance.</p>
<p>If you have experienced times like this, then recall them.</p>
<p><em>Did a willingness to suffer – to bear your suffering – give or gift you anything?</em></p>
<p><em>If so, what?</em></p>
<p>Take what time you need to reflect and respond to these questions.</p>
<p>When we fear and push things away, we banish our emotions to the edge of our consciousness and beyond. We think that’s the end of it. But what if we are gravely mistaken in our rational logic – what if, what we push aspects of ourselves beyond our consciousness rather than disappearing they may takes control and silently govern our behaviours and key aspects of our life. Some believe that what we push into our unconscious becomes our symptomology and compulsions. And what we place beyond our conscious control may certainly cause unrest if not dis-ease. You may rightly question – the value of this conundrum?</p>
<p>Take some moments to consider if and how this may offer you opportunity?</p>
<p>What we push beyond our consciousness, we may then automatically project out onto others. The anger for example which I may deny, I suddenly experience it in those I meet. This may at first seem strange but note how it offers you the chance through relationships with others, to recognise and claim back what you have once judged and rejected. Only when we can step back and look at whole picture might, does such irrational behaviour have value and offer meaning.</p>
<p>Bearing suffering – is an invitation to end this cycle and face into the wholeness of our lives more consciously – to own whatever turns up in our lives and to work with it – rather than push it away. Such an opportunity is beautifully described in a poem by Rumi called &#8211; The Guest house:</p>
<p>This being human is a guest house.<br />
Every morning a new arrival.</p>
<p>A joy, a depression, a meanness,<br />
some momentary awareness comes<br />
as an unexpected visitor.</p>
<p>Welcome and entertain them all!<br />
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,<br />
who violently sweep your house<br />
empty of its furniture,<br />
still, treat each guest honourably.<br />
He may be clearing you out<br />
for some new delight.</p>
<p>The dark thought, the shame, the malice,<br />
meet them at the door laughing,<br />
and invite them in.</p>
<p>Be grateful for whoever comes,<br />
because each has been sent<br />
as a guide from beyond.</p>
<p>Let’s return for some moments to consider what value there may be in cultivating this attitude?</p>
<p>Well, what we accept in ourselves we automatically relate to in others. So, as we expand our repertoire of experiences, we equally cultivate our capacity to relate more fully and deeply. We may also take one more relational step forward. The more we foster our own wholeness by remembering the aspects of ourselves that we have once rejected, the more we may equally experience our place within the whole of nature. Such practice may therefore foster how we relate and also our sense of relatedness.</p>
<p>Also, when we turn towards what we may have once rejected – we may discover in the place of fear – an emergent courage – and such courage may then foster and further the practice of ‘making whole’. Who would have guessed that in facing limitation we may discover new strength?</p>
<p>See if this idea has credence from your own experience?</p>
<p>Recall what has fostered your resilience?</p>
<p>And how you might continue to build this in the future?</p>
<p>Such new awareness and practice, builds our resourcefulness. And note how such strength comes from the inside out – from completing our inner work we discover more outer strength that we can employ in our life and work.</p>
<p>May you see the value in learning how to bear suffering.</p>
<p>May you discover the gift that a willingness to bear offers.</p>
<p>May you, as you face life’s experiences, learn how to foster your resourcefulness and resilience.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Listen to the audio version of this article</strong></p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/resilience-befriending-suffering/">Resilience, befriending suffering</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">801738</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Must we stray from the path, to recall our way</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/must-we-stray-from-the-path-to-recall-our-way/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:24:19 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801732</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Many of us fear getting lost. And might avoid this experience it at all costs. But what if getting lost was just another natural aspect of being human and living our daily lives? If we were to view being lost not as something to be feared, but more as an opportunity, then how much more [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/must-we-stray-from-the-path-to-recall-our-way/">Must we stray from the path, to recall our way</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Many of us fear getting lost. And might avoid this experience it at all costs. But what if getting lost was just another natural aspect of being human and living our daily lives? If we were to view being lost not as something to be feared, but more as an opportunity, then how much more may we open to the experience and discover?</p>
<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to open more fully to explore your sense of feeling lost. Less as something to be feared, and more as a vital opportunity.</p>
<p>Ask yourself the question:</p>
<p><em>Where am I feeling lost in my life right now?</em></p>
<p>And rather than turn away from any potential fear, take some time to turn towards and into this experience.</p>
<p>See what happens when you are willing to meet with and even embrace these feelings.</p>
<p>If you are willing to name where you are feeling lost in your life and work?</p>
<p>Be as specific as you can.</p>
<p>Express I am feeling lost here and here – and name where?</p>
<p>Then turn towards this experience by being willing to befriend any fear that you may have felt. Notice how this allows you to relax more into the experience.</p>
<p>You may inquire: What have I been fearing? And name your fears.</p>
<p>And then mindful of these emotions, reflect upon &#8211; the opportunity or opportunities – which may now be able to open for you.</p>
<p>It’s quite remarkable that if you are willing to ‘turn towards’ what you would automatically ‘turn away from’ – in this case your fear around feeling lost – rather than discovering a closed door – one opens. For in your willingness to enter into this experience you discover – a door of opportunity and new possibilities?</p>
<p><em>What are the opportunities for you in owning and embracing these feelings of loss?</em></p>
<p><em>What do you ideally wish for?</em></p>
<p><em>If you had a magic wand and could wish for anything, for what would you wish?</em></p>
<p><em>How could you take a step towards the realisation of this wish? And make your wish more of a reality?</em></p>
<p>When we go walking in nature, part of the adventure is following paths that we may have no idea where they lead. Where we are being taken. What if we could view the challenges of our life like the adventure of walking along a yet unknown path? Nature and its pathways may wish to teach us – that if we are willing to take courage and enter more fully into the adventure of life then unforeseen opportunities may emerge in place of the problems that we may fear will hold us back and block our way.</p>
<p>Consider what you are learning from this conversation and in the drawing of this card. And if you were to apply these learnings to your life, how different your life maybe?</p>
<p>May you step into life as an adventure.</p>
<p>May you take courage to follow your path, even when unsure of where it may ultimately lead.</p>
<p>May you approach losing as a vital opportunity to finding your way and also enable others to discover this secret.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Listen to the audio version of this article</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-13784514"></div>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/must-we-stray-from-the-path-to-recall-our-way/">Must we stray from the path, to recall our way</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">801732</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Do We Feed An Insatiable Appetite Or Soothe The Part That Hungers</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/do-we-feed-an-insatiable-appetite-or-soothe-the-part-that-hungers/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:42:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801611</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to look a little deeper into yourself. To consider who sits beneath your superficial awareness and how knowing this person may offer insight into what you may truly need. The words of the card talk about ‘feeding an insatiable appetite’. What does this phrase refer to you from [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/do-we-feed-an-insatiable-appetite-or-soothe-the-part-that-hungers/">Do We Feed An Insatiable Appetite Or Soothe The Part That Hungers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In drawing this card, you are invited to look a little deeper into yourself. To consider who sits beneath your superficial awareness and how knowing this person may offer insight into what you may truly need.</p>
<p><em>The words of the card talk about ‘feeding an insatiable appetite’. What does this phrase refer to you from your own experience?</em></p>
<p><em>What is the insatiable appetite that we may be tempted to continually feed?</em></p>
<p>We may have previously ascertained and yet it is worth repeating how our constant outward search for something more appears not to offer complete satisfaction. Once again, consider this from your own experience.</p>
<p><em>In having and finding what you want – does this satisfy your need to search further?</em></p>
<p>At best our commonest response may be ‘momentarily’ or ‘for a short while’. Generally, our outward search though extending over the course of our lifetimes does not appear to offer complete satisfaction. So, we arrive at a beautiful question: if we cannot satisfy our hunger for wanting and having something more by outwardly searching – <em>how do we find satisfaction and end our hunger?</em></p>
<p><em>What’s your response? Take time to consider this question for yourself.</em></p>
<p>What these questioning invites of us, is to look towards the source of our hunger more deeply. Are we automatically reacting to a deeper want in us for something more by outwardly seeking?  And in doing so do we overlook and neglect that within which truly wants and has needs?</p>
<p>This invites a vital re-orientation, one that many of the other cards that you may have drawn also point towards – that of being able to turn our attention inwards rather than being preoccupied with our outer search.</p>
<p>Let’s try this together if you are willing. Consider something that you have wanted greatly and have been seeking.</p>
<p>Now go a little deeper, look what sits beneath your wanting of this something. Turn your attention inward and explore what aspect of yourself is in need? Who is this part of you that is wanting more? And what is it that this aspect of yours truly needs? Take whatever time you may need to fully respond to these questions for yourself. This line of questioning can be revelatory.</p>
<p>For what we realise is that although our temptation is to search outwardly for our answers and the things that we want to have, what this outer search may cover, and disguise is our true needs. We appear to overlook our inner needs and so react to them rather than attend to them. This may be the source of our real hunger and the insatiable appetite. To end such hunger, we are invited to look deeper beyond our outer reaction and more to discover the part of ourselves that is in need.</p>
<p>Outer seeking in this way can be replaced by inner attending. And what may be quite remarkable is that as we do attend to those aspects of ourselves and consider and respond to their needs – then our hunger to react quiesces, reduces, and may even disappear.</p>
<p>Who would have thought that our outer hunger can be satiated by an inner soothing of those parts of ourselves that need our attention and have been overlooked and forgotten, even neglected?</p>
<p>In this way, the outer search is transformed into a restoration project, whereby we gradually become aware of the parts of ourselves that are needing our inner attention. And in meeting with these parts, we more consciously foster our wholeness, build our self-awareness, and a growing sense of belonging in our own skin.</p>
<p>Such inner work can resolve our outer seeking. Consider this for yourself. What are the key aspects of yourself that you have previously become aware of? If and how have you attended them? And what difference has this made?</p>
<p>We often look outwardly to others to fulfil the needs that we reject. How strange we are and how unrealistic our expectations of others are. When it is we who overlook our needs and are the ones that are called to inwardly attend.</p>
<p>The photograph that accompanies these words marks a moment of complete awe when the Northern Lights quite literally filled the whole sky and ‘rained’ down. It was a moment of revelation for me. That out of the darkness can come so much beauty and light. This is not unlike our inner story whereby the parts of ourselves that we push away to the edge of our consciousness live within our own inner darkness. And as we learn how to attend to them – they bring us light and hope and insight and wholeness. This night when the Lights filled the whole sky made me think about that which truly soothes us. It is within our hands, maybe at times with the help of special others, that we learn how to truly attend to ourselves as a vital aspect of our developmental journey, we can learn how to soothe that which truly hungers and this can reveal that for which we may have endlessly searched.</p>
<p>May you become more aware of that for which you outwardly hunger – the things you outwardly want and seek.</p>
<p>May you learn how to turn yourself inside-out, discover what sits beneath your wanting and seeking – and come to know the parts of you that hunger for more.</p>
<p>May you attend to these parts and transform your outer seeking into an inner soothing.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Podcast Version</strong></p>
<div id="buzzsprout-player-13335815"></div>
<p><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2189774/13335815-do-we-feed-an-insatiable-appetite-or-soothe-the-part-that-hungers.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-13335815&#038;player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">801611</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Free From Logic, The Impossible Becomes Quite Plausible</title>
		<link>https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/free-from-logic-the-impossible-becomes-quite-plausible/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jul 2023 10:47:19 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[A Guiding Hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Machon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/?p=801607</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>This card invites you to recognise the limitation of overthinking and trying too hard to work things out and the wonderful opportunity that imagination and creativity offer you. The imagination can often be viewed and judged negatively as the ‘softer sister’ of rationality and logic, less grounded and more playful. So, despite our tendency to [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/free-from-logic-the-impossible-becomes-quite-plausible/">Free From Logic, The Impossible Becomes Quite Plausible</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This card invites you to recognise the limitation of overthinking and trying too hard to work things out and the wonderful opportunity that imagination and creativity offer you.</p>
<p>The imagination can often be viewed and judged negatively as the ‘softer sister’ of rationality and logic, less grounded and more playful. So, despite our tendency to at times negatively judge, does the imagination have a vital role to play in our working lives and development?</p>
<p>You may recall the saying of the dog chasing its tail. Round and around, we go without end. Similarly, there is an old myth of Sisyphus, who was forced by Hades to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back when it neared the top, repeating this action to eternity. So, if and how does this metaphor and myth speak to us? Consider both and see how you respond.</p>
<p>I sense personally and maybe for each and all of us that this metaphor and myth are closer to home and have meaning in our lives, more than we might imagine.</p>
<p>Our rationality and the way we think are often perceived as ‘King’ in that one of the greatest gifts of mankind is that we can ‘work things out’. We are great problem solvers. But is there an edge to this so-called gift? I believe that if you study any gift, you will discover equally an edge and limitation. Try this for yourself.</p>
<p>Eckart Tolle in his work speaks about the greatest hindrance to mankind being our tendency to over-think. In other words &#8211; we think that we can work everything out – but is this true? If it were true, then coaching, counseling, and psychotherapy may not have a place or relevance. What such professions may point towards is that we may at times face important problems, and need the presence of another person to help us to problem solve and find a resolution.</p>
<p>Often clients will come to coaching feeling stuck – “I have this problem and yet no matter how much I try, I can’t seem to work it out”. What does this experience point towards in our life? What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>It seems that logic and rationality can only get us so far. Whereas we may judge thinking – our rationality and logic to be ‘King,’ it also appears to have its own edge and limitation.</p>
<p><em>Consider your own life and the problems that you have faced. How much has your rationality and logic helped? How has it hindered?</em></p>
<p>It seems rationality and logic can take us so far and no further. I like to think of this with another metaphor – that there appears to be a ‘cul de sac’ to our thinking. If we overthink and try too hard to work things out – rather than moving forward and getting to the answer – we tend to find ourselves stuck and unable to move. Recall times when you have had a problem and find yourself ruminating – trying hard to work it out and going round and round in circles in your mind attempting to do so. This often happens at night when we despite all efforts, cannot a way forward.</p>
<p>Overthinking rather than providing the answer appears to be the problem.</p>
<p>So how can we find our answers and resolutions when rationality and logic lead us to a dead end? Consider this question for yourself and see how you respond from your own experience.</p>
<p>Let me ask you a few questions to bring this dilemma to life.</p>
<p>Consider a problem that you face right now. Bring this issue to mind. Reflect on how you have tried to solve it so far.</p>
<p>Now I am going to gift you a magic wand, and when you tap this magic wand it will give you whatever you have wished for. “ting….” That’s the sound of the spell being cast &#8211; tapping of the magic wand – “ting”.</p>
<p>With your magic wand, I invite you to step into the experience of having what you most desire. So “ting” imagine you are now experiencing what you have most wished for and desired.</p>
<p><em>What indicates that you have found your answer – what do you experience on your arrival?</em></p>
<p>Describe this in detail. then reflect upon what you are learning from the imaginary experience of having what you seek most.</p>
<p><em>What if any action will you take as a result?</em></p>
<p><em>And where are you now? </em>You may recall the starship enterprise and the long-running series Star Trek. I used to marvel at their transporter system, whereby individuals could be ‘beamed down’ to any place in any new world. The imagination is a remarkable transporter system – rather than trying to work things out it offers you the rare chance to take a leap of faith and to be able to enter the experience of what you most seek. This inner transporter system bypasses rationality and logic to get you directly to where you ideally wish to be. What previously felt impossible suddenly becomes real and quite plausible.</p>
<p>To end, let me share the image that is associated with these words. This was a very special moment. Suddenly out of the blue, whilst observing the northern lights, I suddenly heard a meteor falling to earth. A shooting star is low and seemingly entering our atmosphere. With an instant of attentiveness, I managed to capture the whole event on film even though it was no more than a split second. When we are fully attentive, what we may deem to be rationally improbable and quite impossible can sometimes be more than plausible, it can happen.</p>
<p>Never forget you have a magic wand, and you can work your own magic especially when you find yourself stuck and unable to work it out. There is a set of vital inner tools – a set of 4 &#8211; including the magic wand, whose nature and use you can explore in much more detail if you so wish. Go to U tube and search “Essential Inner Instruments – introduction of a 4 part course”, and you will find an introductory trailer offering deeper insight into these vital inner tools of our trade, through one of the ‘Positive Psychology Online Courses’.</p>
<p>We don’t have to chase our tails.</p>
<p>We don’t have to keep pushing that boulder up the hill time and again.</p>
<p>You can instead work your own magic.</p>
<p>May you approach your problem-solving, less in your head and more with a wand in your hand.</p>
<p>May you discover how the imagination can serve and offer you a new and previously un-foreseen resolution?</p>
<p>May you discover the joy of transporting yourself to where you most wish to be, learning and making meaning from such experiences.</p>
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<p><strong>Podcast Version</strong></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/free-from-logic-the-impossible-becomes-quite-plausible/">Free From Logic, The Impossible Becomes Quite Plausible</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com">The Positive Psychology People</a>.</p>
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