The title of this guest post strikes such a chord with me. It is so true that what we look for is what we see.
When we look through eyes of love and compassion, and we look for the goodness in people, it is the goodness that we see. When we look for flaws and judge others, then that too is what we will see.
Every day, I look for the magic and the beauty in the world around me. And every day, it is there to see.
This post on awareness has been written by my dear friend, Juan Carlos Limas. Twitter handle – @joshmedici
I first met Juan Carlos at an #inspirechat session last year. And what did I see? I saw a shining spirit journeying to unleash the power within.
It has been a joy and a privilege to watch him grow, open, and blossom before my eyes. I have watched him break free of his perceived limitations and learn to ride the wind of possibility.
Juan Carlos shares his learnings and insights in the post below.
*****
Your Eyes See What Your Eyes Are Looking For
The person you were yesterday is not the same as you are today. The person you’ll be tomorrow will likely be a different version of yourself, hopefully someone wiser and more giving and caring than the one that goes to sleep tonight.
“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life”. ~ Muhammad Ali
I read this quote a couple of months ago and it resonated in my head, perhaps because a friend of mine just gave me a lecture about how I have changed and how far apart we have grown. Besides that point, I guess I was contemplating that fact in my own life.
I realized my life was not as easy or as relaxed as I had planned for it to be. In fact, it was in shambles. I was anxious, nervous, afraid of what tomorrow might bring.
My biggest fear back then was precisely the idea of one day waking up and asking myself: This is it? This is as good as it gets? This is as much as I can do with my talents, my education, my work? I was afraid of reaching my full potential and of being unimpressed by it, I was afraid of achieving, of becoming something I felt in my heart I was meant to be.
Sometimes I feel like I am near that point where I will become the person I would be for the rest of my life. And then I see myself change again.
Do you ever feel like that?
I read ages ago that whenever a disciple is ready, it’s automatically approached by a mentor or teacher. The first step for me was to accept responsibility, and to stop blaming everything on everyone else. The second step was to find peace; accept that some things are not under my control, and that the only thing I can control is the way I feel about the things happening around me.
But, what if my eyes were not ready? What if my spirit was not up to the task? That’s when I realized that there was no way I could’ve met the people I have met in my life had I not be prepared to meet them, I suddenly became aware of the power I had over my feelings, my view of the world was much more open because of that.
I wrote a quote about it:
“My eyes see what my eyes are looking for”.
So, my eyes, my mind, my soul, were all searching for a way out, but there was no chance I could do that if I was not ready and willing to receive it. That whatever my eyes don’t want to see, they won’t see. Even if it’s right in front of me, it will be imperceptible.
You feel confident in your knowledge; you trust your instincts more than you trust the advice of your friends, and you are at ease with who you are. A certain point where ideas are realized, you feel paradigms shifting, and your view of the world changes radically.
These insights have made a huge difference in my life for the past year.
1. The willingness to communicate, to being tolerant, to negotiate better terms for the parties involved, to be of service.
2. Understanding that arguments win fights and yet manage to ruin relationships.
3. Learning to love and practice love in everything we do every day.
I believe my eyes are now more open, there are plenty of things to see. I’m not saying that I have reached the final plateau of my life; I bet I will be different soon enough.
But the beautiful thing is that I no longer have those fears, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen, but I can’t control anything about the future, so I let it go, I concentrate on my present moment and my present moment is mine, to share, to learn, to read, to pursue my dreams one day at a time.
I found a group of people on Twitter that share love and dreams. The relevance of this is that I was not really searching for it, but I believe my mind was open; and my eyes were ready to see new things. The striking memory of this group is that on my first gathering, I was the stranger, the new kid in town, and there I was, reading about people I have never met, having this estrange sense of well-being, because I felt everyone was so open and caring. Everyone was sharing stories, advice, experiences. It was the start of something beautiful, something amazing. I started to feel like my life was not this cork subject to the power of the waves. I started to feel like I was able to take back control of my mind and my fears.
I realized also that I had a perception of flaws, the perceived notion that I have made mistakes. I noted how I was using those flaws and mistakes as an excuse to not face my present moment, to prevent myself from engaging in my own life. There’s this quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer:
“When you change the way you see at the world, the world you look at, changes”.
Even if you change your way of thinking one more time, or many times, you will be ready for change – every time. The learning never ends.
I’m a work in progress, and I like to think that my life has a purpose, both for me or for other people I encounter along my path. I want to be of service. And I feel this inside of me. Now, I know better than to let external forces shape my decisions. It’s all within me, my resolve, my spirit, my soul.
If the faith you have in yourself is strong enough, there is no way you can get lost again.
Please leave your comments below.
8 Responses to Your Eyes See What They Are Looking For
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Shelley Lundquist
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I love this post. I have always struggled with people telling me about all the “bad” in the world whereas I experience it as a beautiful and safe place that leads me and teaches me through all kinds of good and bad experiences. Perhaps it’s a choice to see the world the way I do, but no matter what people share with me about their life experiences, I keep coming back to my basic belief that people are doing the best that they can and so am I. Don’t get me wrong; I have had some really bad stuff to work through, and I’ve shed my share of tears. I just see the way others treat me as struggles that they are having due to their past and how it has influenced their perceptions. I side-step negativity now and try not to engage people who choose to abuse me whether it’s deliberate on their part or not.
Sorry to go on! Have a good one!
I LOVE your perspective, dear Betsy. I agree. Our past is just a story and we get to decide how to look forward and to create the life we want today, as well as a new ending for ourselves. There is SO much magic in every single day!
Everything is perception. People do need to express themselves and when we do not engage in the negativity but respond with kindness, we can help them shift. While people need to be free to be and to express themselves without judgement, the focus should never be on the problem or who is right or wrong. The focus should always be on the solution that will create a win win for all parties involved. Love is always the answer.
Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to communicate with people who are not open and who do not hear when they listen, because they become defensive. While yes, people are doing the best they can with what they have, it takes an open heart to be love.
You are definitely that, dear Betsy! xo
That is a great way to see things. We tend to react instead of think. And that leads to confrontation and many people are ready for it, all the time!
But being patient, tolerant, that is a hard choice to make, since sometimes we’re looking to be offended, alluded to, even when things have nothing to do with us.
Allowing ourselves to be filled with love, and not the romantic kind (which is good) but the love for ourselves, love for what we do, love for what we want to be, love for other people, even when those people disagree with us, because love knows how to handle those situations, it prevents us from making rash decisions.
I see know that opening ourselves to life means accepting that not everyone will react the way we would, and that does not make them wrong or bad, it means life happens to everyone and everyone has a choice, all the time.
Blessings on your journey Betsy.
Clap, clap, clap, Josh.
I think people should have more willpower to see what the want to see. Every day the news are talking and talking about wars and that stuff, obviously that push to the people to see a shit world; and maybe it is, but in the eyes of the rest. All of us have that power to see and push the others a new and lovely world. But thats our eyes. Maybe we’re wrong or good. All depends of ourselves.
Great post, great page. A big hug.
You’re right, Kevin. We can choose to see all that is wrong, or focus on all that is right. I am thankful for everything that happens in my life, challenges and blessings alike, because it is from them all that I grow. Stay positive. See the magic! ((hugs))
I appreciate your comments Kevin. Indeed, we sometimes forget that we are the ones in control of our own decisions, (and our feelings), I now know better and I wish I keep seeing the love and light to lead me out of those misconceptions, I know I have light in me, I just need to let it shine, not for anyone else but for me.
I’m glad to see you here. Blessings!
Beautiful post, Josh! (Thanks for sharing with us, Shelley!)
I have often marveled at our propensity to search out evidence to prove our own conclusions to be true… your words eloquently describe this phenomenon!
I like how you take what could be considered a passive, potentially even negative, trait, and turn it around with a positive challenge: if you know that you see what you are looking for, why not purposefully change what you choose to see?
Brilliant, thanks for sharing!
Thank you Janet, for reading it.
Yes, and I read recently about something similar. What if we stop thinking in terms of things “happening to us” and start thinking in terms of things happening by us? That will make a difference in our lives immediately.
Because as you point out, is not that we are ready to accept responsibility for out decisions, instead, we are ready to say a-ha! I knew this would fail, I knew this was going to happen, and we are happy by knowing that our presumptions were true.
Instead of programming our mind to say different things, as in making different choices whenever we want a different outcome.
Sometimes, I found out, it’s just easier to blame the circumstances and not ourselves. But once you realize that power within, once you get into account your decisions and how they influence your life, well, it’s hard to let go of that knowledge, because as other quote I read: “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”
― William Wilberforce
And that is how I feel, I know I have a road ahead, but contrary to other moments in my life, I’m not afraid of what tomorrow might bring. My present moment is not always as I plan, but that only means that I still have things to learns, places to go, people to meet. That means I still need to keep working on myself, because I will never stop, not now, not ever.
And I leave you (after my long reply) with another quote I read that I have playing in my mind constantly: “I must not lose my resolve, I will march forward even if I have to do it alone” and that intrigues and fascinates me.
Blessings…! 🙂