Life Change Equation: Space > Expansion > Possibility > Experience > Joy
Posted on June 15, 2011 by Andrew Long, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Experienced Life Coach Andrew Long describes a life changing equation for happiness. Your life starts now, what are you waiting for?
The following sequence of five words will change your life. Space > Expansion > Possibility > Experience > Joy. One of the quickest ways to create joy in your life is to create Space. It means taking yourself off auto-pilot and consciously opening yourself up.
Is your life expanding or contracting? When is the last time you took the time to notice the whispering leaves flittering in the wind, or had an impromptu conversation with someone you didn’t know? If you are like most, it was before you owned a smart phone. That crafty little device is just one of the many “moment derailers”, the opportunity to have an unexpected experience. I want to use it an example and share with you three times this week I noticed disengagement. Perhaps you’ll find them as absurd as I did.
I was standing outside a yoga studio waiting for the door to be unlocked. Every single person waiting there with me had their head buried low, thumbs and forefinger pecking away. As I glanced around, I had the thought “Is the future here?” In the old days, that is, only a few years ago, this would have been a moment to open up a connection with a small verbal exchange.
A few days later, I was standing in line at the grocery store. As I looked around at everyone in line, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Mothers were clutching their cell phones chatting away (as their children consumed themselves with hand held game devices), college kids fervently texting with eyes glazed over, and a man in his 70’s surfing away unaware the cashier was asking him a question. Almost everyone was either texting, surfing, or talking on their phones.
What really hit home was what I experienced over the weekend. I was walking around Town Lake and noticed a couple out with their baby in a stroller. My thought was, “how wonderful this couple is taking the time to connect, spend time together, and bond as a family.” But when I got closer, I noticed the man holding up a phone to his ear talking away. Okay I thought, perhaps this is a quick important weekend business call about a pressing matter. Soon I realized he was talking to his buddy about a litany of mundane things, light chit-chat if you will, essentially about nothing. “Really, this is how you are choosing to spend the precious and sacred time with your wife and baby?” In a conscious loving and living relationship, I can’t imagine anyone would accept the offer of, “Hi honey, let’s grab the stroller and go for a walk along Town Lake. I want to walk alongside you and baby Sara while I talk to Jim on the phone about trivial things.” Hmmm, framed this way it seems rather absurd.
And yes, you can choose to live in an absurd disengaged world, that is, if you choose it. I want you to consider what choices are you making. In the coming week, see if you can recognize when you tune out with your cell phone and fill in the gap. Notice your breathing and what you are experiencing in real time. Are you noticing where you are in the moment, or are you thinking about the future or the past? Take yourself out of auto-pilot mode and into Be Here Now mode. I guarantee if you practice this your life will expand in wonderful, unexpected ways. The first step is making creating the Space.
As an experienced Life Coach I have witnessed so many clients make huge shifts with this approach. I work with clients in person as well as Skype/phone all over the world.
