Week 86

Heightened Moments

“They say a heightened moment can be a teacher, that we’re changed if we’re willing to listen to the lesson.” Thea Iberall

 “Ever noticed how certain moments in your day suddenly make you hyper-aware of yourself, your thoughts, and your feelings? That’s heightened self-awareness in action—those unexpected flashes of clarity that reveal who we really are. While many people think developing self-awareness requires dedicated meditation or lengthy reflection, the truth is that our daily lives are filled with natural triggers that can spark this heightened self-awareness without any special effort.”

“These spontaneous moments of clarity offer golden opportunities for personal growth. When we learn to recognize and leverage these natural triggers, we develop a deeper understanding of our emotional patterns, reactions, and needs. The beauty of these unexpected moments is that they're already happening in your life—you just need to start noticing them.”

By Sarah Thompson https://ahead-app.com/blog/Mindfulness/7-surprising-moments-that-trigger-heightened-self-awareness-in-daily-life

I am remembering heightened moments, like an incredible sunset, double rainbows, the simplicity of squirrels gathering nuts. Every day, probably too numerous to mention, triggers fly by our awareness giving us a moment of heightened awareness. Saturday morning meditations are just one of those moments where each of us voluntarily listen, share and practice silence.

Life as we know it is changing, and the ugly news and actions are the squeaky wheels. But in all senses of reality, life is changing for the better. Pain and suffering have been part of the growth of the human spirit since the beginning of time. Centuries have brought along more and more awareness of what people need to be happy.

We are at a tipping point in our time that brings to the forefront our abilities to manifest heightened moments of clarity, that give us information to help us continue to manifest heightened moments. We are in it right now by listening to these words, cooperating with our minds and bodies and surrendering to inspiration.

This doesn’t mean suffering won’t happen. Life is challenging. Suffering is real. What it means is that we have the ability to find moments of beauty, inspiration and love, recognize them for what they are, boosting our sense of wellbeing to keep going. Just five minutes of inspiration can change a day.

I am remembering years ago when my daughter was living with her liver disease. Bleakness abounded by the fact that there was no cure for her disease, and it was a matter of time before this disease took her from us.

I focused on this reality, and life became very bleak. Living in bleak, dark thoughts of pain and loss took life from me. These thoughts stole my life energy, slowed my life down to a crawl as I negotiated my way through the muck and mire. And no one tried to argue against my dark awareness because my daughter was dying.

I had to find a way to create comfort, community and care because that is my birthright, no matter what my circumstances. Comfort, community and care creates solace in times of pain and suffering. Comfort, community and care give us strength to keep on going through life’s difficulties.

On the days when I was blessed with sleep, I would wake up and remember, feel depressed even before I got out of bed. Life was not working. Day after day, life felt hopeless.

It was then I decided to make a change in my routine. I figured out how to interrupt my thoughts by playing music before I woke up and started thinking. I was able to set up a CD player alarm clock set for 5am so when I woke up, my brain heard happy music. I think it was oldies I was listening to. It made all the difference in the world.

Present day when I am struggling to find comfort in the middle of the night, I use sleep stories that distract my brain, stories that offer comfort. My brain attaches itself to whatever is repeating itself and gets my attention. I soon find I am imagining what the sleep story is about and it eases my anxiety.

Life hacks help us manage. We deserve beauty, inspiration, comfort, care and community. Our brains are designed to protect us at all costs. Why not make some changes that guide the brain in a direction of peace, even for five minutes. It can make a world of difference for you and your loved ones.