Finding the Silver Lining

In the eternal flow of life there are inevitably moments that light us up and moments that bring us down. So the challenge is to get from 'down' to ‘up’ (never let it be said that I don’t have a talent for stating the obvious!).

One of the most useful tools I've discovered of late is the process below, again from the Abraham-Hicks stable.

Every moment that brings us down in our lives shows us what we would like, what would lift us up. By turning our thinking from what we don't want to what we do want, we take the first steps towards feeling better. So the first step is to answer these questions:

What does this show me about what I would like?
What do I now realise that I really want?

The next step is to go from the mind to the emotions: Make it real, make it visceral. Two simple questions again:

Why would this ‘better event’ make me feel better?
What would this ‘better event’ give me?

By focusing on how we'd feel in this new, improved version of reality, we begin to feel even better. We now have a real silver lining to that cloud, an experience that makes us feel better and helps us imagine an even more pleasing future moment.

I got to practice this process and saw its transformational effect in less than one week...

Someone very close to me read my blog for the first time and was less than complimentary. As I'm determined to live life with bounce, I immediately started to turn that event around...

It showed me that I'd really love those dearest to me to be enthusiastic and supportive of my writing.

What that would give me is a sense of achievement, of value - that what I write has a wider meaning and resonance than my own life - and of support from my friends and family.

Over the following days, every time I felt bad about the comment, I'd quickly shift to the reality I would like. It was a long-term aspiration as far as I was concerned, but after 4 days the comment had lost its sting, so I was pleased!

And then, to my amazement, as if to prove the process works, after 3 months with 6 followers, I got a 7th follower! And here's the best bit, it was my beloved brother Luke!

Thanks Luke - you've no idea how much you made my day!