Episode 30: Seeing the Magic of Your Awesome Life

Because we have human brains, we aren't programmed to notice the magic, miracles, and awesomeness of our lives.  

But that does not mean they don't exist!

To find more joy and awe in our lives, we have to purposefully redirect our brains to notice how amazing our lives really are and the gifts that are there that go mostly unnoticed.  

In this episode of the podcast, I give you three powerful tools that you can use to help you recognize the truth about your awesome life and recalibrate your brain to "see things as they really are."

Our Brains Can't See the Truth

Our brains are only programmed to see the negative.  This means that most of the time we are oblivious to the magic of our lives.

The truth is that no matter what your circumstances are, no matter what kind of crappy hand you think you’ve been dealt, no matter how unfavorable your situation seems, you’ve won the universe’s lottery.  Just by being alive on planet earth!

One example of this is the heliosphere that was discovered by Voyager 1 and 2.  As they made their way into interstellar space, we saw the protective bubble the solar wind creates that protects our fragile DNA from harmful interstellar radiation.

There is so much out there at work and in effect in your life that you cannot see and rarely acknowledge, that allows you to have this incredible experience on earth with people you love.

By and large, we are oblivious to the magic of our lives.

Most of us, instead, think we're just one wrong move from total disaster. We have a long list of the ways our lives have gone wrong and all the things that haven’t worked out for us and all the ways we ourselves have failed. We have an equally long list of why the deck is tacked against us and we can’t get ahead and how this whole human experience is just an exericise in pain.

And what I want you to know is that we've had it all backwards.

It’s all completely miraculous. And we are oblivious.

These three tool can give you awareness and help you see the magic and miracle of your own life:

Powerful Tools and Questions to Consider

These three tool can give you awareness and help you see the magic and miracle of your own life:

1.  Do a Rampage of Appreciation

The Rampage of Appreciation is a gratitude exercise, but I love the use of the word rampage. Like you are going wild with appreciation. 

Set your timer for 2 minutes.

Write as quickly as you can for 2 minutes, writing down everything you appreciate, everything you're grateful for—from the tiniest things (stamps and eyelashes and pebble ice) to the biggest (life and love and agency and heliopsheres).

You can look around the room you are in and notice everything. Notice your hand moving across the page, the paper itself, the desk and the floor and the ink contained in a thin plastic tube, and your amazing eyes that can see it all.

Give yourself two minutes and go crazy. It's supposed to a rampage—a wild, jubilant, rush of joy and appreciation for the miracles around you.

It’s that easy.

2.  Ask yourself, "How is this perfect?"

Reframe the story of your life by retelling it from the perspective of how it has all been perfect for you.  

To help you do this you can make a list of 25 things you want.  Then rewrite the list, but this time make sure that every other thing on the list is something that you WANT that you ALREADY HAVE.  This will help you see how abundant and perfect your life really is.  

3.  Go on a "Complaining Fast."

A complaining fast isn't complicated. It’s exactly like it sounds. There's only one rule: no complaining.

For many of us negativity is so sublte. It’s just these sneaky little thoughts and phrases that seem like observations:  

"It's not cheap having three kids in college."
"I'm exhausted."
"I wish I would have known this when my kids were little."
"He's always on his phone."
"This should be easier."
"I don't have time for this."
"I wish I was better at this."

What we are trying to do with a complaining fast is to not agree with our brain when it offers its general negative view of our lives. Because even the smallest complaining is agreeing with our brain that there is something wrong here.

A complaining fast forces your brain to stop focusing on what isn’t working, and allows us to see what is.

What would it look like for you to go on a Complaining Fast? Can you commit to an hour? A day? A week?
I dare you to pick just one area of your life, and try it with me.

Mentioned in the podcast:

• National Geographic article: Interstellar space even weirder than expected, NASA probe reveals
• Abraham-Hicks Rampage of Appreciation
• "Christmas Presents" video by Forest Hill Church
• Picture of the heliosphere below:

To read or download a written transcript of the entire episode, simply click the link below.