Being in Discovery (Part 1)
When my nephew was little, I sort of taught him to look up at the moon. He was caught up with wonder, as if he’d never seen it before. We were all once like that, full of wonder when looking at the heavens. As we get older, we just walk from our car to the inside of our home, turn on the TV, and don’t even notice the sky or the weather patterns directly. Being in discovery means that we have a freshness to life and a fresh approach as if we’re experiencing for the first time.
Another, similar practice for mastery is to “experience your experience.” This sounds simple enough, but a lot of times we don’t experience our life as it happens. Often, we mentally or physically check out. For example, if something is emotionally painful, we’ll leave our body so we don’t have to feel it. It may not be as extreme as an out-of-body experience, but notice if you go numb during a boring day at work or during if interaction with someone that feels unpleasant. If we are present and in discovery, we have a real chance to connect with someone and with life.
There is a country song that asks “Where’ve I been all my life?” The singer talks about how their life has passed them by. He’s gone down the road and back, his parents have gotten older, he’s been in and out of love, he’s finally learned about forgiveness—and he asks “where’ve I been all my life?”
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