In the coaching I do, I have my clients look for a “pearl of wisdom” in between each of our sessions. It can be a major “Aha!” moment that strikes with the force of a lightning bolt, or it can come as a gentle whisper bringing a quiet, yet profound, bit of knowledge or understanding. Either way, these “pearls” can fade away quickly if we don’t make a note of them. Or if we’re not paying attention and don’t even notice them in the first place.

We do the same type of thing in the weekly Cursillo groups I belong to. These are faith-centered groups, and we share with each other the prayer, study, and related activities we’ve taken part in during the previous week. We also make note of what we call “close moments” – times when we felt God was especially close and active in our lives. As we’re sharing our stories, we’ve joked about the fact that it’s sometimes just as we’re driving to the meeting that we start mentally reviewing our week to determine when and where we experienced a close moment. Mostly, though, we’ve trained ourselves to pay attention during the week so that when it happens, we notice it and recognize it for what it is. The more we do this, the more close moments we seem to have.

That’s what happens with my coaching clients, too. Once they begin to watch for pearls of wisdom in their lives, pearls start to show up everywhere. People often start realizing that their days, and their lives, are full of valuable insights and inspirations – things that were there all along but that they never even noticed.

I recognize this in myself, too, in many areas of my life – including the column I write each week. People ask me every so often where I go for ideas of what to write about. The truth is that I don’t “go” anywhere, and I rarely set out on a mission to find, collect, or store up ideas for future columns. Instead, I’ve trained myself to pay attention to the pearls of wisdom, and the positive and powerful “close moments” that are all around me, and that come from the people and situations that are part of my everyday life.

What I especially love about this is the realization that we have more control over the world around us than we may think. It’s true that there is both good and evil in the world today, and we can’t do anything to change that. But when we have our antennae up and tuned in to the positive, rather than the negative, we’ll start to find more of that in our lives.

Try it this week, and see what happens. Look for the positive encounters and inspiring insights in your life, and make note of them when they happen. Before long, you’ll probably notice a change not only in yourself, but in the world around you. You’ll also likely discover a greater sense of power, appreciation, and optimism. Along with a long, long strand of pearls.

The column “Find Your Buried Treasure” appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on September 29, 2016.
©Betty Liedtke, 2016

I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is to protect all of us from unwanted spam.