When life is filled with a myriad of irritants, and maybe you’ve had more time to notice and feel them over these months (?), how does one choose which irritants to focus on? Or to put it another way, which grains of sand should we, with oyster capabilities already inside of us (the power to transform things) turn into pearls?
Area of Least Satisfaction/Most Pain
Maybe you don’t have one major irritant, or hardship going on, but several. A good way to start is to rate how much satisfaction you feel in each area of your life. Rate your level of satisfaction (or happiness)/least painful, on a scale of 1 to 10, in each of these categories:
1=not satisfied/most painful; 10=most satisfied/not painful
Job
Core Relationships
Finances
Physical Health
Emotional/Mental health
Sand to Pearls (Transformation Power Steps)
Once you’ve identified your least satisfying/most painful (lowest number) area, begin applying the transformation steps.
The Sand
Step One: Identify the Irritant
What, exactly is wrong in this area? What is the thing that is irritating you the most? Be honest. Write it all out. Let your inner child be as nasty or as petty as she wants to be.
Step Two: Neutralize the Irritant
What will it take for this area not to be irritating? Again, write out all of your ‘coulds,’ ‘shoulds’ and ‘if onlys.’ You can be as unrealistic as you want here. Brainstorm possibilities.
The Pearl
Step Three: Make a Choice
What are your choices? In every situation we have choices. Even in the midst of a pandemic, social upheaval and political craziness, we still have options and things we can and do control.
Read: Feeling Powerless? What Can You Control in the Midst of the Uncontrollable?
Change the situation or change yourself. Become the problem-solving creator. Choose something you wrote down in Step Two: Neutralize the Irritant. What did you write down that felt like ‘ah hah!’ or made you laugh or gave you a feeling of relief, hope or energy? Pursue that!
Bonus Step: Repeat
Choose the next least satisfying/most painful area and repeat the practice. As you practice this transformation process and produce more pearls, you will begin to view each irritant as a possibility.
The area of least satisfaction/most pain is where the biggest treasure lies. Do Not be afraid of the tough, dark, hard and heavy parts you may be walking through. I have found that my most painful experiences and most difficult relationships have been where I have acquired the most ‘treasure.’ When I have implemented my power to transform, these areas have made me more of who I am and have made my life better.
In the same way sand becomes a pearl, you are becoming, forming and being forged into a thing of beauty.
You are the oyster, a pearl-making laboratory. Your laboratory is run by universal intelligence. You already possess everything to produce pearls.
Need help with the transformation process? That’s what Life Coaches are for! I can help you be a pearl generator.
Jennifer Washington
Certified Martha Beck Life Coach
What Now Life Coaching
www.whatnowlifecoaching.com