Whether we know it or not, each day we form or contribute to patterns, be it food, spending, exercise, prayer, etc. The patterns start to become a part of the fabric of who we are. We may feel that we have no control over these repetitious behaviors, but with alot of work, they can be changed, and a life on automatic pilot can be altered, once one decides to turn the switch off and take the controls.

Habits are all around us….inside ourselves, in our friends, in our families. We all form habits individually and collectively. Sometimes the circle must be broken, to take a look and take a bold new course in the direction of our lives. Otherwise, we just go around and around, and before too long the circle creates its own force and traps us. Is it any wonder that we live on a planet spiraling through space, protected by its own gravitational force….so, too, do we develop our own force.

One of the most important aspects of life is awareness. If the blinders go on, we trot along a path, oblivious to what is going on around us. Sedation becomes the norm, and as we know, time does march on, whether we are awake or asleep. What’s sad, I must say, is that in many cases we don’t totally appreciate what life is, and how precious it can be, until it is threatened by an illness, or an accident….then, all of a sudden, we “get it.” The pattern instantaneously is broken. But does it have to get to that drastic step before we can break the circles that are harmful to us?

One of the best ways to see the patterns that you have developed in your life is to remove yourself from familiar surroundings for a short period of time…..take a vacation, or take a drive … visit someone out of town. But most of all, get away for awhile. As you come home, you start to see things as they really are. The different surroundings that you’ve allowed to flow through your mind, blow away the cobwebs and allow a fresh perspective to enfold you … then we can permit ourselves to see who we are, and what we want to be. A birds-eye view of our lives is sometimes all that is needed to see the three dimensions of our lives…the past, the present, and the future.

Seeing is believing,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1999 Jennifer Avalon