Personal Thoughts - Page one - Page Two - Page Three

Awareness

 

I have always been short-sighted and for years have struggled with the practicality of wearing glasses simply to be able to see properly versus the belief that looking good could NEVER include a pair of "Deidre Barlow's" perched on my nose (yes, I used to have a pair of specs that were almost as big as my face!). The result was that for most of my teens and early adulthood, I walked around in a very small myopic world of my own, most days and certainly all weekends. The reality was, I couldn't make out people's faces until I could feel their breath on my face, or read anything at more of a distance than 2 feet without squinting. So I ended up having "crows feet" around my eyes and "tramlines" on my forehead at the age of 22! However, at the time it seemed a small price to pay for the sake of my vanity.

 

One of the many consequences I suffered was that people were constantly accusing me of "ignoring them in the street/M&S/a meeting"; in truth I had simply not seen them. My focus became more and more narrow, literally, as I became used to my smaller world of spatial awareness.

 

A great day for me was in deciding to have contact lenses. I will always remember the sensation of going outside with the lenses in and my eyes streaming, with the instruction from my optician to walk around and become used to having bits of hard plastic in my eyes. Gradually the streaming eyes ceased and I could see and the new clarity was amazing! Not only could I see ahead of me but with lenses I had peripheral vision as well!

 

Nowadays vanity takes second place to the practical ability of being able to see and function within my own environment.

 

My awareness of people and things around me has increased as well. However what has really increased my awareness is becoming a coach. I thought that by being able to see more clearly I would be naturally more aware of people and their environments, but in fact, I was missing out a whole level of awareness that my sight didn't enhance. This awareness is intangible and sometimes can not be described. I often recognise it in myself as a familiar thought or a belief, but almost for the first time, as though it is somehow different to all the times before. It happens when I am listening to a client and I am aware of something different in their words, tone or manner, which I haven't noticed before. Even the very slightest change in their breathing or volume of their voice makes me aware of something going on. The greatest awareness for me as a coach, is when having asked a question, there is a silence, however brief, in a conversation with a client. At that point I am aware that something very significant could be happening and it is truly an amazing moment. The result can be a greater understanding and truth for both me and my client.

 

Awareness gives me a much bigger canvass to paint on and an increased range of feelings and words to explore. It is much more than empathy, but it is still in a sense a "connection" with me, with others and the environments in which we all operate. It gives me a greater understanding of my own behaviour towards others and therefore gives me greater scope for "operating from the heart level".

 

Some instances of my own experience of better awareness;

 

"To be blind is bad, but it is worse to have eyes and not see."
Helen Keller