It is possible to get stuck in patterns of habit that do not serve us, even when we have gained insight into a different way of being.

The mind's default fixation on trying to control things can cause us to miss out on a wider range of experiences and the birth of the gifts that come from spontaneity.

To have a sense of agency to get things done based on our intentions, we operate under the necessary illusion of control.

We appear to have control until we slow everything down enough to know that we set an intention start operating in the direction of our intention and life takes over and completes the process, leaving us with the illusion that we consciously made all that happen.

Another angle to the illusion of control is where you think you have everything under control and therefore through complacency don't adhere to best practices and ignore good counsel. It is better to ask yourself the question as to whether you are missing things because you are so used to the way things have always been and nothing has gone wrong just yet.

Being in a constant state of hypervigilance is not conducive to a great quality of life. It is better to hold things lightly while being open to opportunities and flexible to adjust to changes as they arise. Especially when there is a resonance in you about the new idea.

Sometimes you just need to learn to trust others when you have no control that they may know more than you do so you can relax more. Trust can be a struggle because the brain interprets control as safety and the lack of it as danger. Trusting could therefore feel like a dangerous thing to do.

There is much more outside of our control than there is within it and trying to maintain the illusion that we do have control and dealing with the disappointment of that reality not materialising is very energy-sapping and creates emotional suffering.

To alleviate the emotional suffering induced by the mind's unrealistic objective to control everything, we can become aware when it is happening, reset our state through mindful breathing and reframe the situation to transform our experience of the circumstances as they are now.

How do you approach situations where you do not understand all of what is going on and why? It can be very disconcerting to the mind as one of its greatest needs is for resolution. It has been known to make things up just to have that sense of resolution.

A better approach to the mystery is to get curious, remain open, trust the universe and be open to opportunities to learn more with each step you take. You then discover in retrospect how everything fits together because you trusted in the inspiration to action without having the full picture at the time.

The universe is full of fantastic surprises when we trust it to do its thing even when what we seemed inspired to do makes no sense at the time.

Where in your body do you feel unease when you appear to be losing "control"?

Context can influence interpretation, so it is necessary to hold yours lightly while making space for others to express theirs without making theirs invalid because it does not align completely with yours. Be curious about the context from which they are looking at it. What do you see when you stand where they stand to look at it from?

When we bring the energy of our intentions to bear on a situation, reality begins to respond to it and deliver it to us. By this, we influence the manifestation of reality

If our mind becomes fixated on the energy of lack and limited possibilities, we can notice this and start recognising that the opposite of what we are seeing could be just as true and someone else is experiencing that at the very same moment when we are claiming life is only otherwise to that.

A useful reframe for the mind is, "Is this really true, what else could be true?"

How can you change your perspective to see things differently?

The possibilities are infinite as the universe shows up in many guises. When you are centred, open and present you can detect your inner vibrational frequency that is inspiring you to take certain lines of action that align with the next step of manifesting your own path from all the possibilities that exist.

When we are in a plane that is taking off, what we see out of the window depends on its altitude and there would not be much value in someone on the ground arguing with someone on the ground about what is there.

Explore and understand where people are getting their perspectives from so you can aggregate from there when communicating. What would you see if you were standing where they are?

We cannot impose the energy of our intention on others or vice versa unless we change and align ourselves with someone else's perspective. If someone is not willing to look at things from where we are seeing it, it is better to let go than spend a lot of energy trying to convince them.

You are not your thoughts, so if you notice that you are stuck in limiting thought patterns, then verbally question their validity and hold on to your empowering foundation of possibility.

What do you notice about your energy when others express a view you do not agree with?

The creator has the artistic license to use their own framework for the meaning they are communicating through what they have created or said and the persons on the receiving end of it have the same likewise.

The mind tends to want to present things with a fixed mode of interpretation or approach to interpreting or approaching something and would resist anything that contradicts its prediction/preference.

This approach of the mind can get us stuck in a negative flux of emotions or stifle our creativity. When you recognise you are in such a state, there is an opportunity to reclaim your freedom of exploring other ways of looking at or approaching things that could easily be as valid.

Whatever you put out there will be filtered through the noise of the other person's worldview as per their own artistic license. While there is value in affirming your intentions, it is not helpful to take responsibility for their interpretation as it is not the only one available.

How people receive what you do/say can tell you a lot about them. Learn how you can communicate more clearly but also observe what you are able to learn about how they see the world.

When communicating with others, there is value in checking in verbally that what you intended to convey was what was received as the message.

We should be careful not to let fear of misinterpretation stop us from honouring and giving form to what we have been inspired to create.

The mind's attempt to predict what the response will be to our creation is futile. There is too much out of its control to allow any credibility to that process. So we should not allow that to stop us and we should hold people's responses lightly.

Second-guessing yourself can get in the way of your creative flow as it will hug your creative bandwidth and compromise the relaxed state conducive to creativity.

What is stopping you from what you have been inspired to create?

Paying full attention includes looking in the direction of the speaker to connect with all the visual cues included in their communication while also assuring them that your focus is centred on them

Edification is not guaranteed from any communication, but that judgment call cannot be made without first paying attention

Focus directs our consciousness towards the source of information that presents the opportunity for learning

Intention is required to back up the choice to pay attention and maintain that attention on the source of communication to give that robust quality to your attention.

What do you find yourself paying attention to, and how is that serving your growth?

If you pay attention to what is being said and it hits you as profound, there is a good chance it is because what was shared has particular relevance to your current situation.

The impact of what is shared is not all down to the speaker as not everyone who listens will have the same experience, and sometimes what resonates is not being shared for the first time, but on this occasion, you were paying attention, and the subject matter is of current relevance.

When was the last time you heard something profound, and how did it relate to your circumstances?