Perspective: Seeing the Struggle Vs Seeing the Strength.

What do you see in this image? How does that tendency impact your effectiveness?

There are a few things that pop up when I show people this image of a very ordinary little garden snail moving between two paving blocks.

We don't see snails as particularly strong, or smart, or agile. And when we watch their movements, the 'burden' on their backs, we might imagine that it must be a great struggle.

Our worldview kicks in, and we look at the snail as a pitiful creature. But, could this boneless, slimy mollusc be worthy of our admiration?

I think so.

Here's another view of the snail.

This snail, for his size, is demonstrating a physical strength that I am seriously envious of. Look at him go! I mean, without arms or legs, that wee critter is pulling himself up a vertical surface! That's the equivalent of putting your chin over the edge of a cliff and being able to get the rest of your body up with your arms and legs tied!

Snails are incredibly elastic. Not only that, but some of them appear to be incredibly fearless explorers. You will, no doubt, have found one somewhere far higher from the ground than expected, and like me, wondered what they were thinking when they set out!

Or maybe they'd just had a bad snail day, and were doing the equivalent of 'walking it off'.

Also, here's the next thing to consider about this 'struggle'. Maybe speed isn't everything. I am pretty sure this snail will get where he's going, and he's not going to fall. He's happy to give it the time it needs to get to where he's aiming for.

So weighing it up, whether we see the snail as struggling or as strong, or even both simultaneously, gives us an insight into how we see the world. What we see reflects what we are experiencing. And that's often because we haven't learned how to see things differently.

If you look at the snail and see it moving at a pace that's working for him, even with setbacks, knowing it has all it needs right there, and tackling challenging endeavours without losing becoming overwhelmed, stressed, or hopeless, then it seems like a pretty positive picture, right?

If you worry about whether the poor snail's going to be able to make it, if it's literally got 'too much on its back', and as well as that, how could anyone not be disgusted by its sliminess.... well, that's a different deck of cards.

We can choose to 'state shift' - to move our awareness - our consciousness - to more productive ways of thinking. We can draw on more helpful ways of engaging with situations. This is a skill we can learn. This is a skill we can choose to practise. This is how we get to consistently find ways to improve our actions, reactions and interactions.

Like our snail friend, it takes time. And we have to practise seeing our strengths instead of our struggles.

Tell me, what else do you see here? I'd love to know.

As always, you know where to find me,

PS: If you enjoyed this, you might like the free events I host with my colleagues at the NeuroDevelopment Institute. You can register for free by going to https://neurodevelopmentinstitute.com/membership

Categories: : applied neuroscience, brain science, coaching, development, personal development, resilience, self-awareness, The Stories We Tell Ourselves