THE WOW FACTOR
by Brian Germain
The degree to which we feel
alive in any given moment varies widely. In familiar situations, we find
ourselves feeling only somewhat alive, and our subsequent access to the details
of that situation are fuzzy at best. In moments of awe, we are completely
awake, and our access to the long-term memories about the experience are
crystal clear. It is this feeling of aliveness, of WOW, that we most crave in
life because feeling alive is the fundamental motivation of all human consciousness.
When we are in a state of awe, appreciating the
significance of the experience, we are completely in the present moment. We
allow ourselves to get lost in the magnitude of the appreciation, and we become
like little children. This state of intense fascination is the very basis of
consciousness, and when we allow ourselves to go with the flow of the moment
and surrender to this feeling, we find our highest selves. We are this
feeling of fascination. The State of WOW is who we really are.
We must seek out these experiences. We must deliberately
choose to go to places that bring out a sense of awe so we can once again
reconnect with our true nature. As adults, we find ourselves lulled into a
feeling that today is yesterday, that nothing really interesting is happening.
This leads us to leave the best parts of ourselves at home, and our lack of
intense interest costs us our creativity, enjoyment, and the feeling of being
truly alive.
These
experiences of awe have the potential to be either joyful or fear-provoking. If
we ponder the negative possibilities of the situation, like visualizing falling
off the waterfall that we are appreciating, we can bring out a feeling of
panic, and the awe turns to dread. We then turn away from the cliff and the awe
and return to the mundane. This is how we cast ourselves out of Eden. The WOW
is a powerful emotion, and it requires us to breathe and relax and look for the
ways in which we are in control. Our feeling of safety is based purely on the
direction that we point our minds. Visualizing the positive possibilities and
relaxing into knowing that everything is OK is what allows us to feel better
and remain in the place of beautiful danger for a bit longer, so we can bask in
the glory of the moment. The longer we linger in the emotion, the more we become
it, and the Universe finds ways to bring us more experiences of joyful awe in
the future.
If
we look for the aspects of each and every moment that bring a sense of awe, we
can tap into our core energy at any time. It is true that it is easier to feel
a sense of WOW when you are flying a parachute along the edge of a huge puffy
cloud, or standing at the top of a waterfall, but any moment has an aspect of
WOW within it. We just need to become skilled in the art of bringing it out;
extracting the positive aspects of the situation that lead us to a sense of
amazement. By stepping up and out of the mundane perspective, everything
becomes a source of fun. An elevator ride, a drive in the car, standing in line
at the bank; all these moments can be viewed from a view point of WOW.
WOW
is the basis of joy. It is our shield from sadness, anger, fear and
helplessness. This is the highest state of consciousness, and the very best
version of WOW is the experience of loving appreciation of another person. When
you observe another for their most positive aspects, you expand the reasons why
you love them, and they expand into those parts of themselves that you enjoy
most. Listing the attributes of another that you enjoy most is the best way to
help those aspects to grow, whether you do it in your mind, or in actual written lists. You
don't even need to present the list to the other person, you just need to be
aware of these positive aspects. When you hold a person in that light, their
behaviors that may not be to your liking start to fade away, eclipsed by their "up" side. This is how positive awe is the way we transform all of our relationships.
We
are observers who expand what we observe simply by looking at it. By choosing
to hold beauty as our object of attention, we expand beauty. By allowing
ourselves to bask in the emotion of awe and appreciation, we become skilled in residing
in this emotion. We become chronic celebrators, habitually patterned into
the state of amazement. We have tried the alternative already, complaining and
seeking fault, and it has only brought us to more things to complain about, more reasons to be unhappy.
That is not where we want to go. We want to bring out the most positive
possibilities in every situation, and that always entails being a selective
viewer of each situation. You can look for the "up" side just as easily as you can
find fault. You can find "WOW" as easily as you can find "So What". It is your
choice. How do you want to feel? If you decide right now that your ultimate
desire is to feel as wonderful as possible, as much of the time as possible,
than your direction of thought is clear. You must become a conscious seeker
WOW.
BSG
