Your Extraordinary Side & The Journey Up the Spiral

Chapter 2

YOUR EXTRAORDINARY SIDE & THE JOURNEY UP THE SPIRAL

WHAT’S REALLY BEEN GOING ON IN LIFE

Think back to a time in your life when you ran into a major challenge or maybe something didn’t work out the way you wanted. You were making your way around the spiral and hit one of those times in life when you’re on the backside.

Although it may have been hard to see at the time, when we look back now, we may be able to see that the challenges or issues that came up were actually there to help us discover more about who we really are deep down. You know those times in our life that push us to dig deep? Maybe something goes wrong with our relationship? Or, we run into a big financial challenge and don’t have enough money to fix it. Or, maybe something goes wrong with our work? our health? our business? Even though these times can be really hard, have you noticed that once you push through them, something inside of you grows? You feel stronger and maybe even wiser and more confident because you pushed through.

That’s your Extraordinary Side.

Even though you might have felt distraught, or frustrated and worn down, your Extraordinary Side lifted you back up. The inner strength and intuition of your Extraordinary Side was guiding you through the challenge.

OUR EXTRAORDINARY SIDE VS. OUR ORDINARY SIDE

Throughout history, the Extraordinary Side and the ordinary side have gone by many other different names. In Buddhism, common terms are the ‘small self’ and the ‘large self. Others have described it as our higher self, which is loving, wise, and the voice that whispers and guides us toward our best decisions; versus our lower self, which acts before it thinks, and houses our fears, doubts, anger, jealousy, judgment, etc.

Our lives are full of both Extraordinary side and ordinary side instincts. The question becomes which are we going to listen to? Which side are you going to allow to be the dominant force in your life? To use my own life as an example, in the past, my problem was that I wasn’t listening to my Extraordinary Side nearly enough or letting it lead the way. The longer I continued to ignore it, the wider the gap between the life I had settled into living and the life that was calling to me grew. As a result, I wasn’t using my days as effectively to upspiral. Instead, my ordinary side worked very hard to keep me running on the hamster wheel of life. It constantly whispered to me to Play it safe. Be responsible. Be realistic. There is nothing more. You’re just dreaming. Does any of this sound familiar to you? If so, then know you’re not the only one.

ALLOWING OUR EXTRAORDINARY SIDE TO LEAD THE WAY

Living with your Extraordinary Side in the driver’s seat is not about obsessing and trying to go through every day “being perfect.” It’s not about searching for some state of being we have to miraculously acquire somehow. It’s a capacity that already exists within you. It’s about settling into who you really are and doing the best you can to allow your true self to naturally flow out into what you think, say, and do.

The amazing thing is that we can actually feel the presence of our Extraordinary Side. Your Extraordinary Side has a palpable presence—it’s a presence within you that you can tune into at any time that can positively influence everything you do. When our Extraordinary Side is in the driver’s seat, we feel full of ease, kindness, generosity, patience, open-mindedness, love and connectedness (the list goes on and on). Physically, our body will feel relaxed and we continually take restful, deep breaths. There is literally a place of calm and stillness you can rest in and there’s an overwhelming sense that everything is unfolding just as it is meant to. From this place, the qualities of our Extraordinary Side flow naturally and easily. It positively impacts the way you experience everything (including, of course, your journey up the Spiral). We’ll be talking about a specific daily practice and routine that allows us to continually allow our Extraordinary Side to lead the way. But first, it’s important to understand more about those times in life when you’re on the frontside vs. the backside of the spiral.