Inner Eyes: See The Beauty In All
Walk through various parts of any city, drive down different residential streets, go into some schools or businesses and your eyes will see many things.
I know for me living here in Atlanta, one street can be filled with multi-million dollar houses and pristine businesses while just a half mile away are boarded up houses, drug infested communities, beat up corner stores and project buildings.
I was driving through a rougher part of Atlanta the other day and asked myself, “What prevents me from seeing the underlying beauty filling each environment I enter?”
This question opened my mind to the realization that I am choosing to let my physical eyes dictate the thoughts I think about a specific place, instead of allowing my inner eyes and heart to see the abundance that fills even the most chaotic environments.
I venture to Honduras every year for a few months at a time and when I tell people I am heading there I always get a lot of people asking me why. They ask things like, isn’t crime everywhere? Is it even safe down there? Or, I’ve never heard of anyone going to Honduras, what makes you want to go there?
I remind these individuals that in the 5+ months I’ve spent down there, I’ve uncovered more peace, appreciation, and compassion than one may need for an entire lifetime.
I express these various stories about the rough neighborhoods in Atlanta, the multi-million dollar estates sprinkled throughout the city and the seeming chaos of Honduras to remind you we are the ones who tell ourselves what we see. By choosing to look deeper, looking with the inner eyes, feeling with our heart, we can find peace, appreciation and compassion in what appear to be the most barren environments.
Clear Sight, Fresh Feelings
I know for myself that I often allow other people’s negative views about a person, place, or community to dictate the way I see things. The more I let another person’s opinion dictate what I see, the further away I drift from the conscious recognition of what I am choosing to see.
In order to begin to see with our inner eyes and feel with the purity of our heart, we must take the necessary steps to stand guard at the entrance of our mind.
When we venture down the rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods alike, we should ask ourselves what we are choosing to see and how this fuels what we are feeling.
The vast majority rarely take the time necessary to influence their thoughts in a fresh and positive way. It is much easier to lean towards the habitual thoughts of the past, even if these thoughts steal the joy out from within.
Seeing With Inner Eyes
As the late great Wayne Dyer said, “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
I’ve found that I can just as easily look for the hidden beauty of every environment by shifting what I am telling my mind to see.
So how do we do that? How do we look with a new set of eyes… the inner eyes?
3 Keys To Seeing With The Inner Eyes
#1 – Remember, Things Appear As You See Them – The first step to seeing with your inner eyes is to remember things appear the way you choose to see them. You are not dictated by the world around you but you are that which empowers the world you see. Standing upon this understanding, it is fully in your power to shift your perspective at any given moment; awareness is key.
#2 – Influencing Your Environments – The second step to seeing with your inner eyes and feeling with the purity of your heart is to remember you can positively or negatively influence each environment you enter. You can also positively or negatively influence the people who fill those environments by the way you choose to see them. Moving forward with this understanding I’d like to encourage you to send feelings of kindness and compassion towards the people you meet and environments you enter. Your thoughts and feelings precede you everywhere you go.
#3 – Inner World – The final step requires you to see how you’ve used your power to shape your inner world. This is important because your inner world dictates how the world around you appears. Look within, see truth, see love, see joy and embrace inner appreciation. Doing this, impacts your view of the world.
Additional Exercises To See With Your Inner Eyes
- Be aware of what you are choosing to look at and the meaning you give it.
- Be aware of your feelings and how they are influencing your sight.
- See yourself in a positive light.
- See goodness all around you.
Peace
Happiness
Compassion
Respect
Jeffon Seely
Three Key Life
Inner Eyes Photo Credit: Unsplash