Try Moving Series – The Periphery

We’re always encouraged to look at our target, see what’s ahead, “don’t lose focus”, “keep your eye on the prize”. But what are we missing on the side? Challenges that might surprise us? Perhaps opportunities that could complement our goal, or may lead us to an even better one? Whilst focusing on what’s ahead, don’t lose sight of what’s around, physically, emotionally and socially.

Physical

The way we move, the way we stand, how relaxed or tense we feel, all literally affect how far and wide we can see. Focusing our gaze only in one direction, be it looking solely towards the direction we’re going, looking only to the next step forward, or being hunched over and looking at the floor (or our phone), all limit our peripheral vision. Don’t be so focused on what’s in front that you lose sight of what’s around you. The periphery reveals physical dangers and obstacles that could obstruct our current path, the periphery may also reveal easier paths to follow to our desired destination and the periphery may uncover a new, more desirable, goal to follow. Noticing what’s in our peripheral vision gives us a better view of which path is most worthy and where the best place to turn for our next step.

Emotional

You’re never experiencing just one emotion, there are multiple emotions bubbling in the periphery. It may be that whilst you’ve reached a moment of calm after a walk through the woods, simultaneously you are experiencing some anxiety in your gut about a pending work project, maybe some anger in your temples because a colleague didn’t provide you with information you needed for the project, but perhaps also in the back of your mind there is joyous elation while remembering jokes you and your friends shared the evening before, and perhaps also in your heart there is a strong sensation of love from a morning hug with your child. Ever had an emotion unexpectedly creep up on you from the side? Being aware that you are experiencing many emotions simultaneously gives you the choice of which one you want to focus on and allows you to overcome your physical sensations. Just because someone did something upsetting, doesn’t mean you have to be upset. It is FOR YOU TO CHOOSE another emotion, which currently exists in your periphery, which you experienced recently. Perhaps you choose to let calm and love take over your physical sensation and peace of mind, perhaps you choose an aggressive drive to tackle the to-do list on your table? This really is your choice to make.

Social

When interacting in a social group, we really are limited in how many people we can notice, how many people we can interact with and how many people we can genuinely connect with. Within our different social circles there tend to be certain people or certain types of people that we focus on. It’s worth taking the time to consider why those are the people we give preference to. It’s also worth checking, who are we not noticing in the periphery? Who was in our focus and we pushed to the periphery? What is it about them that makes them less worthy of our attention? It’s worth considering who, of the people in the periphery, might actually make our life better – in our personal life, in our career ambitions and in seeking out our life’s passions. Becoming aware of the people in our periphery increases our choices of company and therefore increases our ability to improve our social well-being.

Just as we want to be aware of what we are missing out on in our periphery, in the emotions bubbling in the background and in people that we don’t notice, we also want to be in a position to push unhelpful aspects of our life into the periphery. Lots of distractions that prevent us from moving forward should be shunned to the periphery, guilt and self-doubt are emotions better forgotten stored somewhere unknown in the back of our minds and the people who have betrayed us should certainly not receive all of our caring attention. It’s for us to choose, who and what is worthy of being at the centre of our attention and who we prefer to move to the periphery.

Life isn’t just a journey forward, don’t miss the wonders, the warnings and the potential “storage place” for certain experiences, in the periphery.