Tugging on your shirt

Working with a client this past week, I found myself repeatedly using the analogy of a small child tugging on her shirt. There was a thought that kept going through her head repeatedly during the day and she wasn't sure how to make sense of it. The energetic was exactly like a small child: when they want your attention, they pull on the edge of your shirt. If you turn and acknowledge them, they usually are satisfied and go back to playing. But if you ignore them or don't actually listen to what they say, they continue to pull on your shirt more aggressively.

Such it was with this thought of hers. It was asking for her attention. She knew about it, but she hadn't really fully acknowledged it. As we continued to talk, She asked how one can more effectively acknowledge the thought? It's the difference between yes-ing the child and lowering yourself to the child's level to look her in the eyes and really listen to what she has to say. With this thought, my client needed to take some time during the day and dedicate it, without distraction, to dealing with the thought and the emotions associated with it.

For the emotions, more effectively acknowledging them means to feel them more intensely. If the emotion is tugging on your shirt, then the more intensely you can feel the emotion is the way to listen to it more effectively.

The souls are similar. There are times when they demand our attention and we'd best pay attention, but if we can give them a time during the day that we do nothing but interact with them, then they are less likely to need to demand our attention while we are doing other things.

So if you find a small thought or emotion tugging on your shirt, bend down, look it in the eyes, and listen.