In the sound of a barking dog,
In the ring of a hammer,
In the drop of rain,
In the face of each.
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What Do You Want?
Every NLP session begins with these four magical words: “What do you want?”
What makes them magical?
After all, I see them lit up in digital form on the screen displays of lots of cash registers. Indeed, they can seem trite, or self-serving, or in an extreme form hopelessly narcissistic and consumer-driven. Why in this world of excess would I encourage people to ask that question?
Well, let’s see. Try it. Take a moment, take a deep breath, and then contemplatively and respectfully ask yourself “What do I want?”
What, for this day, seems most important to what you want to be or to experience today?
This question is immensely powerful, for a few reasons:
- It shifts our attention away from problems, and toward desire, hope, rightness of life.
- It opens our heart to possibility, rather than focused on limitation or already established pattern.
- Most of all, as we begin to answer the question, we already start making the answer true by imagining it, empowering it, and reaching for it.
One alternative to asking this question is not asking it—preventing our heart from wanting at all. Another alternative is appearing to ask the question, without really doing so, and ending up with ready but frustrating answers like “Another piece of cake!” or worse “Nothing much, really…”
I have recently lit upon the daily practice, in my morning meditation, of asking this question. Sometimes the response refers directly to something important happening that day about which I have a special intention or hope: I want to be fearless in my horseback riding today; I want to allow my competency to shine forth as I work with a suffering client tonight.
Other times, the response is more general, addressing large life issues that continue to be part of my life’s journey: I want to experience intimacy today; I want to invite the pain of Haiti’s people into my heart.
In either case, asking the question and allowing a creative, heart-felt response to form is itself the work of bringing into reality these things that I am pretty sure are part of God’s and universe’s desire for me, as well.
What would you like? As you respond, let the power of your heart’s answer begin to re-pattern and re-illuminate your life…
Peace, Leslie
Toward the Stormy Ocean by Leslie Nipps