There are a number of common blockers for creating powerful change in your life:

• Feeling that the effort is pointless
• Resisting the effort
• Frustration with yourself or others
• Disliking the activity
• Feeling an urge or compulsion to do the old habit

Each of these can derail your efforts to create something new. And to be clear, there is nothing wrong with any of these—they’re wonderfully human traits. But to create powerful change, we have to learn to work with them.

Today, I’d like to introduce a magical tool that I call Seeing the Gift.

If you deploy Seeing the Gift, you can work with any of the above deterrents. Let’s take a look.

What Is ‘Seeing the Gift’?

In any activity, in any person, you can find a gift. Sometimes it’s obvious—the person in front of you is kind and generous, or you are watching a sunset and feel the wonder of the moment.

Other times, it’s more challenging—the person in front of you is frustrating, you’re going through illness, or the task at hand is boring and hard. In such situations, we resist seeing the gift. We prefer to complain. And that’s okay! Let yourself complain, and see the gift in expressing your frustration or despair. How can that emotion be a gift to you?

If you sit with that emotion, you’ll begin to relax. Then, you can look deeper. Even in frustrating people or overwhelming tasks, there is something they offer you. The gift is always there—if you are willing to see it.

The Gift is what each situation teaches you, how it changes you, how it connects you to the divine, to yourself, and to the world. The Gift is the sacredness of the moment and of you. It is a profound realization of the wonder of life.

How to Use ‘Seeing the Gift’ for Powerful Change

Let’s apply this approach to the common blockers of change:

• Feeling that the effort is pointless – It may seem like you’ll never reach your goal, so trying feels meaningless. But could the Gift be in the effort itself, regardless of the outcome?
  
• Resisting the effort – A task is waiting for you, but you resist starting it. What if you paused, sat still, and looked for the Gift in the task? Could that Gift motivate you toward the change you desire?
  
• Frustration with yourself or others – Someone is being difficult, or you feel you are falling short. Could you pause, take a deep breath, and look for the Gift in them—or in yourself? Could frustration itself hold a lesson for you?
  
• Disliking the activity – Achieving a goal often requires doing things we don’t enjoy. Instead of avoiding them, could you look for a Gift within those tasks? Could embracing the discomfort open new possibilities?
  
• Urge to do an old habit – The temptation to return to old patterns can be strong. But what if you simply sat with that urge and saw the Gift in it? Could the discomfort of change itself be a Gift—a sign of transformation?
  

Unlocking Possibility

As you can see, Seeing the Gift can unlock powerful possibilities. All it takes is a willingness to pause, reflect, and look deeper.

May the Gift open new doors in your life.