Positive Impact

Angeles Arrien teaches us that the second practice of ending well is to "express positive impact." Visionmakers pay attention to the positive impact of experience because they recognize that it is an agent of originality, that unique and individual potency that differentiates every person. When we are conscious of the positive impact that we have gained from our encounters with life, we gather our medicine -knowledge, skills, insights, discoveries and realizations that empower us for the journey ahead.  

Every experience leaves its mark upon us and contributes to our originality. Experience can be defined as direct personal involvement and engagement with life that builds awareness, knowledge and skill over time. Experience is always singular and sensual. No two people ever have an identical set of experiences during their lifetime, although we all benefit and grow from experiences and events we share in common.

Every experience imprints the human form and contributes to individual and original consciousness. This "testimony of the senses" marks and shape us, contributing equally to who we are and who we are becoming.

This experiential expedition is an initiatory journey of the highest importance and through it a Visionmaker constructs his or her original vision.

Visionmakers pay attention to all that has contributed to their journey and to personal power-people, events and circumstances. In this way they advance their development and the journey of meaning, integrating their learnings from direct experience as they go.

To ignore these blessings would signal that they are no longer interested in seeing, preferring to remain ignorant or unconscious, the perfect trajectory into stasis and conformity.

At year's end, it is vitally important to take stock of who and what has made a positive impact on our lives. Even challenging experiences can be positive if our outlook supports recognizing this truth.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.