When One Foot Hurts...
...Pivot, and focus on the other
My watercolour homage to a YouTube tutor whose name I cannot remember…
My left foot is teaching me to pivot between emotions.
The ball of my left foot has been uncomfortable, off and on since Michael died. A reflexologist asked what injury it had suffered, noting that the pain is sited where the sole connects with the heart. (Yes. Really.)
She was sure I’d had an operation or foot trauma. A ridge has formed over a crevasse. Like scar tissue over an injury.
I told her - my foot per se has never been damaged. But death caught me on the back foot. And then some.
Fat-pad atrophy. My left foot’s cushion has lost its stuffing. Overnight.
Well, over four months of nights - and days - the walk from diagnosis to death.
Perfect isn’t it? My foot is fine until…
Loss strips the stuffing right out of it.
The foot pain is not a big deal. Small discomfort in the big scheme. But still.
I’ve been frustrated, disappointed, worried and more…
It’s messing with my dancing and walking. Pilates has ‘Ouch’ moments and wobbling.
I’ve talked to it, listened (ok, only a bit), soothed myself back into balance - literally and figuratively, over and over again. I have focused on what it would - strike that - will) feel like when it’s healthy once more.
And yet, the pain, intermittently, persists.
Law of Attraction (LoA) takes no prisoners. It is entirely consistent. No matter how I soothe myself, if I’m still in discomfort, I know I’m directing more of my attraction power towards what I don’t want, than towards what I do.
I’ve been resisting this symptom.
My response has been a smothered but mighty ‘Nooooo!’
Pushing against your pain is making it more.
Time to upgrade my response. I took it to my ePeeps (non-physical compadres). I journaled back and forth.
How do I view this differently?
How do I focus on what I want when what I don’t want is so unpleasant?
Focusing on what you don’t want is unpleasant. You are right.
So, focus on what is wanted because it brings you pleasure.
Just because your left foot hurts doesn’t stop you focusing on your right.
You choose where to focus attention.
Do you choose to focus on pain, or on pleasure?
But it’s hard to focus on pleasure when pain grabs my attention… I bleat.
Feel for the sweet stance first.
Focus softly.
Focus like the morning sun
kissing your face and neck.
The cool sun blesses,
it doesn’t burn.
It is gentle, liquid, loving.
It needs nothing from you.
You do nothing to deserve it.
Focus softly on how it feels to be
perfect, whole, complete.
This is the sweet stance.
Breathe here awhile.
Then - only then - look at what is wanted.
Look with pleasure.
Not longing.
Imagine looking at life from the comfort of your sofa.
Browse life’s brochure - without need.
There’s nothing you have to have happen.
Place attention on ‘wanted’, ‘wanted’, ‘wanted’.
Notice unwanted? Relax. Flip the page.
Flip pages lightly - swipe right…
Imagine saying,
“I like that.
I like that. That’s lovely…
No, not that…
Oh yes, that’s it,
Not that, but this, yes!
Oh that’s gorgeous!
I like that…”
It’s NOT…
‘I like that.
But how do I get it?
What must I do?’
How do I make this happen?
Is it even possible?
Do I have what it takes?
Feel for the sweet stance.
Focus softly.
I am finding my way to the sweet stance.
Wanted lights up all around me then.
I notice unwanted with ease, not concern.
It’s the difference between
strolling through a gallery,
gazing at art,
adoring, admiring,
bathing in light.
and
going to the gallery shop
thinking about buying…
but what?
For how much? and
For whom?
Practise viewing life more like a gallery.
Focus on what is wanted as much as you can.
And, let the unwanted serve you.
It guides you towards what is wanted.
Gives you clarity. Refines your thinking.
If you are focused on unwanted, pivot.
Make the pivot light, easy, no matter the subject.
The power of focus does the rest.
As you pivot, and focus with pleasure towards wanted,
the wanted must become more. It is law.
You pivot to focus on aspects that please you.
Not to fix or change conditions.
How often I’ve heard this from Abraham-Hicks! ** I’ve nodded, and ‘Yup’’d and understood it in theory. But I’d not seen the stance the practice requires.
Pivoting is only possible from a stance of contentment.
If you are not content, you’re already off balance.
Pivoting then will upend you.
Harness contentment.*
Focus on wanted from there.
When I harness contentment I find the unwanted is softer,
easier to be with - it’s smaller somehow.
More than that - the unwanted becomes useful.
I know what I do want more clearly because of it.
Unwanted is a guide to the wanted, that’s all…
It’s no bigger deal than that.
No more bracing to resist it now.
As one foot hurts, I relax -
I focus on the comfort in the other.
‘Not that…’ swipe right,
‘this. Yes,
definitely this!’
Focus, not to make healing happen,
not to ‘make yourself feel better’.
No.
Focus on your right foot when your left foot hurts because
you like how your right foot feels.
How does my right foot feel?
It’s comfortable, sure, full of its sweet little self.
It is happy to carry me this way and that.
It is thriving and smiling and fully aligned.
It’s a treasure, a pleasure, a treat…
Enjoying the feel of my right foot, my left foot’s discomfort fades…
I am not resisting it, or even relaxing into the pain. I’m simply using it to swipe right to what’s wanted.
I know that my pain is puny. Not life-threatening either. I know.
But I have seen a client use this approach to soften pain in hospital, as she was dying. In her agony, she focused on what didn’t hurt. Her feet, as it happens, felt fine. Her feet helped find her sweet stance.
She described how her feet felt, where she imagined they’d go…
As we spoke, she took herself off in her mind, to soft waves on warm beach, felt the sand wet between her toes. Walked with her fiancé, watched her kids play, splashed in the surf. Within minutes, she was smiling. Deeply, easily, smiling.
Did it heal her, or prevent further pain? No.
Did it soothe her in the moment? Absolutely.
‘Happiness depends on what happens.
Contentment depends on who you are becoming and
how deeply you can accept the present moment.’
- From ‘Contentment’ — It Ain’t Over Yet, Honey
Let the unwanted prompt our awareness of wanted.
Then, let us amplify that.
Simply that.
Only that.
Unwanted gets no further focus.
Wanted is the way.
Let each breath flow towards
wanted,
ever, deliciously
wanted…
because ‘wanted’
feels like
delight.
Focus on wanted, deliciously wanted, and
smiling becomes unconditional.
* ‘Contentment’ is a treat - it enriched this post immensely. Thank you Thea!
Acknowledgement:
**My writing, my coaching, my life is inspired by many great teachings, particularly those of Abraham-Hicks.
Thanks for sharing, I have been having some strange pain with my feet and ankles and I appreciate the reframe. I want to step forward in my life with faith and delight! Also love the quote on contentment rooted in being. 💜
This piece is beautifully raw and real. I love how you’ve turned something as physical as foot pain into a profound metaphor for emotional pivoting and focus. Your gentle invitation to lean into contentment and pleasure rather than resist discomfort feels like a balm. It’s a reminder that even when life hurts, we can choose where to place our attention with kindness and softness. Thank you for sharing this journey so openly. Beautiful writing and art!