Last night I had a vivid dream. There were beautiful colors and lots of amazing things happening. I felt as though I was racing towards completing something but was having trouble doing so. Towards the end of the dream, someone said, “You have to find the nuggets.” Because I believe that dreams help us process things and can show us directions we might need to consider, I decided that nuggets would be a great thing to discuss. Besides, I talk to clients about finding nuggets a lot.
My clients, young and old, have shared many sad or scary stories with me over the years I have been practicing. We all want to make sense of what is happening to us but how do we do that? I believe it is by looking for and finding the nuggets in those experiences. Nuggets are the bits and pieces connected to your story that have meaning for you. No matter what is happening, there are always nuggets to be found.
I believe that God plants those nuggets into our experiences to point us in the right direction, give us an opportunity to make some needed changes, or even find the beauty that is already present in our lives. I have experienced what I see as God’s sense of humor while trying to figure out some of my nuggets. I have even asked God to reconsider his idea about how strong he thinks I am so those harder lessons can stop or at least become fewer. We all probably have heard the saying – hindsight is twenty-twenty. Well it is! When we make it through one of our “stories”, the nuggets embedded in that story become apparent.
What nuggets have you found during this scary time in which we find ourselves? Take a moment to look back on how your life was going prior to March 2020. How has it changed? What “story” comes to mind? I often ask my clients to become “detectives” regarding their lives. You can do that as well. Sit back and really think about the story that showed up as though you were a detective. What nuggets can you find in it? Be open to whatever comes. Is a nugget pointing you towards a different direction, helping you appreciate those around you, or teaching you better ways to do something?
Once you discover your nuggets, it is also important to find ways to show gratitude for them. Remember, God does not place anything in front of us that He does not already know we can handle. Thank Him for those precious nuggets you discovered. Joy and clarity are waiting for you at the end of that journey.
-Janice Turber