I am going to tell you a powerful secret. I am about to give you a powerful all-purpose tool for taming your mind, your emotional states and your compulsions. I give it in various forms to all my clients. In fact, I had just given it to a client the day before I went to a local chain store for some sundries . . .
What can we do when we feel stuck? I am amazed at how easy it is for me to forget that my mind is creating my “stuckness” not the world.
Anxious thinking can become such a familiar part of our inner dialogue, that we can end up believing it’s natural. “What’s going to happen to me?”
My wife recently showed me a quote by Seth Godin: “Anxiety is nothing but repeatedly re-experiencing failure in advance. What a waste.” Well said, Seth. It can be very helpful to recognize more precisely how anxiety is accomplished.
Last week I made an error in judgment that I thought would have a significant negative impact our my finances. Right away the stress started: I got annoyed with myself and my inner dialogue became very strident. Ironically I discovered my mistake while researching some of my own past Finding True Magic Hypno Tips newsletters. In the midst of gnashing my teeth (not good for you) I kept trying to work. So I opened one of my old newsletters and read the following:
Take a look for a moment: What is your mind producing right now? Thoughts that bring you joy and happiness, thoughts that uplift your self-confidence? Or a familiar stream of negativity -- worries, fears? It's a great exercise to generate thoughts of gratitude for whatever you have, think of someone who needs your help, and then share some of your good fortune. Especially when you feel like kicking something (computer? car? phone?).
Have you ever gotten to around 5:00 PM feeling like you were having a pretty good day, then you turn on the news and everything seems terrible?
Since I take a transpersonal approach, I often bypass regression technique in favor of investigating the context of a problem. I also inquire into any beliefs the client may have about the nature of consciousness. These beliefs are rarely challenged, but as one of my cases clearly demonstrates, it can mean the difference between an ineffective treatment and complete resolution of a crippling fear.
In earlier posts I talked about The Religion of Fear (ROF). And it might as well be a religion; it seems like everywhere you go, you find believers! But it's a serious matter. People can become incapacitated by mysterious fears and phobias, even though they may believe their fears are silly. "Why should I be afraid to step into a perfectly reliable elevator?" Sherrie thinks. Yet even when she's late and doesn't have time to walk up three flights of stairs to her doctor's office, she takes the stairwell anyway.
"Fearful thinking does not fit with the universal law of cause and effect." Recently a student asked me to elaborate on what this means and on how the law of cause and effect works.