To create your reality in a way that pleases you it may be necessary for you to stop trying to please everyone around you. Think of a time when you felt pulled in many directions. Sometimes the distraction of everyone else’s need pulls you completely off course. Like a GPS system, you must be able to plug in both the coordinates of where you are as well as where you want to be.
Often we unconsciously avoid pinpointing where we are because it’s uncomfortable. We prefer to imagine ourselves elsewhere. To lose 10 pounds you will need to get on a scale to ascertain your current weight, but who wouldn’t prefer to imagine fewer pounds rather than face those digits?
Once we have identified where we are, our GPS system, Inner Guidance, can plot a course for where we are going. Clarity about where we are and where we want to be will help us feel more confident and bit more spacious as we bridge the gap by choosing better feeling thoughts.
I Make My Own Lunch
If you missed part one in last week’s post I used the analogy of bringing a peanut butter sandwich each day when you don’t even like it. From, “I hate peanut butter,” you acknowledge overwhelm to be the operating emotion. As you stop resisting, this emotion may give way to frustration – you’ve never liked making lunches because you feel so rushed in the morning, and wow, the big realization, you’re not all that crazy about your job. Now you find yourself in a kind of fugue state where you refuse to take action because don’t know what you want.
Strong emotion can trigger a memory, overwhelm might feel like, “I’m suffocating in the details of my life.” This could be the result of an accumulation of experiences solidified into the belief, “I don’t get what I want.” Can you see how if you believed this you might keep working someplace that doesn’t suit you, or eating a lunch you don’t like? In other words, if you have become accustomed to feeling bad, you will keep choosing unpleasant thoughts and feelings because they are familiar.
Create Your Reality, Make a New Choice
In this case, a better feeling begins with the question, “What do I enjoy eating for lunch?” By imagining more pleasant feelings, hope overtakes confusion, and you find you’re inspired to take action. Having rejected peanut butter, you check the contents of the fridge. You decide to make your favorite chicken salad for lunch this week. You take 30 minutes on Sunday afternoon to make enough for several days. During the week you can add egg or curry or grapes to give the dish a lift. If you honestly don’t like the job, that will need a separate session with a new 4-column sheet.
I’d like to point out that not liking your job is not necessarily a problem. You may be able to improve your viewpoint, or you can get another job. However, if you believe, “I work hard and get nowhere, I just can’t get what I want,” this thought is a limitation to getting a better job. It is important to discover where you are, or where you believe you are. Sometimes it hurts but nothing can change until you uncover what’s true for you.
Next week we’ll look at column 2 and 3 and the incremental changes that can help lead you to where you want to be every time.
Thanks for following along. This is a really valuable tool. Join me next week for Making Your Own Lunch – part three
For more exploration, check out the True Potential Quiz.