"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is not" -- Anon
|
|
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is not" -- Anon |
         
|
Alive & Well ArchivesMarch 2004**************************************************** TODAY'S QUOTE: “The
secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of
excellence. Really, it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of
information that will set us free.” Charles
R Swindoll *************************************************** TODAY'S TOPIC: Making
the Shift Last
month, I reminded you that you choose how you feel.
You choose if you’re happy, sad, depressed, angry or joyful.
This month, I want to expand on that and tell you how you can control how
you feel. To
demonstrate this concept, I will use a real example from my own life.
A couple of days ago, I attended a funeral for my friend’s mom.
After the funeral, I started feeling really sad.
Yes, I felt sad for my friend. That
sadness was appropriate. However, I
also felt sad because I starting thinking about my own mom and what would happen
if she died. I was nearly in tears,
and then I realized that I was choosing to feel bad.
Immediately I shifted that, and I felt happy again.
How
did I do that? How did I make the
shift? One
thing I did was listen to the language I used and the questions I asked myself.
One of the best ways to control how you feel is by controlling the
language and questions you use. In
this example, I had been asking myself, “What would happen if mom dies?
Who would listen to me when I really need support?
Who would love me unconditionally?”
These questions made me feel really sad, and they totally disempowered
me. I
then switched my questions to, “How can I have even more fun with my mom now?
How can I show my mom my love for her?”
These questions empowered me and made me feel really happy.
That night, my mom and I went to a play and had a fabulous time!
Another
way to shift and choose how you feel is to pay attention to the pictures you
have in your head. In the above
example, I saw a picture of me sitting by myself without my mom.
I pictured myself crying, and my mom wasn’t there to support me!
I pictured myself wanting to have a conversation with her, and she
wasn’t there. Wow – that’s
pretty disempowering, huh? I
then shifted the picture in my mind. My
mom is very active and healthy. So
I switched my picture to see my mom working out and being vibrant!
That shifted my focus from negative pictures to very happy ones.
This helped me become even more empowered.
You
see, to sum it up, what we focus on determines how we feel.
In this example, I made sure to focus on thoughts, questions, pictures
and words that made me feel happy and empowered rather than those that made me
feel sad. Is
this something you can do? Of
course you can! ***************************************************** Coaching Challenge ***************************************************** Next
time you feel upset, disempowered, frustrated, angry or any other negative
emotion, pay attention to the pictures in your head.
Pay attention to the words you’re using and the questions you’re
asking yourself. Then switch them
to empowering pictures and words. |