Sunday Story...Talk, Talk,Talk

Sunday Story…Talk, Talk, Talk

Last week a friend of mine was told she might lose her job. BUT she was told there was a 95% chance that she would NOT lose her job. She focused on the 5% chance. She lost a night of sleep and a grand amount of tears and stress over the whole non-existent ordeal. Instead of knowing that a 95% chance was the focus, she chose to spend her time and energy on the 5%. Why?

Her self talk led her down this road. She convinced herself that she was going to lose her job and her career and would have to go back 20 years and start all over. She is great at what she does. She is well liked and well respected by both her co-workers and her bosses. There is no way she will ever need to go back yet she boot-kicked herself down a very ugly road.

How is it that 2 people can experience the same trauma and for one of them it is devastating and leads to a life of dissolution and destruction. And the other one finds strength and inspiration and hope in the same horrific events? How can one person in a concentration camp give up and die and another help others to live?

The one true freedom each of us has the ability to choose how we will react, how we will think about any given situation. A large part of this choice is how we talk to ourselves, how we see our place in the world.

If you see yourself as a victim you will be victimized.

If you tell yourself you are ugly you are.

If you tell yourself you are special and precious you will be.

If you see yourself as nothing, so it will be.

If you get up on Monday with dread and a pit in your stomach at the prospect of the week ahead how can you expect to have a great week? Not to mention that you probably ought to find a different way to spend your time!

If you get up feeling heroic you will be a hero.

If you get up and say to yourself I am so grateful for (fill in the blank) you will be grateful.

How often do you get up and start beating yourself up first thing in the morning? The rest of the world can never get you to feel as bad about yourself as you can…after all you are an expert on making yourself feel---you have been doing it all your life!

So what can be done? How can you start seeing the glass as ½ full instead of ½ empty? What can you do to change your mind?

What you say to yourself is critical. You cannot call yourself names and expect the rest of the world to love you.

Here are some concrete steps to change your mind, change your attitude and eliminate the “stinkin’ thinkin’” that might be ruling your life.
1. Develop an attitude of gratitude. When you wake up in the morning start the morning, before you roll out of bed, think of one thing you can be grateful for. Better yet think of 3 things you can be grateful for. No matter how bad you may think things are there is always something you can find that is good. It might be as simple as realizing you don’t live in a 3rd world country with no running water and indoor plumbing.
2. When you look in the mirror in the morning say aloud something nice to yourself. For instance…”I am kind and loving”…or…”I am vital and alive”. If it too hard to say it aloud write it down and tape it to the mirror so you can read it as you brush your teeth.
3. Commit to doing 3 random acts of kindness every day. Things you have to go out of your way to do. Paying the toll for the car behind you. Stopping and connecting with the homeless person panhandling on the corner, recognizing and connecting with the humanity that is behind the struggle that person is living with. It is amazing what happens to us when we do kind things for other people. There is a shift in our soul that takes place when we give without expectation.
4. Turn off the noise. We live in a very noisy world. Television, radio, I-pod, video are all contributing to the constant chatter that goes on in our world. Even if it was all positive (and let’s be honest it is mostly negative) the noise level is constant and never ending. When was the last time you just turned everything off? When was the last time you went an hour without saying a word or hearing a word? Interesting things happen when we get quiet. Commit to a 15 minute stretch of quiet every day…listen to your breath, listen to the rocks move but stop the noise long enough to hear yourself think!
5. Read one thing every day that will inspire, uplift, create thought, and challenge a belief. It could be a quote, a sentence, a verse…there are lots of “365 books” out there. You can subscribe to a service that emails you one every day. Simple and easy.

Stop beating yourself up! Start living the life you were meant to live. Start by telling yourself how great you are because you are great! You were put here on this earth to do amazing and wonderful things. And you are doing them right now. Start realizing just how powerful you really are.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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