How Do You Feel?
In my last entry, I said “Do the work, change your thoughts, change your life.” I’m sure some of you read that and thought – if only it was that easy. I want to tell you that although it may not be easy, it really is that simple.
We attract that which we are – our thoughts create our reality. Our thoughts show us our perception of the world and our expectations of others. The world or more precisely our own personal experience of the world, shows up to exactly match our perceptions and expectations. So in reality what I am talking about changing is those perceptions and expectations.
One sure way to know if you are going to like what shows up in your life is to check in with your feelings. Say you have someone new start working at your job that is very unpleasant to work with. You have to work closely with this person everyday. What are your thoughts about it? Are you complaining to anyone who will listen? How are you feeling – maybe frustrated, annoyed or angry? Notice, does each day with this person get even more frustrating and annoying to you? Now comes the simple yet not so easy part: change your thought, perception, expectation.
Think of the range of emotions as a sort of ladder or staircase with emotions such as despair and powerlessness at the bottom and joy at the top. Maybe you can’t reach joy from where you are, but can you reach hopefulness? Is it possible for you to think with hopefulness that the situation will improve and expect that you will see improvement? The person may remain at your job, but your experience will begin to transform.
The first step in this process is to determine where you are now in thought and emotion then deliberately reach for an emotion higher up on the scale. This is a process, if you are feeling despair or powerlessness; you probably won’t reach joy right away. But you most likely can reach for anger, which is higher up on the emotional scale; from there you can reach even further up and further still until you come to joy.
Think of a situation that may have been troubling you. What are your thoughts about it? How do you feel?
As always, questions and comments are welcome.
Be well and blessed,
We attract that which we are – our thoughts create our reality. Our thoughts show us our perception of the world and our expectations of others. The world or more precisely our own personal experience of the world, shows up to exactly match our perceptions and expectations. So in reality what I am talking about changing is those perceptions and expectations.
One sure way to know if you are going to like what shows up in your life is to check in with your feelings. Say you have someone new start working at your job that is very unpleasant to work with. You have to work closely with this person everyday. What are your thoughts about it? Are you complaining to anyone who will listen? How are you feeling – maybe frustrated, annoyed or angry? Notice, does each day with this person get even more frustrating and annoying to you? Now comes the simple yet not so easy part: change your thought, perception, expectation.
Think of the range of emotions as a sort of ladder or staircase with emotions such as despair and powerlessness at the bottom and joy at the top. Maybe you can’t reach joy from where you are, but can you reach hopefulness? Is it possible for you to think with hopefulness that the situation will improve and expect that you will see improvement? The person may remain at your job, but your experience will begin to transform.
The first step in this process is to determine where you are now in thought and emotion then deliberately reach for an emotion higher up on the scale. This is a process, if you are feeling despair or powerlessness; you probably won’t reach joy right away. But you most likely can reach for anger, which is higher up on the emotional scale; from there you can reach even further up and further still until you come to joy.
Think of a situation that may have been troubling you. What are your thoughts about it? How do you feel?
As always, questions and comments are welcome.
Be well and blessed,
The concept of a "staircase of emotions" is interesting. Is there an actual list of them, starting at the bottom and moving up the ladder to joy? I'd like to have this information so that I can re-focus my energy on moving UP the ladder!
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A few people have asked me this. My favorite verison of the scale comes from a book by Esther and Jerry Hicks "Ask and it is Given."
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Think yourself into a good life is both practical and attainable. Life is not a sob story as many people seem to think, nor is it a venue for cribs. If you see someone achieve what they want, believe it is because they will it to happen. The power of the mind is such. The mind, your mind, is your best friend and it will never fail you if you trust it and gift it the best thoughts possible. One can make one’s mind weak with dull negative thoughts, or strengthen it by the minute by positive thoughts, the choice is yours to make. There is no place for cribbing after you think yourself into doom at all.
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Even more important than our thoughts is how we feel. That is how we can truly tell if we are in alignment with those thoughts or only "going through the motions." We all know people who say one thing (the outward expression of thought) and their actions tell a different story. How do you feel? If you are feeling good, chances are your thoughts are really positive, deep down on he subconscious level where it is harder to control them.
Yes, the choice is ours to make, so choose to feel good!
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