Hello—

I always love the short but sweet statements that can rivet your world.

I came across this one recently–

CONSIDER THAT THERE ARE SOLUTIONS YOU HAVEN”T DISCOVERED YET.

How about that for a thought for your day??!

CHEERS!!

Gail

Hello again!

A worthy wisdom tip for you today!

“IF YOU ALWAYS THINK”If you always think what you’ve always thought,
you’ll always feel the way you’ve always felt.The Law of Attraction is basically  about our personal point of attraction or our vibration.

If you always feel the way you’ve always felt,
you’ll always do what you’ve always done.

If you always do what you’ve always done,
you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.

If you always get what you’ve always gotten,
you’ll always think what you’ve always thought.

~ Unknown

Okay—so it may be  hard to imagine that human beings have a vibration however, our body is as much of an electromagnetic system, as it is a chemical one.

Do you know that our electrical circuitry consists of our nervous system and our subtle energy or meridian system?
The Chinese have known about this ‘other’ system for thousands and thousands of years!

We here in the Western World, are just beginning to learn about how the condition of our electrical system affects our health, happiness and quality of life.

From my studies of the Law of Attraction, here’s what I believe contributes to our vibration.

VIBRATION = FOCUS  + THOUGHT + FEELING

Now–remember that on many occasions I speak about our FEELING and how it is our feelings that always rule over fact–and it is our feelings that will ultimately attract the like…..yes..this is 100% true!!!!

OK—back to vibration—Our vibration varies from low to high based on what we focus our attention on — plus what we think
about what we are focusing on —  plus how this subject makes us feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel.

Basically, this describes the glass half full (higher vibration) vs the glass half empty (lower vibration) opposing points of view. Same glass, same water but two different perceptions. Same subject and two individuals could have two totally different thoughts, feelings
and perceptions about it.

This is  in line with what I wrote above— ‘If You Always Think’. If we fail to make a conscious effort to think AND feel in new and more positive ways, we will continue to get what we’ve always gotten, attracted or drawn into our life. We’ve probably all known at least
one person who keeps repeating the same patterns, experiences over and over again! 

If we think we will always be in debt, we will. If we think we will never find our beloved, we won’t. If we think we are destined to develop the same disease that our parent or grandparent had, we will. If we think that everything always works out for me, it will. If we think that I always date great and generous people we will. If we think we always have fun, we will! This IS the Law of Attraction in action! Yup–you bet it is!

What to do??

NOTICE WHAT YOU ARE FOCUSING ON, THINKING AND FEELING!!

If you want to change your focus……………………………..

Close your eyes—take TWO BIG deep breaths and be playful and have fun changing your thoughts…..just like when you were a little kid at Christmas and you imagined what Christmas morning would be like……………………..

Yessssssssssssssss…that’s right….just …like …..that…………………..

Here’s to you wisely using the wisdom of the day!

Gail

Hansel and Gretel tried to retrace their steps. But try as they might, they could not find the breadcrumbs that Hansel scattered on the ground.
“Aw, bollocks! Birds must have eaten the breadcrumbs!” muttered Hansel. And he was right.

So they stumbled blindly through the forest, trying to find their way back home. Then noon came, and then afternoon. They were getting hungry, but they had used up all their bread for marking their way. The sun steadily advanced towards the horizon, and soon they would be stuck in the forest at night.
“Stumbling around blindly will lead us nowhere,” said Gretel. “Why don’t you try climbing a tall tree and see if you can see something from the top?”
Hansel agreed, picked a tree, and quickly started climbing, before it got too dark to see. The sun was just starting to set as he got to the top.
“No, I don’t see anything, just forest everywhere… oh, hang on! I see a light in the distance!”

The above is a (parahrased) excerpt from the famous story about Hansel and Gretel.

Notice how they solved their problem of being stuck in a forest. At first, they simply stumbled around blindly. But they didn’t get unstuck by stumbling around better, like marking trees they had already visited, or trying to go in as straight a line as possible. No, they got unstuck when Gretel got the idea to transcend their situation. Instead of stumbling around, she suggested they get a high vantage point to see into the distance.

This is the core idea that I’d like to talk about today. Whenever you feel stuck in any part of your life (be it your job, a relationship, or anything else), you have probably exhausted the various possibilities that lay within the framework you consider. And the quick way to get unstuck is to transcend the framework, to find a new approach to your situation!

A few more examples of transcending a situation:

Let’s pick another example you’re probably familiar with. Driving a car. And specifically, let’s talk about a car with a manual transmission.
You start driving in the lowest gear. And depending on how much you press the gas pedal, your car will go faster or slower. But all the same, you will only be able to drive within a narrow range of speeds unless you change gears. Pressing the pedal means you stay within the same framework. Changing gears shifts you to a different framework. Ahhhhhhhh!

Or let’s say you have a nightmare. No matter what you do in the nightmare, be it run, jump, hide, or do handstands while singing the Ode to Joy backwards, you will likely stay in the nightmare. The only way to stop the nightmare is waking up. Again, a change to a whole new framework.

How to get unstuck???????????

Ok…..So let’s say you feel stuck in some situation.
Maybe your job makes you feel less than inspired. Maybe you’re not entirely happy with a relationship you’re in. Maybe you feel like you’re not tapping your full potential. Maybe you can’t even figure out what the next step is to even take ! YIKES!
In those cases it’s possible that you might need to transcend your current assumptions about the situation. Consider a different framework than you’ve been doing until now.
Maybe the whole 9-5 job thing isn’t for you, and you’d be better off self-employed. Or maybe you just want to work in a different field (despite having high qualifications in your current field). Or maybe it’s just the idea of working for 40 years with occasional two-week holidays and saving up your retirement until you’re old and frail that doesn’t appeal to you. In that case, you might want to consider the idea of mini-retirements. Mini-retirements simply mean taking 6 months off work every couple of years to do whatever, thus spreading your “retirement” throughout your life. OR maybe it means literally unplugging from e-mail, phone etc and just get in the car and go away—SHIFT your perception! You wil be amazed what will reveal itself to yo once you shift your vantage point and STOP trying to figure it out!

Or when it comes to a relationship that you’ve tried working on heavily, but it still isn’t working. Maybe the person isn’t quite right for you. Maybe you are trying to fit –or make them fit —and no matter what you do you are NOT happy!  Maybe a wee little pause or time apart–??

 Now, I don’t mean that you should always jump to transcending a situation as your first line of defense. You don’t want to break up a relationship the first time you have an argument. With the car example, when you want to go faster or slower, your first approach is to simply apply more pressure on the gas pedal, or less. You only shift gears when the gas pedal method isn’t sufficient.
But when you’ve tried staying within the framework, and try as you might, you still feel stuck in your situation, it’s time to lean back, and think about the big picture. Forget thinking about the situation, and think about how you think about the situation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not thinking, but meta-thinking!!

In step by step terms, you can approach it like this:
1. What problem are you trying to solve?
This can be as specific or as general as you want. You might simply feel “stuck in your job”.
Or, as a very specific example that I’ll use to explain this 4-question approach, let’s say you’re a parent and you’re trying to get your child to clean their room.
2. What are you doing to solve it?
Let’s say your solution is to keep nagging the child to clean their room. This makes sense, because (YOU think) if you keep reminding them, it will be on their mind, and they will go ahead and clean up, right? ( smile…..)
3. Is this approach working for you?
Be careful with this step. It’s really easy to fall in the trap of thinking that your approach should work. But that’s not what this question is about at all. In fact, getting stuck in a loop of behaviour that should work in theory, but doesn’t in practice, is one of the most common ways of getting stuck!!
Forget shoulds. Think of the last few times you tried your approach to the situation. Has it worked to your satisfaction? Yes or no? That’s all the answer you need.
4. What assumptions are you making about the framework? Are they justified?
And if you find that your current approach isn’t working, it’s time to examine your assumptions.
In the example of getting your child to clean their room, the assumption behind nagging is that they need pushing and constant reminders to get the work done. But is that really the most effective approach?
For example, many years back, when I was a kid, I distinctly remember that constant reminders to clean my room actually drained my willingness and motivation to do so. Being asked once was fine, but any more reminders only made me less likely to go ahead and do the work…(my poor mother!!)
Or, in this particular example, maybe the whole assumption that this is a problem is flawed. Maybe it’s perfectly fine for a child to clean their room less often?
In any case, whenever you find yourself stuck with an approach that doesn’t work, it’s time to examine your assumptions about the situation. The chances are, not all of them are as obviously true as you think!!

Have you got any stories about times you made unwarranted assumptions about a situation? I would love to hear them! Please leave a comment below.

Here’s to your BIG pictures!!

Gail

ALL change is scary. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???? Awwee come on —-you say—that can’t be true! Oh –then you say-but if the change is positive it won’t be scary–right??? NOPE! EVEN IF THE CHANGE IS POSITIVE AND ONE YOU WANT IT IS  STILL  SCARY-to your brain!  

Yes—this fear of change is rooted in your brain’s physiology–whether you like it or not or whether you want to be scared or not!

Now, the good news is that there IS a way to work with this and get the change you want. YIPPPEE!

Lets start with your brain. You actually have three separate brains. One of the interesting dilemmas in being human is developing harmony among the three brains.

At the bottom of the brain is your brain stem. It is the oldest and is often called the reptilian brain. It wakes you up in the morning and sends you to sleep at night and reminds your heart to beat.

Right on top of the brain stem is your mid brain, also called the mammalian brain. It is the second oldest part of your brain. It regulates your internal temperature,  houses your emotions AND governs your fight or flight response. Your fight or flight response is crucial to your survival and actually keeps you alive in the face of danger. That sounds like a good thing to me -right?

OK–let’s move on. Now the third part of your brain is the cortex and is the newest part of the human brain. It is basically responsible for the miracle of being human. It is where our rational thoughts and creative impulses come from. Whenever we want to make changes or kick start our creative juices we need to access our cortex.

OK, so here’s where is gets interesting. Let’s say for instance you decide to lose 10 pounds and then you find yourself eating a tub of ice scream in one sitting two days later–or–you decide to get up early and exercise every day and three  days later you  are back hitting the snooze alarm. This can be very frustrating especially if you seem to be doing all the right things and the change makes GOOD sense!

WHERE IS THE PROBLEM?

The problem is smack dab right in the middle of your brains–perfectly housed in a place called the amygdala. This houses your fight or flight response. Now remember this is important and is crucial to your survival. Good–right? YES—but not ALL the time.

Here’s the simple truth—the real problem with the amygdala is that is triggers alarm bells WHENEVER we want to make a departure from the usual and safe routines.What that really means is that ANY new challenge or opportunity triggers some level of fear. Yup–when the amygdala is triggered- your access to the thinking part of your brain is restricted and sometimes literally shut down! YIKES!!

Now there are some people who can actually turn their fear into excitement and get around the problem without activating the amygdala– but most of us who set goals or try to initiate a change have a problem with our fear getting triggered-even though we may NOT be aware of it on a conscious level!  THis is why you tend to return to your old usual patterns. It is simply your brain’s way of preventing you from departure from your usual  and safe routines even if it means hitting the snooze alarm or eating a big tub of ice cream!

Now, I know what you are thinking now—SO—– HOW THE HECK CAN I NOT TRIGGER THE AMYGDALA when I want make a change that I want to make?

I have a VERY simple answer and it is so simple that it almost seems like it will not work. TRUST ME—IT DOES!

READY???  TAKE SMALL–VERY VERY VERY SMALL steps towards change. Sometimes such small steps may even feel silly– but–it works!  By doing this you basically rewire your nervous system and bypasse the fight or flight response….and your brain relaxes and says—oh cool…this is nice—let’s keep doing this!

Stay tuned for more ideas on HOW to take these small but POWERFUL steps!

Gail