Your Need To Know

I came across this writing by Christen D. Larson, and I just had to share it with you. This epitomizes much of what I believe, practice and teach.

Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look on the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and to have a smile ready for every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticise others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world–not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
-Christen D. Larson.

Develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
I Promise!

Gina

Whoever coined the phrase “Life is too short” certainly knew what he or she was talking about. It really is much too short. Too short to spend our valuable time worrying. No one is free of problems as they are a part of life, but we spend much too much time worrying about the wrong problems.

We need to learn to separate the real from the unnecessary. We need to learn to worry less.

Here is an estimate of the things most people worry about:

40% - Things that will never happen
30% - things in the past that can never be changed
12% - Needless worries about our health
10% - Petty, miscellaneous worries
8% - Real and legitimate worries

So, 92% of the things we worry about just take up valuable time. They cause stress and mental anguish, not to mention physical ailments due to the stress, and they are absolutely unnecessary. Of the 8% of legitimate worries, there are two kinds: those we can do something about and those we can’t. Most of these will fall into the first category and these are the ones we can solve if we just learn how.

Worry is defined by Webster as “a mental distress or agitation resulting from concern, usually for something impending or anticipated.” This is an excellent description, and it tells us that:

1. Worry is a mental activity, both conscious and subconscious.
2. Worry is usually about something that might or might not happen in the future.

Usually, when we worry, we have conversations with ourselves about distressing things we anticipate are going to happen. The key word here is “anticipate.” The worry is about something that hasn’t happened and may or may not happen. Worry is always about something imaginary. Something that doesn’t yet exist. Worry, in fact, is the process of becoming distressed about the nonexistent. Put in that perspective, it seems rather silly and useless.

Worry involves a great deal of self-talk. We all have these ongoing internal dialogues with ourselves about our concerns, hopes, plans, and decisions. We can easily observe what we’re saying to ourselves, how we’re saying it, when we’re saying it and what are our perspectives, intentions and directions. Controlling worry can be easily accomplished by intentionally intervening in that internal dialogue.

Remember, self-talk is simply an internal dialogue; conversations we have with ourselves. This type of conscious activity is quickest to yield to control. By controlling our conscious worry, we can affect the reservoir of anxiety that our worry has left behind in our subconscious.

We can intervene in these self-destructive internal dialogues as if we were an outside, objective mediator. We can transform these dialogues into useful and productive activities that allay our fears and break the worry cycle.
Here’s how:

Stop that Thought!

Simply say “Stop” in your mind. Mentally shout it, if necessary. If I am alone, I even say it out loud. Whenever you find yourself worrying, stop the dialogue this way immediately. This may sound too easy, but it really works!

Next, replace the worry dialogue with a practical dialogue. The events you are anticipating really might occur and you can’t waste your time stuck in the worry cycle. You have to plan your most effective responses to the most probable future events. You have to determine if there is anything you can do right now to prevent or modify those events. Talk to yourself about what probably will happen. What can you do about it now and then?

You have to do now what you can do now to prepare for, modify or prevent those events. The only alternative is worry. What would you rather do, worry or take what control that is available?

Change the Channel!

Self-directed imagery is extremely effective in curing worry.
Imagery is the making of mental pictures. It is visual thinking. Whenever we’re having an internal dialogue, we’re usually making up images of whatever it is we’re talking about. For example, if you are talking to yourself about a meeting with your boss, you are making pictures in your head of your boss, his office, his actions and reactions, yourself, your actions, and your reactions. If you are worried about the meeting, the pictures are going to be distressing ones since worry will be about unpleasant and undesirable happenings.

If you have trouble changing your internal dialogue, you may find changing the pictures in your head to be an easier and more powerful tool. Then, that change will cause changes in your self-talk. Make up pictures that represent what you want to happen and that oppose the pictures of what you fear will happen. You want to choose the pictures that best counteract the worried images.

In the example of the meeting with your boss, make up and “see” mental pictures of a relaxed and productive meeting. See your boss very impressed and reacting favorably toward you. See mental pictures of yourself feeling good about your presentation or whatever it is that you want to happen. Or, if you are dealing with a probable outcome that is unpleasant or undesirable, and probably unavoidable, make pictures of your desired responses to counteract the feared responses.

Make your internal dialogue and your imagery about what you can do now. Then, use your internal dialogue and imagery to do what you can do now.

Basically, when we worry, we are worried about nothing. These events are in our mind, not in our real, physical world.
And we can do nothing about nothing.

Gina

There is much written about the subconscious mind as it relates to the Law of Attraction, manifesting, healing, happiness, and wealth. There is much less written about the subconscious mind as it relates to poverty, illness, fear, and unhappiness. Throughout my writings, you will see me referring to the subconscious mind and the power it holds in our lives.

Although we may not believe it, it is an undisputable fact that our subconscious mind is working 24/7 either for us or against us.

I’d like to share with you a very interesting analogy of the subconscious mind.

The best description of the subconscious mind I have ever heard:

We will use a large manufacturing plant as an illustration. A big corporation, as you know, has a president and a general manager. Of course, it has many intermediate officers as well: vice-presidents, secretaries, treasurer, etc. For the sake of simplicity, we are only going to think of the president and the general manager.

Let’s assume the corporation in this illustration is an automobile plant.
The president does the planning; the general manager executes the plans.

When a new-model car is being contemplated, the president will make the decision as to all changes to be made. These changes will be given to the general manager. Designers and draftsmen are instructed to put the plans on paper; models are made; the plant is tooled up to create the new designs and on and on it goes. Until finally the first new model rolls off the assembly line bearing all the changes originally planned by the president.

This gives an ideal example of the relationship between the conscious and the subconscious or “creative mind”.

The conscious mind is the president; the Creative Mind is the general manager.
The conscious mind does the thinking, planning, evaluating, etc. The Creative Mind carries out the orders.

Let us assume, by way of illustration, that an individual was just getting by. He managed to keep food on the table and to pay his rent; but there never was any money left over for nice clothes, recreation, or any thing other than the basic necessities.
Suddenly a powerful thought enters his mind. He begins to see himself as a success. He begins to think in terms of “I AM a Success.” All right, what happens?

His general manager—his Creative Mind—accepts the thought “I AM a Success” as an instruction. It is a new model ordered by the president—the conscious mind.
Now then, just as the general manager in the factory would give instructions to his many department heads, so, too, will your general manager—Your Creative Mind—begin sending out messages to his assistants throughout your body.

Your general manager knows that to be a success you must look like one. He will make you more alert; he will put a spring in your step; he will put a look of determination in your eye; and he will put an expression in your voice which rings of success.
But, most important of all, your general manager will direct your thinking so that you will be guided to do the things which will make you a success.

So it goes with all things in our lives. Our subconscious mind is faithfully carrying out the orders it is given. All your experiences, events, conditions, and acts are the reactions of your subconscious mind to your thoughts.

When the thoughts deposited in your subconscious mind are constructive, harmonious, and peaceful, the magic working power of your subconscious will respond and bring about harmonious conditions, agreeable surroundings, and the best of everything. When you begin to control your thought processes, you can apply the powers of your subconscious to any problem or difficulty. In other words, you will actually be consciously cooperating with the infinite power and omnipotent law, which governs all.

Gina