I have noticed that in the work that I do as a psychologist, many of my clients come in because of emotional distress such as anxiety, anger, old trauma and painful beliefs of self worth. We are so readily programmed through out our lives by painful experience. The brain stores these experiences away, remembers what they are and makes decisions to be on alert for that to never happen again …The mind is then easily gets caught up in a pattern of self protection that causes more suffering. It can feel very complex and layers of thought get built on top of each other in order to create a sense of self protection and safety. Then add to this that fact that we are only 1% conscious. That means a huge process is going on that a person no longer knows what is happening and how to manage or change it. When we are 99% unconscious it becomes difficult to be aware of the thoughts underlying the feelings. Imagine a huge white wall with a little dot on it. The dot is our awareness and the rest of the wall is what remains in the unconscious.
Because of this we can so easily find ourselves in a bind that only seems to get worse. It is a little like when a record gets stuck on a certain track …and keeps playing over and over again. The record is simply stuck. It requires outside intervention, outside awareness to get off the area it is stuck on.
Albert Einstein said “we can not solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them”
The good news is that as people put their attention on improving life and healing, what was unconscious becomes conscious. The key is gaining new information and knowledge. Upgrading the neural pathways in the brain to be more conducive to health happiness and wellbeing. Brain research and science is showing us that the brain is very adaptable and is forming new neural pathways and letting go of old ones all the time.
STEPS TO LIVING YOUR POTENTIAL:
- The first step is recognizing where you are at. How do you feel and think? Is life what you want it to be? What would you change? Who do you blame? How do you talk to yourself in your more private moments? How do you act in different situations?
- The next step is self kindness. Understand that where you are up to right now is a result of the collection of experiences you have had combined with what you have been taught and picked up from the world around you. You are an accumulation of your genetic line who passed on ways of thinking, habits of the nervous system of many thousands of years. Each cell on your body holds its own story.
- Realise how miraculous you are. You are the master of 52 trillion cells that come together in service to give you your life experience. Your heart beats, you breathe and are a chemical factory processing information from your environment at rapid speed. You are continuously replacing yourself and in three months you have replaced all your red blood cells. After 7 years you have just about replaced every other cell in your body. You are all new again.
- Next step is to surround yourself with kind and good people. Build connection and support. Find people who are living where would like to be at. By osmosis you will begin to grow and change in that direction. Even in the beginning if that involves building a deeper connection and spend more time with one person. If in the beginning you can’t find them in your relationships find people you admire from books, stories, TV, etc. Put a photos of them up around you. Notice what you like and admire. This is a good indication of who you are beyond the thoughts and feelings creating pain.
- Next research and gain new knowledge and new information. Learning is the key to change. Trust your interests.
- Learn about how the brain gets programmed and how to undo this programming and redirect it. Any studies into brain research and neuroplasticity is interesting and helpful. Realise nothing is fixed and that all thoughts are changeable. Who we think we are is simply who we practiced ourselves to be. What we think and action is who we become.
- Next learn about how we get addicted to our emotions.
- Journal and bring awareness into your day.
- Set goals. Vision, script and rehearse in your mind who this person does, what do they say, how do they act, feel.
- Get uncomfortable. How do you know you are changing? You feel uncomfortable. You feel unfamiliar. Have new experiences. You produce new chemistry through trying new thing. As you expand your reality and step out of your comfort zone this may bring up fear. This is a good sign. Fake it until you make it.
- Have fun. Joy, health, happiness, wealth and wellbeing is our birth right. It is a way of being. It is a mind frame. Find moments to bring joy and happiness into your life. Laugh, and bring a lightness to your experience. There is a time to be serious and a time to play.
The key to remember: What you think and do is wh0 you become
May all good things come your way. Dream big and live it before you believe it to be true.
Marianne Love