Do you know that you are a slave to your thinking and as such to your emotions? Good and bad? We are all on these roller coaster rides and we mistakenly believe that this is just how life is. We are out of control and don’t even realize it.
We behave poorly towards ourselves and others and then ‘let ourselves off-the-hook’ (we don’t really, of course do we?) because we just think this is how we are wired.
We are all just hanging on to life – for dear life!
Our excuse is that we are the way we are because of the world outside of us and in order to fix how we feel we have to fix and control the world – save the world as it were.
But this is NOT how we are supposed to live. We are not in this world to be dragged around all over the place by whatever our thoughts and emotions can concoct for us.
So how then do you go about stopping yourself from being dragged around by your thoughts and hence your feelings?
Give yourself a Virtual Slap
I was watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother and one of the characters slaps another as part of some bet (you know what guys are like!). As soon as that slap was delivered the entire cast was focused on that moment.
Now obviously this is all scripted and they are supposed to act this way but think on this for a moment:
The next time you catch yourself in a day dream, when you are so lost in your thoughts you aren’t even aware of what is going on around you.
An example of this might be: being stuck in peak-hour traffic or just driving a fair distance and you arrive at your destination only to wonder how you got there and what exactly happened on the way. You know what this is like.
This will take some practice but when you are in moments like this you can catch yourself and when you do, give yourself a virtual slap.
Picture yourself slapping yourself awake and focusing your attention on the “virtual stinging” on your cheek. Now don’t do it so well that you cause yourself distress but notice how you can snap out of that dream-like state – even if only for a second – and be aware of what that feels like.
Once you start doing this 10 or 20 times a day (cause that’s at least how often most of us end up in these states) you won’t have to slap yourself to stop those thoughts anymore. It will happen automatically and stay there for longer.
This is the start of being present to yourself in the moment and the beginning of finding the You in your own life.
