Week 23 – and emotional control

I was initially quite disappointed to move on from scroll V – for me, it contained the most powerful of the messages.  And I experienced a bit of a shock on my first reading of scroll VI on emotional control.

Because it was what I needed to hear.  The importance of the message wasn’t in knowing that control was needed in order to succeed – we’ve known that for a while now.  For me, it was the realization that the emotional roller-coaster ride that I struggle with is normal, it’s what most people experience.  Reading it, it seemed that Mandino had personal knowledge of what was in my head and in my heart.

Inside me is a wheel, constantly turning from sadness to joy, from exultation to depression, from happiness to melancholy.

I had always considered my changing emotional states to be an oddity and a major character flaw.  I’m now giving myself permission to accept my emotional states.  Accepting the legitimacy of my emotions makes it easier to start on the path to mastery of them.

All the best for a great week!

 

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Week 22 and some thoughts on health

I’m especially intrigued by this week’s Haanel reading on the effect of our thought processes on our health.  Medical research has long known about the placebo and nocebo effects (how our thoughts or beliefs can have either positive or negative enhancement effects on treatments) but in general have tended to discount them or treat them as an experimental nuisance.  But their effects are measurable and real.

I had not considered that our body’s response to wounds and repair or our immune system or any of the background functioning of our body is actually the work of our subconscious.  In a way, I have still assumed a separation between body and mind but, of course, that can’t be true.  In any case, the realization of the extent of the control that we have over our body functions, both consciously and subconsciously, is inspiring!  It allows us to wrest back control and responsibility for our health – away from the various organizations that attempt to exert authority or name themselves the guardians of health knowledge.

However, what is the extent of our control?  Can we use the full force of our mind to reverse the ravages of cancer?  Or must our responsibility kick in much earlier in the prevention stage?  As a (former) scientist, I know that any experiment to test this would be near impossible to devise (not to mention, unethical).  So, is the answer to continue to practice focusing our thoughts on positive outcomes and live in hope and expectation and in full faith that miracles do occur?

All the best for a great week.

 

Week 21 and some observations of the past week.

Some thoughts about last week.  My family is visiting and we went on a week-long road trip hanging out at various beaches, long walks, and getting some kayaking in at one of my favorite places.  Keeping up with my routine, polos, webinars, and WPOA was always going to be a challenge.  And I had decided that spending time with family was going to be the priority.  What was different this year was that I was there in spirit and mind as well as body.  In previous circumstances, I would be with family in body but my mind and attention would be on my business or on study – with a pretty unsatisfactory outcome.  This time I’ve been conscious of the influence of both scrolls IV and V : separating time spent in business from family life, and living in the present.  And it works.

However, some work commitments had to be met.  I had scheduled a call to a client and I had planned a walk at a nearby conservation area but thought to be back in good time.  Unfortunately, I had seriously underestimated the time needed to get there due to the special nature of the road: narrow, gravel, twisty, with livestock.  Plan B – conserve my phone battery and find a solid signal.  Which found me successfully setting up my ‘office’ in the middle of a sheep paddock … and making my call.

Solutions seem to be presenting easily much of the time now.

All the best for the coming week.

Week 20 and keeping organized.

My makeover word for this week is ‘well-organized’ and it’s been a bit of a challenge.

It’s a special time as I have my sisters visiting and it’s been almost two years since we’ve all been together. And of course, they’re traveled half-way around the globe to get here.  So the challenge is to spend quality time with them and also keep up with my responsibilities with MKE and my business.

One of the things that I’ve noticed is that I’m not as stressed about these type of situations as I have been in the past. I’ve learned to expect good outcomes; solutions will present themselves without a lot of over-thinking and micro-managing or worry.

And for the most part, this has continued to be true.  But I’ve had to make some choices.  And our current scroll has helped with it’s focus on living for the day.  What’s more important?  Spending time with my sisters or on my other responsibilities?  Well, family wins out this time but it also doesn’t need to be a ‘one or the other’ decision.  I get up a bit earlier and try to fit things in but it may not all be completed.  And I’m ok with that. I’ve made the choice, will live the day to the fullest, and continue to expect good outcomes and solutions to all challenges that present themselves the next day.

All the best for a great week!

Week 19 and living life to the max …

This photo is me at the summit of Kala Patthar, Nepal.  At 5,644.5 m, it’s the highest that I’ve ever been (without the aid of an airplane).  It was an exhausting climb, but worth it for the view of Everest behind me.  I’ve been looking at this photo a lot because I’ll be doing another Himalayan trek this April.  But I’m also thinking about how long ago this last trip took place and also how long since I last went adventuring.  Why had I let so many of the things that bring me to life just … disappear.  That’s why the current chapter of Mandino means so much.

This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity.  I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death.  I lift mine arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day …

Here’s to making each day count and not putting off the things that make our hearts sing.  All the best for a great week!

Week 18 and some thoughts about discipline …

My makeover word this week was ‘Discipline’ and initially I had a hard time observing it, let alone implementing it meaningfully in my life.  After a sit, I realized that I was attaching some negative connotations to the word.  As in ‘being disciplined’ – it was a punishment.  No wonder I was experiencing so much resistance!

But someone (and I wish I could remember who, so I could thank them!) suggested that discipline is actually a choice.

So, now when I think of discipline I think of joyfully choosing my path to the future that I want.  So much easier to implement!

And with the new scroll, I’m constantly reminded about choices.

Procrastination I will destroy with action; doubt I will bury under faith; fear I will dismember with confidence.

Lots of choices, to be joyfully made.

All the best for a great week ahead.

 

Week 17HJ and saying good bye …

No, I’m not leaving the program!  But I am trying to say goodbye to my old self and my old way of doing things.

At the beginning of the program, over 18 weeks ago, the decision to commit, to be all in, seemed like a no-brainer – I knew that things had to change.  But I seriously underestimated the difficulty of letting go, of moving forward to be better, happier, more fulfilling life.  And just reading this last sentence, makes me wonder at the absurdity of the resistance.  So many wonderful things have happened!  Why am I not running forward open-armed to my future?

In our last webinar, Mark talked about the 4 stages of death and that has explained some of the difficulties.

1. Denial.  This is shown by not doing the exercises faithfully or by doing them grudgingly.
2. Anger. Mostly shown by resentment of different aspects of the program or finding fault.
3. Grief. Feeling sad, lost.  Needing to re-write the DMP and wondering if the need is due to more insight into what is required to move forward with goals or not putting enough effort into achieving them.  Increased doubt about the opportunities that are opening up in front of us.  And, for me, also eating more comfort food!
4. Acceptance. Moving forward joyfully.

I’m on the verge of leaving grief and moving to acceptance.  I’ve embraced the latest opportunity that came my way and it’s provided a road map of my next steps forward in my business goals.  And the phrase from scroll three, is uppermost in my mind:

… one step at a time is not too difficult.

It’s enough.

All the best for the coming week!

Week 17 and a few thoughts about courage

This week my focus has been on courage.  And I had some confusion about what I would consider courageous acts.  Saving someone from an oncoming train (how many opportunities for that occurs in your day?)?  What are the small every day courageous acts that one can perform?

I met with a new friend for coffee earlier in the week.  She is a successful lawyer with her own firm, well-spoken, fashionably lovely, and self-assured.  We started talking about self-confidence and I was surprised that this is something that she struggles with every day.  Her default blueprint is to people-please (same as me). And so we constantly try to project an image of what we should be or what people think a successful women should be: attractive (but not too attractive), self-assured (but not arrogant).  And the list of constraints goes on.  It’s restricting and it’s exhausting.  And more importantly, it stops us from being all that we can be.

So for me an everyday act of courage is to accept myself – wrinkles, grey hair, and the stack of accomplishments that I’ve written out on my index cards.  To look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day, focus on my achievements, and say ‘I love you’ to my image and mean it.  To focus on my plan of action, and find a way forward that I can be enthusiastic about and not care if it fits in with other people’s expectations.

And maybe save a person from an oncoming train if the situation arises.

 

Week 16: kindness and some time for reflection

Week two on the Franklin makeover and the focus has been on kindness.  I’ve loved this week because the mandate on submitting our daily acts of kindness (ours and observed) on the Alliances webpage has made a real difference to me.  I’m generally reluctant to engage with people I don’t know.  And I know that this holds me back from making some real progress in changing blueprints that don’t aid me.  But adding my kindnesses, commenting on other’s acts of kindness, and receiving comments on my own has made me feel like a useful and valued member of this community.  And  it’s made it a little bit easier to engage in other endeavors.  And of course the big payoff is to see the world around me as a much kinder place.

I took some time this week to reflect on my own changes over the course of the program.  People have asked if I noticed a difference and because the changes have been so gradual I wasn’t sure.  Until I thought back to the beginning and the assignment that gave me the most challenge — the Press Release.  It took me almost three weeks to write it because I couldn’t conceive that I could be the person that I needed to become in order to meet my goals and dreams.  That person was a complete stranger.

I’m not sure which of the daily habits contributed the most: reading my DMP three times a day, reading the achievement and gratitude cards, looking at my dreamboard/movie trailer, doing the weekly services (and reliving the feeling of success), listening to my soundtrack, or a combination of all them.  Whatever — it’s working.  I am that person in my press release.

Week 15 and a great start to the new year

Last week was a little shaky but one of the good things about persistence (or stubbornness – you choose) is learning from mistakes and getting back into the game.  So I’m back.

A few months back I received a wonderful gift – a perpetual calendar ‘Notes from the Universe’.  I have chosen the note for January 1st as my focus for the year.

When in doubt, show up early.  Think less.  Feel more. Ask once.  Give thanks.  Expect the best.  Appreciate everything.  Never give up.  Make it fun.  Lead.  Invent.  Regroup.  Wink.  Chill. Smile.  And live as if your success was inevitable.

Such a great summary of what we’ve been learning for the past few months.