Train Your Brain

“The more you learn and develop the capacity to listen to your heart, the more you figure out who you are…discover yourself.”

“We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.” – Anon

“Your life is a reflection of what you desire”….. CWG

“Your personal answer to the question, “Who are you?” is very critical to your success, distinction, and influence in life.”

Like manna from heaven, Cheryl Richardson’s blog post, entitled, “Master Your Mind,” fell from the sky and landed in my inbox this morning. She poses the question:  “Are You a Worryah or a Warrior?” (Cute – and the timing couldn’t be better.) She outlines four simple ways of dealing with the demon Worryah.

“1.  Make a decision, right now, to become a Warrior.  All positive change begins with a decision – a choice to rise up to a whole new way of being in the world.  So, if you tend to be a Worryah, make a decision to take charge of the most powerful creative tool you own:  your beautiful mind. 

2.  Let your body lead. When you start to ruminate about something, catch yourself and immediately move your body in an outrageous way.   I know, I know.  This might sound a bit crazy, but stay with me.  Do something wacky with your body. 

3.  See yourself as a Warrior.  Take a few moments to find an imagine of yourself as a Warrior. (I chose Robin Hood – a stretch, I know, but he really does embody a take charge attitude.)

4.  Do something for someone else.  Sometimes the fastest way to shift from “Worryah to Warrior” is to get out of your own head by giving support to someone else.”

“While worrying is a normal human behavior, you can limit the amount of time you spend in this suffering state by choosing to do something different.” 

Great tips, but can they really change my life? Do you know what I’m going through right now?! I can hear you asking.

I know, I’m going through a spot of trouble, myself, at the moment. And these drop-your-face-in-your-hands moments come along, every now and again, right out of left field. But the point that Cheryl is making is that we each have the power within ourselves to train our brain in order to change our attitudes.

In other words, it’s a choice, like everything else in life. So, to get me through the next few hours, days, weeks, months or years, with a positive attitude, I’ll need to get proactive. Laugh, even when I don’t feel like it. Smile at the dog, dance around my livingroom, and do some volunteer work for a local nonprofit organization.

Or, watch people like Susan Boyle, who teaches us that anything is possible if we trust in our gifts and don’t give a hang what other people think.

We Attract Who We Are

I stumbled across a blog post about a basic law of the universe: we attract who we are. According to the author,

“Positive persons are:

• Committed to developing compassion towards themselves and others, and having an open heart
• Courageous about following their dreams
•  Those who seek to be authentic and believe in themselves, even when externals are crumbling
• Aware of their darkside, and are trying to heal it
• Willing to learn from mistakes

 Positive persons aren’t:

• Perfect, phony, or positive all the time
• Beating themselves to a pulp over shortcomings or a black hole of pessimism
• Constantly mired in fear or tolerant of letting their hearts harden.
• Squeaky clean do-gooders who neglect their own well-being.
• Saccharine pleasers who ignore their darkside and unconsciously act it out at the expense of others.”

Bulls-eye. It hit me right between the eyes, and came to me at the perfect time.

Today, I made a decision to change my life. Not a life-altering, seismic shift in my life, but rather, a change in the way I think.

In short, I am going to do what I want. No one else will care, but I will. And so, I am packing up my kit bag and going on the road. Nothing like Jack Kerouac, mind you, who is best known for his book, On the Road. More like Laura Ingalls Wilder, who waited until she was in her 60s before daring to show anyone her manuscript.

Well, I’m not in my 60s, but close enough. Close enough to retirement that an inner voice, today, rose up in terror – or could it be I’m just plain sick-and- tired of letting my dream of writing a novel rise up in the air and drift away, like a child’s prized balloon? – and demanded to be heard.

If we attract who we are, then it stands to reason that I need to get proactive. That is, spend time actually writing.

Another blog post came my way, with a great waving of arms in the air, shouting to me that journaling is the best way to practice the art of writing.

“Perfect!”, I thought. In hindsight, I realize this is the reason I created this blog in the first place.

If I am to attract who I am, then let’s get on with it. Commit to my dream, take tiny steps each day to move it forward, and voila! According to the law of attraction, I will attract only positive, like-minded people into my orbit.

What about you? What’s your dream? What have you kept under lock and key, too afraid to show to anyone but Izzie, your pet Iguana?