Pathwalking 28
I am.
Two of the most powerful words anyone can utter. What follows them will help in building up the self. I am happy. I am strong. I am attractive. I am wise. I am worthy.
Unfortunately, following “I am” with negatives is equally, if not sometimes more powerful. I am broke. I am angry. I am weak. I am fat. I am unworthy.
All you have to do is read the news. All you have to do is read the headlines, and you will see outside forces working overtime to have the term “I am” followed by words like angry, frustrated, afraid, incensed, disturbed, disenfranchised, displaced, and unworthy. Every time I say “I am” and follow it with a negative, I begin a downward spiral, creating more things to get upset or depressed about, and setting back what I have accomplished through my Pathwalking.
One of the main reasons I have chosen Pathwalking is to step away from this cycle. I do not want to keep giving so much focus and attention to these terrible things. No, I am not outright ignoring them…I am giving them a moment’s attention, getting informed, then deciding if there is anything I can do with or about the information I have received.
Open up a web browser, and if you go to Facebook or Twitter or Yahoo or MSN or what-have-you, someone will have placed a headline before you that will spark negativity. The latest political bullshit gets you angry. Some abusive figure is getting away. A greedy magnate is raping and pillaging unchecked. And as soon as we give focus to this, and allow the outrage to take hold, we have three choices we need to make:
1. Let the emotion wash over you. Do nothing about it, but read the follow-ups, and let the bad news become a part of your day. Continue to read more and more, get angrier, more frustrated, and let it put you in a foul mood, or depress you. And as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Yoda and other figures have warned, once you begin down this path, it will dominate. It’s a slippery slope. This is the easiest thing to do in this situation, because it generally requires zero effort.
2. Let the emotion wash over you. Decide if there is something you can do about it to turn it around. If you can…then do it. Sign that petition, write that letter to your congressperson, join the march inWashington. But rather than let that negative energy stew, and beget more negative energy, try to refocus it, and turn something positive out of it. Create, build, do something. This is a lot harder than just letting yourself get angered by world happenings…but I believe it is more productive.
3. Let the emotion wash over you. Decide if there is something you can do about it to turn it around. If you cannot…then let it go. Either turn your focus to something positive, or find some other news that will make you smile or otherwise feel good. Seek out ways to feel better, to feel more positive. Turn “I am angry” to “I am letting this go” and from there to “I am ok” and from there, to something stronger. This is as hard as doing something about a given negative issue…because both require a conscious effort.
It is really easy to get upset about something. It is really easy to let “I am” be followed by a negative statement. But in doing this, I am disempowered…and that is only true, if I allow it to be true. As I have stressed throughout the Pathwalking entries, a primary reason to choose your own path is empowerment.
Consciousness creates reality. I cannot stress this idea enough. As such, following “I am” with a negative creates, you probably guessed it, a negative. Following it with a positive creates positive. Like attracts like, this is the Law of Attraction, an immutable law of nature. Keep focused on negatives…I am unhappy, I am riddled with debt, I am lost…and you will likely find more negatives.
It is not a lie to say I am wealthy, I am thin, I am wise, even if you are not. This is not about what I say to the people I surround myself with – what follows “I am” is technically none of their business. This is not about gloating, bragging, or informing everyone around you…this is about how you perceive yourself. This is not the “I am ok” or “I am tired” that follows the question “How are you?” This is the “I am” you think constantly. This is the “I am” that you give consideration to inside your own head dozens of times each day. I am tired. I am hungry. I am horny. I am lonely. I am sad. I am cold. I am…I am…I am…
As such, since much of this is sub-conscious…it takes a lot of work to redirect it. I have to pay greater attention to those “I ams” in my head, and try to keep them at least neutral, if not positive. I am the only one who can direct what follows “I am”.
When someone does ask “How are you?”; rather than complain about being tired, sore, uncomfortable, or whatever…remember that there is power in the external “I am” as well. But if “I am well” or even “I am ok” feels like a lie, there is nothing wrong with just answering “I am” and leaving it at that.
Empowerment is a central tenet of Pathwalking. And “I am” is the central statement in empowering the self. Give that consideration the next time your thought turns to “I am”, and look at what you are following it with.
I am…
This is the twenty-eight entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
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