Pathwalking 218
This has been a particularly challenging week for me.
As I strive to walk my chosen path I am finding the obstacles along the way to be frustrating me more than usual.
I could blame the cold, though overall the winter has been mild. I could blame the grey cloudy days, though I’ve now experienced several days of sun.
More importantly, though, placing blame is not going to give me any resolution to my predicament. It is in my best interest to own up to the problem, and explore how to resolve it.
What’s my problem? I am feeling blue. I am feeling fearful. I am doubtful. I am finding myself inside a negative headspace, and I am not using the tools available to me to get out of it.
Yes, there are tools I can use to try to change my feelings and as such shift my thought process. I know them, I have written about them before, I am just finding that for whatever reason employing them is presenting me with a challenge.
Why? Well that’s the question I need to answer. Why am I sabotaging myself again?
I’ve explored this issue before. I know what it will take to walk the path I want to, but I manage to sabotage myself and not get where I am going.
In this case, it’s not at all a conscious effort. I am feeling low, and not taking the steps I know that will help make me feel better.
Problem identified. Now comes the solution.
I need to get back to daily meditation. I’ve set up a reminder in my phone, but haven’t been bothering to actually take the time to meditate. I know how this makes me feel, I know how it clears my head, so I need to do it.
Exercise. Yes, I have been getting to the gym twice a week. I need to increase that, and also supplement it with other activities that will help to clear my head and get my blood flowing. I have a Wii Fit, time to employ it and get more exercise.
When I am feeling doubtful, put my thought elsewhere. I need to replace my doubt with something positive. I can use attitude shifters to alter what my mind is stuck in, employing devices that I know make me feel better.
I say again and again that one of the few things in my life I can take control of is my feelings. Nobody but me can make me feel any way I am feeling, period. So when I know I am feeling doubtful it is up to me to find something that will take that away.
Along that line is the feeling of fear. I can put a name to most of my fears, but I know that fearing these things will only keep them manifesting in my life. As such, I need to work on the things that alleviate my fears, and to take actions that will make me feel empowered.
I have discussed this at length in more than one post, both in Pathwalking and Positivity. It is a matter of getting control of my thought process, examining what it is I am feeling, and then taking actions to help me get where I want to be.
For me the problem has usually been a combination of taking action and aligning how I am feeling. Focusing on thought I can do, but feeling and action are where my challenges lie.
What do I do to fix this? I began the goal log at the start of the year to try and see what I am eating, when I am writing and exercising. I need to really apply this and use it for more. The question becomes how and in what manner?
First – I need to not just write down what I am eating. I really do need to focus on how much I am eating, and when. Am I eating because I am actually hungry, or bored or sad? Getting my diet under better control will help me feel better.
Second – I need to add at least one more day to my exercise program. Exercise is healthy for mind, body and spirit, and I need to take that more into account and use it to my advantage.
Third – I need to add meditation to the goal log. At least five days a week I need to set aside some time and meditate for a minimum of three minutes. This will allow me to work on my focus, and to calm my mind so that I can do more with getting ahold of my feelings, and considering actions.
I need to stop letting doubt, and fear, and uncertainty control my feelings. I know this, I have written about it before, now I just need to employ the tools I have to control this and do more to truly walk the path I would desire to be on.
Thank you for continuing to read my ramblings along this journey, especially on a week like this when I am both late in posting and coping with a more personal matter.
What do you do when your feelings are leaning towards the negative?
GOAL LOG – Week 8:
Diet: I continue tracking what I am eating daily, though I was away over the weekend and didn’t mind my log. Still working to improve on my choices.
Exercise: Fencing happened, got to the gym twice and was walking and hiking all weekend.
Writing: Three days of writing. Need to improve on that.
This is the two-hundred eighteenth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.
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