Pathwalking 275

The squirrels in my brain can be terribly distracting.

What does that mean? When I am thinking about something, I frequently see not only the angle I wish to take, but alternative angles, results both good and bad, and all kinds of possibilities. Because of this, I frequently find it difficult to manifest precisely what I wish to.

I woke up the other morning feeling anxious. I realized what it was that was causing me to feel anxious, but even knowing that, I found it very hard to let it go and move past it. It was right there, making my heart pound, causing me to breathe too shallowly, feeling all uncomfortable, and I couldn’t shake it.

I still maintain that we are able to control our feelings…but this takes a lot of practice. This can be a pretty daunting task. I know that what I am feeling is not what I want to be feeling, I am aware of what I am feeling and where it is coming from, so now I should be able to change it.

Of course it is seldom that simple. This is even more challenging when, for the most part, you have previously just let your emotional states be. Getting them under your direct control takes a whole bunch of conscious effort, and that can be complicated, too.

It is amazingly easy to just be drawn through patterns. In particular when you have a relatively established daily routine. Get up, go to work, work at work, go home, eat dinner, watch TV, read, go to bed, repeat tomorrow – or whatever your typical day looks like. While you are partaking of your routine your subconscious often has control, and that can lead you precisely where you don’t want to be.

So what? If, while you are at work, you pause to check into social media, and you start to read about the crazy of the world…or you are chatting with friends or coworkers and start talking about some negative issue…or you really would rather be anywhere other than at your place of work, your subconscious is likely taking you downwards, into a negative space, and that will effect the reality you are creating.

All of the books on The Secret or The Law of Attraction or any other iteration of conscious reality creation say the EXACT SAME THING: Like attracts like. However, your current reality, as you are experiencing it, is actually a reflection of your past thoughts, feelings and actions. Get stuck in the present reality, and surprise surprise surprise, you will find yourself with MORE of the same.

Controlling your thoughts and feelings ALL THE TIME is pretty much impossible. This is why the “squirrels in your brain” chase themselves around as they do. Past that has created present often feels to us like present, and so we create the same for future, even though we want different, but if we try ‘x’ maybe this will work, but maybe not, because we tried ‘x’ so now maybe we try ‘y’ and…

Round and round you go. SO – how do you break the cycle? How do you stop the squirrels running around in your brain?

I wish I knew. I am working on this very question right now.

Despite knowing that consciousness creates reality, and that my current reality is just the product of my past thoughts, feelings and actions; despite knowing that I can and have created consciously my reality before, I still get distracted by the squirrels chasing one another around my brain. How do I deal with them?

First and foremost, this is important to state: “DO OR DO NOT, THERE IS NO TRY!” Yoda had it right, if you try to do the thing, in all probability you are half-assing it. That, at least, is my tendency. Rather than trying to do a thing, I need to just DO the thing in question.

What’s the difference between trying and doing? Trying leaves room for interpretation, for excuses, for procrastination, and ultimately for failure. Doing, on the other hand, is bolder, more pointed, more direct, and while doing might lead to failing, you took an action.

How do I deal with the squirrels in my brain? First – I need to BE AWARE of them. I can’t ignore them, I have to acknowledge them, and see what it is they want. How do I deal with them if I am disregarding or ignoring them, and I don’t understand what it is they are being so squirrelly about in the first place?

Second – Address them. Being aware is the first step, addressing them is the next. Why is my brain being all squirrelly needs to be followed by action to settle matters down. What is it they are wanting?

Third – Let them go. I became aware of them, I addressed them, now I need to let them go. All too often the reason the brain is being squirrelly is because we are mulling something over and over and over again. We are chewing on regret or the potential results of a decision or choices we made or didn’t make or what-have-you. If I let go of them, they can go away and stop chasing each other around in my head.

Fourth – Repeat as necessary. If you are like me, this recurs from time to time. Knowing that, we can work on improving quieting the damned rodents rather than letting them drive us crazy as often as they do.

A little Pathwalking in Process for you this week. Now that I have worked through this – all that remains is to DO IT as necessary.

How do you deal with the squirrels in your brain?

This is the two-hundred seventy-fifth 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 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 here.

If you enjoy Pathwalking, you may also want to read my Five Easy Steps to Change the World for the Better.

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