"Flourish in the Face of Change : Overcoming Fear in Turbulent Times"
Today, many of us have been forced to look at our life and current financial position closely, due to the uncertainty of our economy, the instability of our financial markets, and the unrelenting pessimism of media coverage.
If you truly want to change despite the obstacles you are facing in your life, you need to stop and begin asking yourself some thought provoking questions:
"What is good in my life?" Who am I grateful for at this very moment? What do I most value about myself?
No matter what the current situation, you have the ability to turn things around in your life and flourish. You can change your life in the most profound way by modifying your thoughts and expectations, which requires introspection and an individual discovery process.
To dive a little deeper, where is your attention right now? What are you thinking about? Are you skeptical? Are you thinking about something entirely different? Is your attention on this article or on the 100 other emails in your inbox?
You might be reading this and thinking to yourself, "It would be nice to just change my thoughts and feel better, but I don't believe it's that simple."
On the contrary, it is simple; however, it is not easy. Self awareness and thought modification are the foundations for change to occur, but it takes patience, perseverance and most importantly BELIEF in your Self.
Negativity of Thought Patterns
Everything that makes us who we are; our thoughts, our memories, our fears, our hopes, our feelings, our intentions, our abilities, our habits, our pains, our joys, is a creation of our thought patterns and is imprinted in the living framework of our brain cells.
If our current reality is based on our thoughts, it requires a shift in our perspective to allow us to create a new version of our Self, if we want to experience a different reality. Think about it.
This process is more than just positive thinking. It is a process of change which requires conscious, mindful awareness. It requires becoming aware of our thoughts and where we focus our attention, exploring alternative ways of viewing our life and experiences, and engaging and living in accordance with the brilliance of who we really are.
For example, according to neuroscience, placing our attention on pain in the body makes pain exist, because the circuits in the brain that perceive pain become electrically activated. If we then put our awareness on something other than pain, the brain circuits that process pain and bodily sensations can be literally turned off and the pain goes away. Our attention has so much effect on us. What we repeatedly think about and where we focus our attention is what we become.
Our daily repeated thoughts, which are mostly negative, create a chemical reaction in our brain that produces what we feel and how we feel. On average, human beings think over 50,000 thoughts per day, and of these thoughts, at least 85% are negative.
What seems like a crisis may in fact be a wake up call, because we have shifted our awareness to events and circumstances that we did not recognize before. Some questions to ponder: are you living in a state of fear wondering when you might lose your job? Do you hang on to a job even though you do not find the work fulfilling? Do you internally battle between finding time with family or work obligations to fulfill? Do you spend beyond your means thinking that your financial situation will change at some point?
Lessons are not always easy to see or to embrace, but if we take a step back and see things from a different perspective, we can always see the hidden blessings.
Those around us will feel the difference and respond in kind, especially when we start seeing our own brilliance. Some of the ways to engage in our joys and shift our awareness to the positive are listening to a favorite song, getting together with a good friend, laughing at a funny movie, remembering to breathe deeply, hugging our children, reading for pleasure, taking a walk, smelling flowers, walking through a large pile of leaves, or volunteering at a local charity. These are just a few suggestions for shifting your awareness to things that bring you joy.
Knowing this, you have the opportunity to change your mind, embrace that change and shift your attention from what is not working in your life, to creating what you want in your life. Abundance is all around us. We simply have to see, from our unique lenses, the brilliance. It is with self awareness that we can tap into this new perspective.
You cannot change your past; however, you can change the way you view your past and focus your attention on the right now. You can choose to modify your thoughts to the most positive and abundant thoughts, and when you do, you will see your life unfold in beautiful ways. You will flourish.
Copyright © November 2008
Lisa M. Brazelton and Nancy Johnston