Posts by Pat:
Reasons or excuses?
Like me, I’ll bet you have a story for just about everything! Why you can’t lose weight, why you can’t keep a budget, what you can’t learn a new language, why you can’t learn to dance…
- “I’m just big-boned.”
- “I’ve never been good with math.”
- “I’m too old.”
- “I don’t have time.”
- “I’ve always had two left feet.”
Like me, you probably know that the story you tell yourself is really just your reason or your excuse to ease the guilt or pain of the choice you know you’ve made.
And it probably doesn’t matter whether our story comes from our childhood or is just our current fiction, it still accomplished the same thing: removing our personal responsibility from the situation.
But our stories, our reasons, our excuses, our complaints are actually our rationalizations why we won’t/can’t/ shouldn’t change. And in expressing our discontent, we actually justify and perpetuate our difficulties.
As we do know…
The highest and most powerful form of energy is thought energy because what we think guides our feelings and actions, and even our lives.
And, when we verbalize what we are thinking, it magnifies the power of our thought and draws to us the folks who agree with our perspective (as you’ve probably noticed in the staff room or at that party.)
Life creates a loop that justifies our thoughts and our words. If we complain frequently, life will create a loop of self-sustaining misery (not exactly what we want!)
So are you thinking and speaking what you want to experience? Or what you don’t want to experience?
Either way, as Henry Ford said…
The idea of a Complaint-Free World came from a book by Rev. Edwene Gaines where she proposed eradicating complaining day by day until we go twenty-one consecutive days without a single complaint, thus creating a new habit.
I do NOT find it hard to believe that it typically takes folks four to eight months to successfully complete twenty-one days without complaining! It’s said that most of us seem to complain fifteen to thirty times a day without even being aware we are doing so.
I have yet to make it to 6 days. My personal challenge seems to be my “selective” awareness, meaning I have to…
- first notice that I have complained,
- then catch myself when I am complaining,
- and THEN choose not to complain.
Do you have any stories/reasons/excuses/complaints you’d like to change?
Ah well, self-awareness comes first, right?
Then self-direction.
And, always, patience with ourselves!
We’re mothers to our own experience!
Food for Thought I find this story enlightening: two brothers with alcoholic parents were interviewed and asked to what did they attribute their station in life. The first man was an alcoholic, living on the streets, who answered “What do you expect with parents like mine?” The second was a successful business man, active in […]
Time for some spring cleaning?
While we’re cleaning out closets and garages, we can think about this: spring house cleaning, while worth the effort, will only last for a season. But personal, inner, spring cleaning can have a long-lasting influence. So we don’t just want to dust behind those books on the bookshelves. Let’s give ourselves the gift of taking […]
Need to be grounded?
“I can’t. I’m grounded!” Does that message ring a bell with any of the rest of you? When I was growing up, getting grounded meant that I wasn’t allowed to do the things that I valued most at the time. These days, I often feel called to ground myself when I feel like I need […]
A choice in the race?
Like it or not, the race is on. It doesn’t matter whether the person belongs to “our” party or not. If we thought the mud was slinging before today, just wait. It’s only going to get worse. Why? Because that’s the nature of politics in America, particularly for a presidential race. But this post isn’t […]
Do not blame the lettuce!
When you plant lettuce, don’t blame the lettuce if it doesn’t grow well. Look into the reasons why it’s not doing well! Maybe it needs fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You don’t blame the lettuce! (The well-known spiritual teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh is credited with this lesson!) Yet when we have problems with […]
Will you eat that frog?
The frog in this Mark Twain quote has been long adopted by the business community and by productivity advocates to represent the one task or activity you are least looking forward to completing over the course of your day. The idea is that once the unappealing task is done, the rest of the day is […]
2 sides to every coin…
Since I’ve started back to Tai Chi, this symbol has renewed significance for me. Reminds me that life/ events/ people are NOT just black or white, but an integration of opposites. And I remember the line “can’t have one without the other” from that song about love and marriage! Coins have a front and back…can’t […]
More chocolate?
We’re halfway between two major reasons/excuses for chocolate! Yep…Valentine’s Day and Easter. When my sister and I had our chocolate store in Seattle, Valentine’s Day was our favorite holiday! We are still chocoholics and any excuse for chocolate works for us. And since chocolate doesn’t keep… it’s important to watch for those chocolate sales after […]
2 things to know…
ONE: we are each capable of more than we think. TWO: AND it always will take more work than we think. I know the first one because this has been true of everyone I’ve ever met (and it’s true of me too!) We are poor judges of what we are capable of and each of […]