Emotions are contagious, and how you focus your attention can either keep you stuck on how you feel or switch gears to where you want to go. It is our attention that is sitting in the driver’s seat of our mind. Most people seem not to know this. They think that if they keep talking about something, resisting it, pushing it away, worrying about it, or even thinking about it, somehow they can get rid of it or prevent what they fear from manifesting.
This is just the opposite of what you should do if you want to free your mind from stress, overwhelm, worry, or fear. As Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell, keep going!”
If the truth is told, much of the pain, suffering, and dissatisfaction many people feel is self-inflicted because we are ignorant of how powerful our attention is to direct our physiology and reactions. We focus all too often on what we don’t want. This will keep you stuck on the very thing you don’t want, so much so that we typically no longer know what we do want or what we really value.
Another way that we get ourselves into trouble is by hanging around negative people who radiate emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, or judgment. Even people who refuse to look for what they can be grateful for and cling to sadness and depression can drag you down because emotions are contagious! Likewise joy, appreciation, and gratitude are contagious. They’re just not as prevalent in our society yet, I hope.
When we decide we want to get out of hell—the jail we put our minds in—we can learn how to release old emotional residues and shift our focus to where we want to go. It’s when we keep expecting the worst, keep our attention on negative news and negative people, and hold ourselves back for fear of disappointment that we stay, well, disappointed!
Can you see how backwards this is? It’s time to learn how to free your mind and be willing to live the adventure of your life instead of simply surviving and tormenting yourself. Science is showing how we are assigning the meaning to our lives. We may as well create a storyline that helps us to grow and flourish instead of making ourselves suffer through hell on earth.
So if you are going through hell on earth, keep going!
Valencia Ray, M.D. teaches business owners and corporate leaders how their amazing brain can actually hijack personal power -- not in the abstract, but in the context of integrating business and personal life. Dr. Ray, a board-certified eye surgeon and medical business owner for over 20 years before selling her practice, shares her own life changing process. By sharing her story, she helps others to expand their vision and learn that by living with purpose and confidence, it is possible to have a more integrated, healthier lifestyle – with less struggle, more inner peace and more abundance.
For more information and to contact her regarding dynamic, inspirational keynotes, trainings in collaborative leadership and team building, entrepreneurship and coaching programs, visit her website at http://www.ValenciaRay.com