It is time to get off the merry go round and create a life full of joy, interest, excitement, fun, love, care, freedom. Easy said than done! Many people ask me, what are the ingredients of change. In short, the answer is self-awareness and conscious, intentional acting out and visioning of the new self. Because much of what blindsides us is in the subconscious, we need become curious enquirers.
In chapter 8 of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – Joe give us some thought provoking questions to explore emotional reactions that no longer serve us. Here are some thought provoking questions to journal with:
When I feel …. what are my thought patterns?
What do I say to others and myself?
How do I act?
Where other emotions spring forth from my being ……?
What does …… feel like in my body?
How can I become conscious of what triggers my …… and how can I change my reaction?
The process of change requires observation, awareness, unlearning first and then learning. Once the frontal lobe has engaged in clear vision of the new you, it goes to work rewiring the brain. Just like instructing an electrician to change some electrical plugs in the house. We would first need a vision of where we would like the plugs to go and what we don’t like about the current arrangement. We then need to instruct the electrician to move the plugs based on the vision. The frontal lobe will serve this function in any change we would like. Once we stop thinking the same way and inhibit old ways of acting and feeling, we are pruning programmed neural networks in the brain. By acting in new ways, we are wiring new networks.
Marianne Love