Archive for August, 2009

Post written by Anna Paden - Director of Healthy Essentials Nurtition store, Enjoy!

Comedian Bob Newhart said in two words and a 5-minute comedy video on youtube of what Dr. Wayne Dyer expounded on in his new book and a 3-hour PBS special.  When it comes to making excuses for why your life is not going the way you would like:  Stop It!

In Excuses Begone! Dr. Dyer proposes that the excuses you have used your entire life to explain away what you haven’t done, can’t do, or won’t be able to do, are all “memes” or mental viruses that are completely fabricated in your own mind.  They include:

1.      It will be difficult.

2.      There will be family drama.

3.      I can’t afford it.

4.      No one will help me.

5.      I don’t deserve it.

6.      It’s not my nature.

7.      I’m not smart enough.

8.      The rules won’t let me.

It’s not that we consciously sabotage ourselves with these memes, but our habituated mind (not subconscious because we can access it if we choose) has accepted them as truths by which we have lived for as long as each of us has been on the planet.  There are subtle but substantial payoffs to hanging onto our personal memes instead of dropping them for more liberating truths.  They provide a way of avoiding what might be difficult or challenging work.  They offer the safety of the status quo and an easy way out.  They can also be used to manipulate family and others around us to do the job for us, or allow us to continue blaming others for our problems.  Maybe they keep us always being right:  “See, I told you it couldn’t be done, and I was right!”  Or they offer protection we fear we need to keep us from experiencing the present moment, so we can continue living in some fuzzy daydream about what coulda/shoulda/woulda been if the world had only treated us fairly.

Pain, anxiety, fear, anger, and the like make themselves known in your body as rashes, eczema, heart palpitations, arthritis, backaches, headaches, stomachaches, diarrhea, eyestrain, cramps, and many more ailments.  These can become your way of life and define your reality. 

If you begin to acknowledge that possibly—just possibly—these don’t have to be your reality forever, then you can access the profound and universal ability to quickly change your reality, no matter how long you have been in the old one.  From now on each time you are confronted with one of your excuses, begin the habit of immediately challenging it with the following questions:

1.      “Is it true?”  Is this excuse that your mind has thrown up as a blockade to some dream or desire absolutely 100% certainly true?  If it’s not (and it won’t be), then there is an opposite and equally possible truth, so why not choose the positive one to work from? 

2.      “Where did this excuse come from?”  The answer to this one is always your mind.  Someone else gave it to you or you made it up on your own, but it exists nowhere else but in your mind.

3.      “What is the payoff?”  What challenge will I avoid or what anxiety will I escape by clinging to this excuse?  I call this the Rumpelstiltskin question:  when you face it directly and answer it honestly within yourself, the excuse will disappear in a puff of smoke.

4.      “What would my life look like if I couldn’t use these excuses?”  The answer to this one is fun—here you build your dreams, without roadblocks or restrictions or excuses.

5.      “Can I create a rational reason to change?”  Change is difficult, so there must be a compelling reason to draw you out of your protective meme shell.  The three criteria for a rational reason are:  (1) it must make sense; (2) it must be do-able; (3) it must allow you to feel good; and (4) it must be aligned with the calling of your soul.

6.      “Can I access universal cooperation in shedding old habits?”  The answer to this is a resounding “yes!”  It’s been called the law of attraction, like attracts like, birds of a feather.  The universe is made of energy, and like energies are drawn as a force of nature into communion with each other.  Point your face and your heartfelt intention toward the summit, and the universe must align with your energy.

7.      “How can I continuously reinforce this new way of being?”  Refer to No. 5 and the part about feeling good.  Sense the good feeling that bubbles up when you are experiencing your dream, and return to that feeling often.  Awareness, focus, mindfulness, meditation, prayer, practice, practice, practice, one small step at a time.