How To Stop Making Yourself Sick!

Nobody WANTS to be sick.

Right?

Before reading a fabulous book called The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin [http://www.sedona.com], I would have gotten all up in your grill at the suggestion that I wanted to be sick.  If you had told me that I, myself, caused my own sniffles, them’s woulda been fightin’ words (once I got better).

After reading the book and practicing the exercises in it for a while, I’ve developed the ability to literally will colds away within an hour of noticing their approach.  The nitty-gritty of how this is done and why it works can be found in the book.

But I’ll give you a hint: it begins (and often ends) with accepting the fact that, just maybe, you want to be sick.

There’s a great deal of research on the mind-body connection and psychosomatic illness. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosomatic_illness]  Accumulated human wisdom from ancient cultures such as India and China have offered us scores of anecdotal evidence pointing to the mutual influence of mind-upon-body, body-upon-mind.

If you’re open to the idea that much sickness isn’t completely – or even mostly – pathogenic [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease ] (i.e. caused by microorganisms) and that you exercise a profound control over your own well-being . . . Read on!

What possible benefits could coming down with a nasty bug offer you?

The Vestigial Tail: Attention/Approval

To varying degrees, we have all been conditioned to seek attention and approval from others.  This serves a survival purpose as children, when we are dependent upon our caretakers to inform our actions.  In adulthood it’s a major friggin’ encumbrance.

Ex:

- Child eats pineapple chunks with hearty appetite and displays affinity for the piano = praise and attention from caretakers (who in turn seek it from other, presumably envious parents.)

- Child ponders terroir of dog’s twice-buried chew toy and displays affinity for gleefully peeing on playmates = can of whoop-tushy and “why can’t you be more like child X?”

Given the distinctly pleasant nature of the first option and the yuckiness of the second, we slowly but surely learn to seek approval and attention.

Now you’re an adult.

Imagine this type of scenario:

You – feeling overworked, under-appreciated and pissed off about both, begin to wonder what the point of it all is.  Your subconscious decides that you need a break because your body can’t take any more and mobilizes your immune system for a healing crisis, [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healing_crisis ] otherwise known as a “cold”.

Your symptoms manifest and open the way for a deluge of commiseration from coworkers, friends and family.

Despite your utterly sabotaged productivity, you bravely put in your hours and the boss praises your suicidal adherence to a beloved societal maxim: “work for work’s sake is path to enlightenment!”

Or you take a sick day.  Whichever.

In either case, you’ve successfully averted/postponed odious duties, received soothing consolation and basked in the temporary glory of “MIA office soldier” status.

Nah, you wouldn’t want all that.

Would you?

The details surrounding your particular situation may vary, but allow yourself to consider – ever so briefly – that you may be manifesting what it is that you want all along.

Your personal resiliency may have to do with honestly admitting that you would gladly welcome many minor disasters – and letting go of the want.

This is called being present to experience.  It means that you refuse to subordinate the needs of the body to ideas/stories about those needs.

These are the first giant steps to reclaiming your health and the honesty that this process forces you to exercise with yourself can have many unexpected benefits in every facet of your life.

Source: Vic Dorfman, http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-stop-making-yourself-sick/

Why Waking up Early Is So Difficult

As lazy as cats?

Do you drink coffee? Have you ever tried to stop?

Me neither. I like coffee.

But what about getting up early? Have you ever tried waking up early? How did it go?

That was a challenge for me. I used to dread getting up early – especially for work!

I mean 40 hours a week working in a job you don’t enjoy… who the heck wants to do that?

But nowadays I love getting up early. Yeah, you heard me… I absolutely love it.

It’s so much fun to be up before the sun rise. It feels like I have a head start over everyone else… like I have some sort of secret that nobody else knows about – and if you “get” what I’m going to share with you by the end of this article – you’ll know the secret too 

Would you like to hear it?

I’m sure you would. But first let me explain something important. There are two different ways you can get up in the morning.

Strategy #1: In my personal opinion, this is the more difficult of the two. It’s like pulling teeth, but you would be surprised how many people still use it. I used it for 28 years because I didn’t know any better because I thought that was how everybody woke up!

Here’s how it goes. As soon as you hear your alarm or start to wake, you either press snooze or turn off your alarm. Then after what seems like an eternity you get this negative feeling in your gut… similar to a feeling you may have had in before when you were late (or almost late) for work. As this feeling starts to intensify, you begin to make pictures of being late for work – and worse – your boss yelling at you. Then when the feeling is strong enough, you scare yourself awake and jump out of bed.

That’s how most people wake up. This strategy works well because it is a moving away from strategy. When you move away from negative feelings you are waking up with this strategy. That’s what motivates a lot of people to get out of bed – that negative vibe.

But there is a much better way. The second strategy is my preference and one I’ve been using for the past 5 some years without missing a beat. Would you like to know it?

I thought you would.

Strategy #2: The second way to get out of bed is to by using positive feelings to wake up. It’s also known as a moving toward strategy. I’ll sit in my bed for a few minutes when I first wake up and think of something positive that feelings good to me. As I sit with that positive feeling for a few minutes I get positive new memories and images floating in my mind.

Sometimes the experience seems so real that I forget that I’m in bed. As these experiences get richer and more compelling I usually thrown in something that I would like to accomplish for that day (as it already being accomplished).

I do this for 15 minutes every day… and when I do, I jump right out of bed because I feel great. And here’s the best part: because I’m influencing the part of my brain that is unconscious, that great feeling – that great vibe carries with me throughout the day. It’s probably one of the best (if not the best) way to get out of bed.

Much better than scaring yourself out of bed.

Use this strategy for at least a month every day and I guarantee it will be the best month you have. This is forward thinking at it’s best. You’re moving towards a future event that inspires you and that’s why it’s so much fun.

Which strategy do you use? Do you have fun waking up early? Why not?

Source: Steve Martile, http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/why-waking-up-early-is-so-difficult/

Fire Up Your Life

Yippee! It’s Monday. I am dying to get started with this exciting week.

Do you utter these words while making your way out of the bed on Monday mornings? Do you jump out of bed every morning in the state of excitement?

If your answer to this is “ Yes” then let me tell you that you are already living a life full of passion.

But if you are like most of us who are sleepwalking through life your answer to this would be “No! I would prefer to stay in the state of slumber. My dream world is far more alluring than my real world.”

We all go through life dealing with mundane matters. There are times when we feel that there is something missing in life, that there is something more to life. We might even try to dismiss this feeling of inner void by saying “ How  could I be so greedy? My life is just fine. I should stop asking for more and be happy with what I have.” With this notion deeply rooted in our mind, we consider ourselves to be happy. But deep down our heart we are still craving for a life that is more joyous and more exciting.

Whether we realize it or not, this kind of superficial living is self –destructive. We are sabotaging our growth and falling prey to our circumstances. Our life is meant to be colorful and enthralling and passion is what makes our life fulfilling in the true sense. Everyone is capable of pursuing their passion. All we need is a little effort towards creating our dream life.

What is “Passion”?

The word passion has lost its charm and true meaning these days. We find people using this word when they are vaguely referring to a desire or hobby. Passion goes beyond the realms of wants and desires. We all wish for several things in our life. But are we really passionate about them? Are we ready to go out of our way to achieve them? We need to ponder over these questions to identify our passions and discern them from mere wants.

Why is passion so imperative in life?

A source of motivation

On windy days we often notice leaves tossing and turning around, acting according to the whims of the wind. The wind says “Go east”. The leaf goes east. The wind says “ Go west”. The leaf goes west. The wind says “ Stop”. The leaf stops flying. Without passion we are like this leaf. We might know where we want to go but our lack of motivation will easily derail us from our track. Our Passion transforms us into an arrow. The storm might knock the arrow off course but it would keep flying. Passion provides us motivation to keep moving whenever life tries to knock us down.

The secret of success

Have you ever noticed that most of the millionaires and successful entrepreneurs are high school drop outs.  Almost none of them finished college. What makes it possible for these people who might seem ordinary to have an extraordinary life? The answer is passion. Think of all great achievers and you will be struck by their passion. Mahatma Gandhi’s passion for human rights, Winston Churchill’s passion for freedom, Bill Gates’s passion for technology. All these successful people have proved the fact that “The only path leading to success is the path paved with passion.”

Now that you know why passion is so relevant in life, let us look into some ways to nurture passion in life.

Ways to rekindle passion in life:

Look within

“I just can’t find my passion” I often hear people say. In this world where we are tuned in, logged on or dialed in virtually non- stop, taking time to let ourselves contemplate is very rare. But quiet reflective time is all it takes to find our passion. Try taking a trip down memory lane. What was that one thing you could for hours and hours when you were a child? It gave you so much pleasure that you lost track of time. I discovered most of my passions by ruminating over the things I loved to do as a child.

Beware of the thief

Our passion is like a precious pearl we possess. There is a thief who goes around stealing our passions. This thief of passion is nothing but fear. Fear of change, fear of failure, fear of stepping out of our comfort zone. This fear is what deters most people from pursuing their passion. If you want to live a more fulfilling life then you have to let go of your fears. Never let your passion get stolen by your fears.

Shield your passion from naysayers

“ Have you gone crazy” “ Forget it you will never make it” This is what we get to hear when we decide to go off the beaten path to pursue our passion. Do not let these pessimistic people derail you from your path. Following the herd will not get you anywhere but following you heart will surely take you to your dreams. So shield yourself form the outer noise and just tune into your heart.

Align your passion with your profession

Your passion need not be restricted to your weekends. Many people have found ways to turn their passion into rewarding career. I recently read an article about a bus driver in Chicago who sings while he drives. Apart from attracting passengers his unique style of driving attracted even the media. When he was being interviewed on television, he said “Don’t call me a driver. I am a professional singer. My passion is singing not driving. I only drive to get a captive audience every single day”. Here is a person who has found a creative way to align his passion with his occupation. Like this “Singing driver” you too can find ways to align your job with your passion.

Mingle with passionate people

Ever noticed that person who always seems to have spring in his step and a spark in his eyes. Passionate people can easily be spotted in a flock of people. They have an aura of positivity and charm that draws other people to them. And what more their passion is contagious so that the people who interact with them also get infected with it. Whenever you feel that you have lost your fire get around these fire lighters. By spending time with passionate people you can’t help getting infected with their passion.

Keep your eyes wide open

Explore for new passions when you feel that the old ones have just faded away. Do not hesitate to experiment. You never know when   you would stumble upon a new one that can rekindle the joy in life. I personally believe in having a variety of passions in life. I feel each of my passions add a new color to my life thereby making it more colorful.

Source: Swati Ramnath, http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/fire-up-your-life/