Imagining the life of our dreams

Debra Saum's cat Oscar in her tub! Her wonderful website is: http://www.debrasaum.com

A few days ago, I noticed that I was feeling a bit off. Then I had a dream that I was back in school and my sons were babies and I couldn’t get to them…..back in struggle. This is an old dream for me and a signal to look at my thinking. It wasn’t hard to see what I had been envisioning (about this new project that I had taken on). I’d been trying very hard to figure out how to do it. I was feeling somewhat alone and afraid that I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t staying true to the end result and seeing it done, I was mentally and emotionally in the frustration of, “How am I going to do this?” I was actually imagining it failing.

If I am not being totally honest with myself, or self-aware enough to notice what I am thinking during the day time, my dreams always show me. And when they are fought with negative feelings and scenes, I know that my thinking has slipped into an old track and my mind is entertaining negative images and scenarios. Equally true, when my dreams are  filled with wonderful, expansive, new and exciting or interesting scenes, even if I doubt my current path, I am reassured that I am heading in the right direction.

It is as if we are playing repetitive tapes in our minds constantly while we are awake, and get so used to these thoughts and images, they have become so much a part of us, that we don’t question or challenge them. Also, we don’t really think that they are that important, or believe that our thoughts really have much to do with our lives.

Emile Coue once said, “When the imagination and will power are in conflict, are antagonistic, it is always the imagination which wins, without any exception.” So I can want something, have a huge desire for a better life, but if I only imagine difficulty, struggle and lack, no matter how much I “want” something new, what I imagine will win out.

So how do we start playing new tapes?  How do we use imagination to create what we would like instead of what we dread or fear? First, we have to see (become aware of) what we are thinking and then start saying/thinking something new. I love the simple, yet powerful affirmation below. I’ve put it up here before but it is a wonder if used “properly”. If I’ve been thinking unhappy, negative thoughts hundreds of times a day, I won’t change if I start saying something new 3 or 4 times a day. Really give it a try. Write out an affirmation and put it in your pocket and say it, feel it, every hour or half hour, then notice what changes.

Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better. Emile Coue

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Imagining the life of our dreams

Debra Saum's cat Oscar in the tub! Her wonderful website is: http://www.debrasaum.com

A few days ago, I noticed that I was feeling a bit off. Then I had a dream that I was back in school and my sons were babies and I couldn’t get to them…..back in struggle. This is an old dream for me and a signal to look at my thinking. It wasn’t hard to see what I had been envisioning (about this new project that I had taken on). I’d been trying very hard to figure out how to do it. I was feeling somewhat alone and afraid that I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t staying true to the end result and seeing it done, I was mentally and emotionally in the frustration of, “How am I going to do this?” I was actually imagining it failing.

If I am not being totally honest with myself, or self-aware enough to notice what I am thinking during the day time, my dreams always show me. And when they are fought with negative feelings and scenes, I know that my thinking has slipped into an old track and my mind is entertaining negative images and scenarios. Equally true, when my dreams are  filled with wonderful, expansive, new and exciting or interesting scenes, even if I doubt my current path, I am reassured that I am heading in the right direction.

It is as if we are playing repetitive tapes in our minds constantly while we are awake, and get so used to these thoughts and images, they have become so much a part of us, that we don’t question or challenge them. Also, we don’t really think that they are that important, or believe that our thoughts really have much to do with our lives.

Emile Coue once said, “When the imagination and will power are in conflict, are antagonistic, it is always the imagination which wins, without any exception.” So I can want something, have a huge desire for a better life, but if I only imagine difficulty, struggle and lack, no matter how much I “want” something new, what I imagine will win out.

So how do we start playing new tapes?  How do we use imagination to create what we would like instead of what we dread or fear? First, we have to see (become aware of) what we are thinking and then start saying/thinking something new. I love the simple, yet powerful affirmation below. I’ve put it up here before but it is a wonder if used “properly”. If I’ve been thinking unhappy, negative thoughts hundreds of times a day, I won’t change if I start saying something new 3 or 4 times a day. Really give it a try. Write out an affirmation and put it in your pocket and say it, feel it, every hour or half hour, then notice what changes.

Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better. Emile Coue

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I guess I’ll (happily) wait my turn…next time!

Luke patiently watching Ben eat his dog food.

I was supposed to meet Jack at my office yesterday at 1pm. He and a friend were moving an air-conditioner downstairs and a small refrigerator upstairs for our new office space. I thought that I’d pop into the post office and mail out a package before I met him, and was happy to see only one person at the counter ahead of me.

I became less happy as the woman slowly pulled out 4 separate checks, with stamp orders to fill individually. She told Martha how many stamps that she wanted for each order (and these were not small numbers). After about 5 minutes, (which seems like long time in the post office), Martha finally organized the rolls and sheets for the various orders. Then the woman said, “Oh, not the rolls. I hate them. What do you have in sheets?” Martha said she would have to go out back and see what she had. The woman just nodded. The line behind me started to form and I started feeling anxious.

I didn’t catch my judgemental thoughts as they arose. I began thinking, “This is too long. She should be more considerate. People are waiting and have important places to go.” A man started clearing his throat. Someone else made a comment about the line. The woman did not move any faster, and she didn’t make eye-contact with anyone as she walked past the line when she was finished. I think that she could feel the negative energy coming her way. I left the post office 10 minutes later than I had planned to line up perfectly with Jack pulling into the parking lot. Nothing was wrong, I wasn’t late.

I wish that I had caught those crappy thoughts before I sent them flying out, maybe making someone (besides myself!) feel bad. I drove back home to feed the cats their lunch, and walked into the kitchen to see Ben (one of our cats) eating Luke’s dog food and Luke just waiting. What was a beautiful site! What a contrast to my own behaviour (if only in thought). Luke was not thinking, “Hey, this is unfair! That is my food, or you are taking too long!  What do you think you are doing? Cats should not eat dog food, this is an outrage. I am going to speak to the management!” None of that.

Sometimes I make up “rules” in my head, and feel irritated if others don’t follow them. I didn’t realize it, but I must have had a 5 minute post office rule. I guess it would go like this, “If you have more than 5 minutes worth of business at the post office, please split your visits into appropriate increments so the rest of us (i.e. me) will not be inconvenienced.” I heard a comedian say once, “Don’t you know who I think I am?!”

But I know who I am. I am a “work in progress”…walking, sometimes tripping, sometimes even falling down, but always getting back up, with a little more conviction to take the higher road next time. I still need to remind myself everyday to say,

“Everyday in every way, I am getting better and better!” Emile Coue

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Can it really be that simple?

I was reading about Emile Coue (a french psychologist who practiced around the turn of the century) last week. He was originally a pharmacist and noticed that when he handed out medicine, and said positive things about the drug to the patient, that they would get better faster.  He said things like, “Well, here’s something new from Paris that has just arrived. They say it’s powerful and I’m sure it will help you. Take it and it will do you good”,  and people would come back healed. This was in the late 1800′s. He realized the immense power of the mind to heal and spent the rest of his life helping people by teaching them how to “change their minds.” What really caught my attention was the affirmation that he had people say to themselves every morning and every night:

Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.

Is it possible that something so simple and easy to do (and free ) can profoundly change our lives? Does it have to be complicated, expensive, time-consuming or difficult to be effective? Is it possible that we have all of the power that we need within our own “minds”?   I have been saying this affirmation for the last week, especially at night, when I wake up. I sort of sing it to myself because it is also close to a line in one of my favorite songs by John Lennon, Beautiful Boy, (the line in the song goes; “…every day in every way it’s getting better and better….”).

So to all of you “beautiful boys and girls” reading this…here is the song (hoping it uploaded) …maybe give the affirmation a try and let me know how you are getting better and better I’ll keep you posted on me too!

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