PAO and the Delusionist’s Mantra
After the cleansing rain, comes the rainbow of clarity.
It’s amazing. How we, from the moment we open our eyes in the morning, worry ourselves. To death. In our minds, we create, imagine troubles, situations, scenarios, that have not ever and most times never occur. We imagine confrontations, failures, slights, embarrassments, being laughed at, talked about, deserted, betrayed. All in our mind.
We have been brain stuffed with so much dirt, clutter, that we can’t see anything, opportunity, reality. You can’t think clearly. Your brain needs to be cleaned, flushed, washed, reformatted, rebooted.
Brain Washing is good. It clears all the prejudices, the misconceptions, the assumptions, the fears out.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN
It is inevitable. One day back at your job, or with a negative partner or family member, or faced with some adversity, and all your hopes, dreams, plans, they will all go up in smoke!
All that talk about embracing trouble/problems will shrivel up like a male member in cold water.
Was it all just BS, just words, just whistling past the graveyard of reality?? Huh? What the hell happened?!?
This is that predictable (inevitable) time in every growth/change/discovery/breakthrough where boredom, fear, negativity, fatigue, (D)evil, doubt, comes in and puts its hands on your shoulder and sits there like an anvil, whispering, no nagging at you all day until you finally say “No Mas! , No Mas!”
And you go back to doing (thinking) the same things that got you in this current situation (mess). And you (they) tell yourself “It’s not that bad, AT LEAST I’ve got (fill in the blanks- a job, a home, my health, a nice car, etc) or “AT LEAST I’m not (fill in blank- some poor son of a bitch)”.
The problem is we get so weary of fighting just to make it through each day that we just say “No Mas, No Mas” . And lower the bar, pack away our dreams, and start preparing for the end. Then we utter the DELUSIONISTS’ MANTRA ,”At least… At least… “. “At least I can go on a nice vacation every year”, “At least I was able to send my kids to college”, “At least I have health insurance”, “At least I’m healthy”.
AT LEAST. Think about those words when you say them. What you are telling yourself is, “I don’t think I’ll get what I really want, so I will focus on what I have or what I think I will have to settle for”.
Now, there is nothing wrong with being grateful for what you have. In fact, I think being aware of and grateful for your blessings is healthy and wise. I have a problem with the AT LEASTERS because they are not really grateful for their blessings. What the AT LEASTERS are is scared. They are scared of trying something new, they are scared of going after their dreams, they are scared off being laughed at and talked about, they are scared of struggling, they are scared of not being tough enough or smart enough. The AT LEASTERS are chickens.
It’s okay to be cautious, to be deliberate, to take baby steps, to have some kind of backup plan. The problem occurs when the backup plan becomes the permanent plan, the life plan, and you look around and five, 10, 20, 30, 50 years have gone by and you are still in the backup plan. You are still waiting to see if the coast is clear so you can chase your dream again. You say to yourself “As soon as I get everything in order and everything is prepared, I’m leaving this backup plan and going to go for it!” Of course, after all this time working in the backup plan, it’s a lot harder to go after your dream. You are rusty , you are older, you have got more obligations, you are in a comfortable rut. ‘Maybe, in a couple of years, when the house is paid off, the kids are out of school, the….’
So, how do you fight that inevitable urge to lay back down on the nail (bed of nails)? Because, although it is painful, and uncomfortable, and is slowly but surely killing you, you are still laying down, aren’t you?
(1)Stop minimizing your mind your thoughts, your feelings.
If you don’t respect and value your own thoughts and feelings, why would you expect anyone else to??
(2)You have to start UN-BORING yourself.
How?
By embracing the uncomfortable.
Read The Power of PAO in its entirety here:
Amazon.com
Google Books
Smashwords.com
Scribd.com
Buy in Print at Wordclay.com