Only a strong tree can stand alone...Arnold Glasow
"Yes, like a strong tree with deep roots, I remember that I am a resilient human being. I wake up to ideas of powerlessness & choose to activate my resilient bank account". ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
Related Words & Mind States - helpless, impotent, inactive, inert, passive, supine; decrepit, feeble, infirm, weak, incapable, incompetent, ineffective, unfit
Just sitting here & reading the related words to powerlessness depletes me. It's so easy to notice how powerful language can be & especially when coupled with past experiences & negative suggestions from others. It certainly isn't difficult to become self-paralyzed.
I turn on the television & see the such difficult images coming out of areas devastated by the horrific storms in India. Then I notice those individuals that are showing strength & conviction...some praying, others just waiting patiently, trusting that help will come. As difficult as it is to look at these images, they are truly empowering....I'm reminded that we get our muscle from beliefs that reside inside our selves, as well as from beliefs that reside inside others.
I read my email messages & find them filled with people feeling powerless about this, that or the other. My patient schedule for tomorrow reports the same. I look at my desk, wondering if the projects sitting there will ever be completed. What about the holidays this year. Will they be as difficult as last year? My own brand of powerless- thinking. How easy it is to be lost in this quagmire. Yes, it helps to remind myself that my life is good today. I could be spending the day standing in the heat, waiting for a bottle of water, praying for rice.
This kind of awareness works, but just for the moment.
I need something much more to nibble away at this old automatic pilot thought pattern. I take some time just for me even though my desk looms large in front of me. I've been around long enough to know how deadly powerlessness can be & so I must give the time to the priority of the moment, even though my child-self wants to do other things. Do we have any chocolate ice cream? When do we get to go home? Can we have pizza for dinner? I'll feel better if I take a nap. Can I read that catalog & order something? I don't want to go to school tonight. Perhaps just one cup of coffee?
It's not uncommon to be visited by the addictions or other stress-release mechanisms, most of which are not healthy. But when I notice their arrival, I'm even more certain that it is time to relax deeply & touch base with my inner strengths or core-Self. True, I don't live in the devastated areas, but my mind & body are responding in a sympathetic dance to the images. I can feel my own paralysis, much of which is connected to memories of when I was in very difficult situations that I perceived as helpless & hopeless.
It's no accident that I was remembering an entire decade that I lost to a chronic illness. The images were so vivid AS IF it were happening right now. I was reliving the fear of dying along with the exhaustion of living, just as if I was clinging onto anything that appeared stable. This is how the mind works & this is why it is so very important to wake-up to what's going on & to set things in better order.
One might say that it's normal to react like this. After all, these are terrible tragedies. However, I know it is better to to handle my emotions in a way that releases negative stress chemicals, for there is nothing positive about that. Then, I'm free to move into a position of strength & compassion....set for action.
We all have areas of strength located in the library of our mind. These areas were constructed right from the beginning....birth. If you have ever been witness to an actual birth, I'm sure you would agree that the infant shows incredible power & tenacity as she/he moves through the birth canal. This definitely isn't for wimps! Each & every day the infant becomes more & more resilient, surmounting all sorts of challenges from day one.
It's a good idea to think about your own resilience bank account, paying attention to all of the times you survived your experiences. Of course, all of them weren't huge like my decade long illness or being left without water or food for days on end, but they are survivals never the less & you do have a resilience bank account. This is your equity when powerlessness comes knocking at the door.
As I visit this area in my mind, I physically tune into the accumulated resilience, allowing it to enter my being. In the practice of hypnosis it is very important to foster positive, chemical changes in the body. On occasion, we may foster negative chemical changes, but only for very special reasons & never for a long period of time. For example, I can visit an experience when I made myself sick from over-eating chocolate. I may decide to visit or sense the nausea, just to wake myself up to what will happen if I do the same thing again.
Yes, this is a form of resilience & I'm sure you all have similar memories that you could choose to visit. However, stick to your positive survival power & save the negatives for when you need a shot of motivation that only that negative can provide.
Once you feel your inner strength or resilience, take it back into the moment or future-pace it. It's like a postage stamp. You can take it & place it wherever you might need it. Truly sense it in those moments. This is what people do when faced with tremendous tragedy or difficulty. They go & round up their beliefs & resilience. The affirmations go like this. As you repeat these, truly feel them entering your mind, as well as your body.....I AM. I CAN. I WILL. I DID. I AM.
FROM THE AUTHOR
The holidays can often bring out emotions that are extremely difficult, especially because they are often connected to child experiences & lost dreams. As we learn to transmute or change the more toxic emotions or patterns, the mind opens, offering all sorts of gifts....selfGIFTS. Today I'm going to offer you a sample mp3 from my collection. It's called Affirmations for Enhancing Resilience. It will help you to plant programs to help manage depression & other emotional imbalances, as well as to open your store of creativity & prosperity. I hope you enjoy it. The full program is available on my websites.
