Soul Eclipse

The average person has no idea of how they are going to feel when they wake up tomorrow morning; they generally have no control of how they are going to feel. Most days, they feel like a ping-pong ball. It happens when they crawl out of bed – expecting to be bounced around from one thing to another, this way, that way, up and down from pillar to post in a continuous bombardment of unexpected experiences.Some days you try to take some kind of control of your life, you set goals sometimes, you try to do a bit of meditation and relaxation exercises and maybe even try a few affirmations. You read articles on self-help, you buy books, CD’s the amount of time spent reading and listening is, oh, so much!

But in all honesty, are you really getting the results you want? Consistently, each day, every day, week in, week out, every year?

Or are you still bouncing around?

Would you like more control over how you feel when you get up tomorrow morning, and the next day and the next? Then read on and pay careful attention to what I am going to say.

It’s going to be quite simple actually, but because your mind is trained to think that it’s all too complicated, it’s going to try and reject it, you mind will have you believe that there is no way to change, in fact it will try and deceive you into remaining the way you are. Why? Well it’s basically just the way our minds have been trained to work. Let’s not hover around the “why” so much, and have a look at what is actually happening.

You Are In Trance!

Yep, you heard correctly, a trance – more specifically a constant shifting series of trances. Actually, you are in a trance most of the time, every minute of the day you are constantly flowing in and out of trance states. Sounds crazy doesn’t it, difficult to believe? I told you your brain would try and reject it.

Somebody says something nice to you, immediately you begin to feel good, on the other hand, if someone reprimands you or speaks to in a negative way, you start feeling depressed, discouraged or angry. You’ll remain in that particular mood (trance) for a while, until something else happens that impacts you enough to shift you into a different trance.

Each of these shifts is a mental state that is induced externally.

Now please pay close attention here, each of these moods is a trance, understanding the significance of this is going to be  more useful than you may realize.

FACT #1: Every mood, every mental state is a distinct, individual and identifiable trance. It can be brought about with specific cues and or prompts.
FACT #2: Some moods (trances) are more useful to you than others are.
FACT #3: Once you are able to identify which prompts and cues trigger which mood (trance), you have the means to select which mental state you will spend most of your time in.

What does this all mean?

A. Although others often control our trances (sometimes deliberately, but most of the time unwittingly), all we need is the correct information to exercise control for ourselves.
B. We COULD consciously be choosing our own moods (trances) most of the time.

I know this may sound strange, most people would say that. They reject the idea because it sounds too simple, odd or silly. I’m sure you’ve read the books, listened to the CD’s watched the videos, but I bet you’ve never taken full advantage of this simple, yet, very effective process.

From Control to Non Control and Back in 10 Minutes

I remember a book I had read about an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Practioner) who asked one of his listeners to come on to the stage. He asked him to repeat the following statements 10 times “I am weak, I am a loser, I am a failure, I can do nothing right, nobody likes me”!

He then asked him to hold out his left arm, and with a gentle downward push from the speaker, the arm fell down to his side.

Once gain he was asked to repeat the following statements 10 times over, “I am strong and victorious, I am successful, I am able to do anything, I am strong, people love me, I am happy and fulfilled”!

Again with his left arm held out, it was almost impossible for the speaker to push his arm down to his side. Even though in both instances the volunteer had repeated these statements over and over and didn’t even believe in them, they had an effect on whether his arm could be pushed down to his side or not.

I recall a friend of mine at work, who after being asked repeatedly by several people if she was feeling OK, because she looked a little pale. Asked her supervisor if she could go home as she wasn’t feeling very well. The next morning she explained that she suddenly felt ill after she was repeatedly told that she looked pale. She was adamant that there was nothing wrong with her and woke up in the morning looking forward to the day ahead,

Please note, in both scenarios none of the statements were believed by either people, yet the results could be seen and felt.

How many times do I hear people claim, “…I can’t use affirmations because I always feel like I’m lying to myself” Well, it doesn’t matter whether you feel like you’re lying or not. You might have the same feeling of “I’m lying”, if that is true, relax, even if it is a lie, it’s only untrue to your conscious mind.

Conscious Vs Subconscious

The thing here is, you’re not talking to your conscious mind, but rather your subconscious, you are actually issuing commands to be picked up and implemented in the inner self.

Have you ever gone out with friends to a restaurant only to hear them say something like, “I’m having a waffle and a milkshake.” So being the literal person you are do you correct them? Do you say, “No you’re not; there’s no food in front of you yet: you’re obviously lying“? Of course you wouldn’t, you know that they are talking about expectations, something that they are going to receive in the near future.

Isn’t it ironic how we can cheat on our tax forms, drive over the speed limit. Tell people that I am five years younger than my real age, or that I am 10kg lighter than my real weight or we Say to our spouse, “No – You look great in those oversized pants they don’t look too big on you at all”.

We say and do these things on a regular basis without any hint of guilt, but when it comes to telling ourselves that we are successful, healthy, wealthy and happy- Then suddenly we become strict moralists; we can’t lie.

The prolific American novelist and short story writer, Jack London, once stated that “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club”.

This was a statement about what it takes to be a professional.

A professional writer doesn’t just sit down hoping and waiting for inspiration. No, a writer begins to proactively write. The result is the production of a number of dependable and predictable words. The writer does this now; today and every day, producing dependable quality on a dependable schedule. Amazingly enough, the same characteristics that make a good professional writer (dependability, focussed with proactive effort) are found in all successes. This is what London called “Going after inspiration (results) with a club”.

What an amazing statement, it conjures up such a powerful image in the mind.

A little brutal maybe? Maybe, but definitely forceful. It doesn’t let little inconsequential things get in the way of survival. It is proactive, dynamic and deliberate rather than passive. It is purposed, determined and orientated towards producing results. I said PRODUCING results, not just falling aimlessly into them.

If this is true about making some writing happen, then it is even more so for keeping your thoughts and moods on track.

Ok, let’s return to the idea that your every mood is a distinct trance, and that each has its own set of triggers and cues which you can learn to use.

Finding Your Control Buttons

Imagine if you will, identifying one or two of your habitual mental states and being able to take conscious control of them, wouldn’t that start making your life easier?

Let’s say that you could learn how to switch ON your feelings of enthusiasm anywhere at any time you wanted to? Or be able to switch OFF your feelings of discouragement at will?

It’s actually so easy, yet we have the habit of just allowing ourselves to get sucked into the swamp of despondency and discouragement, so much so, that we have no strength or energy to defend our mental state. What I’m saying is we don’t train ourselves to take control and choose our own mood (trance). There are many effective and fun ways of doing this. NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) has a great number of fun ways to train your mind to go into the path you want.

Another is EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques).

If you aren’t familiar with any of these, do a Google search. You’ll find tons of valuable information on them, as well as many others. If you are familiar with them, but are not using them, then maybe it’s time to start practicing them. You certainly have the means to take back control of all aspects of your life. So DO IT!

Anyway I don’t want to continue with reviewing the techniques. You have a head full of facts and methodologies. What you really need now is to jump past all the “Learn more, and more about it” and get stuck into the doing area. Most folk get STUCK in the learning and research area and don’t move on to the DOING area!

Action Step One

Identify two of your most common or frequent moods (or trances); a positive mood that makes you feel more effective and encouraged, and a negative one that tends to make you feel less effective or encouraged.

Now, jot these two moods or mental states down.

You may write:
Enthusiasm versus discouragement
Love versus hate
Happiness versus loneliness
Confidence versus helplessness

So, just write down your two mental states.

Action Step Two

Under each of these two items, list some things that can push you straight into that mental state or trance.

For confidence, you might list praise from your boss and friends. It could be remembering past successes, or thinking about positive things that you would expect from performing well.

Just list the things, that you feel would have the power to change you to that mental state.

For the opposite trance – helplessness – you might list things like criticism from family, friends or your spouse, it might have been a time when everyone laughed at you in school, or you have images of failure and disappointment.

Only you know what cues and stimuli have the power to change your mental state, you go through it all the time, so just write them down.

Action Step Three

Now, start using the cues and triggers for your positive state more often. Use them consciously, deliberately and purposefully to build a habit of being able to go directly to the mental state that will help you live life more effectively.

Likewise, when you experience and recognize some negative stimuli, you can counter them with the positive thoughts and images.

If you practice this at your leisure, when there is no pressure. You will begin to form a new mental skill. You will be more aware of your mental state from moment to moment throughout the day. When something starts moving you away from your desired state into a mood you don’t want, you’ll be ready and able to deal with it. You’ll have mastered the ability to take back control.

It won’t be long before you’ll be wondering why you ever allowed yourself to be knocked around like a “ping pong” ball for so long.

Having your mind bombarded and stampeded indiscriminately by random external influences will not happen. Rather, you will be able to control your own mind and mental state, simply by selecting the stimuli or trigger that you find dispels the invading outside influences.

All it requires is:

First, be aware of what is happening
Second, identify the triggers and
Third, practice, practice, practice taking control of the triggers.

And that’s basically that, now go and get your pen and paper and start making you list.