Nothing, right?
Here’s a little story about how to Make Like a Duck and Let It Slide.
Story Starts:
Act I, Scene I
Our Lovely Heroine: Noooooooo! I can’t believe this just happened!
Onlookers (flash of deja-vu): What! What? Tell us!
Heroine (still looking rather lovely): For the last few days, every day I’ve had has had the potential to turn into a disaster. You know how all of last week I injured my right knee, ankle, toe, hip, wrist, and hand?
*audience gasps*
Glamorous Heroine (torn between continuing the current story or the injuries one): Well, I’d been craving a massage for months so yesterday, to treat my body after its rough week of knocks (clever!) I took myself off to this place I’d heard so much about.
I checked googlemaps, read directions on how to enter the building (tricky if you get to the wrong entrance) and left, figuring I’d get there 15 min early.
Woohoo!
It was 15 min past the scheduled hour when I finally climbed on that table.
Tired, hot, frustrated.
(I’ll spare you the drama of getting lost, walking in circles, muddled thinking…)
And I asked “Why is this happening to …” Oops, caught myself midway in that thought and focused on “It’s happened, now how do I want the rest of my experience to be?”.
Onlookers: That was quick, catching the thought mid-way!
H: Thanks! Continuing on: “What am I really mad about, what’s the real issue, here baby?”, I asked myself (I’m always nice to my inner tantrum thrower kid – she likes kindness).
Lack of value, was the answer. It wasn’t worth paying $90 for a 30 min massage! And to think I left home early, was going to be on ti.. oops, I did it again.
O (breathless): Wow, great 2nd catch H (notes to selves: great catch)!
H: I now had two choices:
- Whine and fret about it and ruin the rest of it – grrr that’s what I want!
Inner Voice: Really, that’s what you want? - Bring myself fully into the moment and enjoy what’s left of the time.
Inner Peace .. I mean voice: Oooh that sounds like good deliberate creation practice, okayyy I’ll play!
Easier said than done? For someone who’s always been conscious of what she spends and the value she gets… hmm, it was A Challenge.
To recap, the gap (I know, I can’t resist the cheeses ;):
- Where I was: I hate wasting money, I want value for my money, I can’t stop thinking about how stupid I was to have not remembered the cross street, I’ve been wanting this so long I can’t believe this is happening yada yada yada
- Where I wanted to be: I’m rich, I’m abundant. Yes, I’ve lost half my treatment time, but that’s ok. I’m going to enjoy the rest of the time I have left and it will be EVEN better than if I’d had an hour! Hey, it’s not a big deal, I’m human!
How did I close this gap? By acting as if I was already there. By saying, believing and imagining it.
I thought to myself, what would a millionaire do or think right now?
Now I’m quite sure my bank account still shows a few zeroes less but I was willing to play along; it was going to make me feel better, I surmised.
With some effort, I was able to put myself in soft, forgiving shoes and let it go with a “oh well, sometimes things just don’t happen the way we want, inspite of our best efforts”.
O: Ooooh we know what happened next! You enjoyed the massage and left feeling good!
H: Yes, but you know what’s been the BEST part of this all? Not that so much has been going “wrong” but that these incidents (including last week’s post) have showed me just HOW GOOD I’ve become at the follow-my-fun-and-feel-good game!
The fastest way to get there? Practice, practice, practice every moment you can! And thank all the icky things that happen in life for being your teachers, they love helping you learn.
Then prepare to be amazed by how your money/relationship/happy vibe rises and you start closing the gap from where you are to where you want to be.
(Emphasis): Listen up folks, the SOONER you let go of what’s not working (thoughts, beliefs, notions, pity parties, habits) the sooner you’ll get into alignment with what you want. Really, truly, verily.
End of Story or … The Beginning?
Brought to you by “That’s a F.A.C.T.O.I.D.” productions
Cast and Credits: You and Me
Music: http://blip.fm/~bni7i
*Applause*
Ps: I’d love to hear YOUR stories of how you made a conscious decision to let something flow off your back and turned your day around. Thanks in advance for sharing!
Oh oh oh, I know you wrote this post JUST FOR ME!
Thank you so much for the reminder of how to value the Ickies, I needed to read this at this very moment. I am in awe – and grinning like a loon because you frame it in such a hilarious way, thereby of course disarming my gremlins who are snoozing in heir nest somewhere.
Ah, magic 🙂
Janette, have I told you lately that I love you? I appreciate your comments and that you take the time to read and respond to my posts! Thank you for being such an amazing, important part of this blog. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!
Tia, This weekend I listened to a phone message from a friend, sighed loudly as I was feeling down about the content. My husband heard me and asked why the sigh, to which I replied, “It is up stream.” Later in the weekend my friend called again, I had misinterpreted her message. I would have been sad had I given energy to what I thought she had said! Point is that sometimes things are not what we first think they are, and even if they turn out to be exactly what we thought they were, they do not warrant our energy. It is great to make conscience choices about what we take to heart and what let roll off our backs like water off a duck. (Thank you for your post and its reminder to choose where I put my energy.)
That’s a very important point you make, Berta! Things aren’t always what they seem, it’s our perception that makes it so.
Isn’t it great to know that no matter what happens, we CAN choose to respond rather than react? What could be more empowering than being able to consciously choose how something affects us…
The more I practice this, the happier I get 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story!
Thanks for article. Everytime I like to read your blog.
Rufor