HI HELLO I LOVE YOU!!
(Warning. This is going to be a more Philosophical post).
How are you!? How has the beginnig of the Year have been looking for You?!
I must confess. It hasn’t been looking very great for me.
I have taken a few missteps, a few bad decisions and I spiralled into stress and over-thinking once again. It really felt like my feet had been swept off the ground.
The thing is... this feeling is alright when something is happening here and now, and you can actually do something about it... the worst is... when you have to postpone it, indefinitely, and be alright with that weight hanging over you. How can one make peace with that? Specially if one sees it as a threat?
Well, I love getting humbled and tested as a Human and Hypnotherapist. So, if anything, I have come to share what I have learned from my experience...
Let’s start from the very beginning...
In October last year I bought a ticket to Paris. Saturday the 11th of January I would leave at 4 in the morning to catch a 6 am train to the city. I would sleep over at a friendly family’s house - who I met three months ago in a St. Pancras station KFC - and I would return home on Sunday with my 10 am train ticket.
It all seems dreamy, doesn’t it?
Who would have told me I would be going on a Express Holiday when I was going through - what seemed then - a full-on Life Crisis?
I could have never, EVER, expected what has happened to happen (sorry, I really cannot disclose much more of it now, but it really put me into Fight or Flight mode, hardcore).
Going on a holiday, wake up extra early, walk through all Paris, humble myself with my broken French, make friends and smile, in a state like this?
You must be kidding me...
Well, that’s exactly what I did. 😁
And I am sure a lot of people go through a similar experience when they lose... their job, their partner, their savings, their house, their parents... we must all keep Living and smiling despite how we feel inside.
With the exception that I took two things with me... Two books, that somehow, with divine timing, I picked up from my little pile of books to help me cope with what I had been experiencing...
The posts
I have a personal Instagram account, which is quite unfiltered, in which I sometimes post about what I am currently reading or learning... and I decided to post what I had learned from this experience here... About:
The Mentality to have when we're Fearful/Doubtful.
How to respond to Reality when we are Fearful/Doubtful.
I downloaded the pictures... so you can read yourself, and follow the thread...







If you're interested in those two books, they are
The Alchemist - by Paulo Coelho
Constructive Living - by David K. Reynolds
Conclusion. What I have learned...
On Living when things feel unclear and we're fearful
When facing Fear of the Unknown, or Fear of losing something, this is what should come to mind:
We are afraid of what we have, wehether it's our Life or our posessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our Life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand. - The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
And still, we want to guess the Future, know if we put time and effort somewhere, that it is going to pay off... or for instance, avoid certain things and circumstances to prevent heart-break... But what The Alchemist teaches us is...
If you pay attention to the Present, you can improve upon it. - The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho.
And then... we may ask... alright, but HOW DO I DO THIS?
This is what Constructive Living teaches us:
Constructive Living invites us to look cooly at our circumstances and respond by fitting ourselves as part of reality to the situation reality present to us (as much as) it invites us to see the moral elements in reality's presentation to us and in our responses to it - Constructive Living, Daniel K. Reynolds.
Constructive Living gives us guidance on how Reality pulls or requests an answer from us while also gives guidance to how we should bring our response out into Reality.
ACTION & MORALITY
This is how we should interact and respond to the Present.
However, to do that, to be able to respond to Reality well and also respond morally to it
WE MUST LEARN HOW TO BE IN THE PRESENT
and one cannot do that in a state of Fight or Flight.
And no, Hypnotherapy, meditation, breathing isn't always the answer to everything.
Paris has somehow saved me there...
On Distancing ourselves from the source of pain and gaining perspective.
Sometimes we need to distance ourselves from the source of pain or stress.
Sometimes we need time to know what our next move is going to be, what we want our reactions to be, how we actually want to confront a situation, process what has just happened, how we want to view it, if there’s any other way to view it and respond accordingly.
However, we must bear in mind this is only a band-aid. Getting away from the pain should only act as a short-term de-stressor to find enough strength, perspective, Love... whatever is needed in the situation... to confront it the best way we can once we come back to face what we've been avoiding.
As I come to understand, sometimes it is good to flee. (Please, do not take this advice to disappear from your house one day and not letting anyone know of where you’re headed.)
What I mean is that sometimes, distancing ourselves from the source of pain, the stressor... is good, even necessary... to gain perspective on the matter, and learn, from a safe distance, how to better confront it next time we decide to come in contact with it.
By creating space, we allow ourselves to look at it differently, and come up with better answers, actions, behaviours & attitudes.
Key takeaways:
Nothing is as horrible as it looks like right now, everything is find-outable.
Distract yourself (morally) for a bit if you need to begin looking at things differently and face the Present.
When ready, go, take action, do what needs to get done.
Sending you much love,
Teresa J.💕
Comments