"This is my depressed stance. When you're depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you'll start to feel better. If you're going to get any joy out of being depressed, you've got to stand like this."
-- Charlie Brown
Charlie is absolutely right and it is absolutely true what he says here. Anthony Robbins taught me this many years ago. What he taught me was essentially this: if you're depressed, you're getting something out of that--a payoff. Like Charlie Brown said, ". . .if you're going to get any joy out of being depressed, you've got to. . ." It sounds like an oxymoron, but people really do get joy out of being depressed. I know it for a fact because I used to experience that. It actually felt good to me, and it justified other things like drinking, smoking, hiding, and more. There is a payoff.
The other thing I learned from Tony was that changing your mind is sometimes very difficult. Once you're depressed and you're getting joy from it, to change your thinking is hard, but there is another way out: physical change. You could call it the tail wagging the dog I suppose, but it works like magic. As Charlie says, "When you're depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. . . you've got to stand like this." And Tony taught me that one of the fastest ways to change your mind is to change your stance--your bodily position and attitude. So, like Charlie says, "The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you'll start to feel better." That is the perfect thing to do and it works perfectly. It is impossible to feel depressed and straighten up and hold your head high, just as it is most difficult to feel real joy in a depressed stance.
Body language is real and it speaks to others what we are thinking, or at least what our overall attitude is. In this case it is reflective. It can also be a controller, so in that respect, we just change our bodily position--our body language--and wallah! we change our thinking automatically. This is why physical exercise is so valuable to the health of the body and the mind. You could have some depressed thoughts when you're exercising, but they wouldn't have any power until you took the depressed position and stopped exercising.
Very interesting stuff and also so very true.
Moping And Hoping Require Different Body Positions.
Spread Some Joy Today--Try it. Next time you're feeling down, change your body position. Stand up and hold your head high and you'll see the instant change. Help someone else understand this too. You might change a life!
No comments:
Post a Comment