"Why does a dog wag its tail?
Because a dog is smarter than its tail.
If the tail were smarter,
the tail would wag the dog."
-- From the movie, Wag the Dog
My Life Lessons
This is a series of revelations about my life that I am sharing with others for what it may be worth. These come from a lifetime of study and experience of others and myself, and I now translate them to words. These will be numbered; however, they are not in order of importance as all are equally important. It is just a way for me to keep track of them in this series. I hope you find value in them.
Life Lesson #4
I create my emotions with my thoughts, not the other way around.
Albert K Strong wisely said, "Our emotions don't tell us what to think. Our emotions tell us what we are thinking." I have dealt with some powerful emotions over the years--even to the point that some would call depression.
Mostly my clear memory of those times tells me I was mainly feeling sorry for myself and hoping others would join me. It was clear to me that my emotions were ruling my life. This is as the quote above where the tail is wagging the dog. There was a lot of dog wagging going on in my life for a long time. And, to make it more normal, everyone I knew around me was experiencing similar things. We attract people that way.
I learned a lot about the power of emotions and about what they mean in my studies in the last ten years. Once I accepted the premise that my emotions were an indicator of where my thinking was and that if I were to change my thinking, my emotion would change, everything began to change for me.
Three books and a seminar with time separation between was all I needed to be changed in this. The seminar was an Anthony Robbins weekend event that began with a Friday evening walking on hot coals action. The rest of the weekend was equally powerful. The books are Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, Love Is Letting Go Of Fear by Gerald Jampolsky, and The Astonishing Power Of Emotions by Esther and Jerry Hicks. One of these is powerful enough, but all three left no doubt whatsoever.
Everything we do, we do because we think we will feel better. Often, we make a choice that doesn't match that idea and we don't feel very good. That is an indication of needing a different choice. The goal is always to feel good, or joy. One of my favorite books is so appropriate in its title: Joy Is My Compass by Alan Cohen. It is my compass now. And, I have so much joy every single day and I keep wanting even more.
If I find myself thinking something that feels fearful, worrisome, or otherwise attached to an emotion that doesn't feel good, I now know to choose a better feeling thought right away and stay on that track. Sometimes, I find myself going back and forth a lot in a short time, and most of that is old tapes and habit, but I know full well that I am in charge of my tail, not the other way around. With that attitude, feeling poorly hasn't got a chance.
All I need to ever do is choose a better feeling thought, and then a better feeling thought and a better feeling thought. I can't normally go from depression to joy in one step, so I just keep choosing better feeling thoughts and then I feel better, and better, and better.
Here's how Abraham via Esther Hicks says it best: "No matter what the issue is, don't try to justify why to don't feel good. And don't try to justify why you should feel differently. Don't try to blame whatever it is you think the reason is that's keeping you from feeling good. All of that is wasted effort. Just try to feel better right now."
I Am In Charge Of My Tail. When It Is Wagging, I Am On The Right Track.
Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing better feeling thoughts throughout the day.
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