The house is quiet, it seems to be deep breathing

Or perhaps that is just me

Listening to the odd tick of the iron releasing pressure on the roof

I glance to my dog and even though his eyes are shut, he feels my attention and bounces his tail

Energy moves, a ghostly handprint on our hearts, minds. Sensitivity allows us to feel the palpable, even when it is invisible

Sensitivity develops with exertion, physically draining extraneous feeling until only the real remains

Does this make sense? Well to me it does

So much of who we are and what we experience is chemical, hormonal. Our moods determined even by the bacteria in our gut that outnumbers our own cells 1000s to one

Who we have become in this moment, the sum of all our past days, outcomes, history, teachings, learnings

Filtered through the eye of a needle into our ever absorbent mind

We can become blind to actual reality

It takes a great deal of awareness to sweep that gigantic mental sandbank away

To begin again

Over and over commencing afresh like a spiderweb spun overnight, allowing only the things attached to this day to become ensnared in our intellect

Then breaking the web, each night, and weaving a new pattern

To catch the morning dew, sparkling, as our feet run through

Day after day

Who we become does not matter, only that we become, continually

Evolution is the revolution through which we become who we are, only to break that mould and escape into the next level of being

Lose attachment to anything that traps you in this current mode of living

Strip to the essentials and repack as many times as required

No one forces you to remain stagnant and still, hopelessly entwined in your own fragile identity

Except some idea you have about yourself

Loosen the knots

Change the idea – dream a new dream – and just like that – boom!

A new human is born in your bones

And the bones last long after we die – so why place so much trust in the mind?

Get quiet in the bones

Then move them, often

*I’m changeable. Always have been. I don’t think I have ever woken up with the same idea in my head twice. I love creating and the same energy I pour into a drawing, a cake or a poem is constantly wafting around my body as I run, cycle, swim, stretch – changing it.

Inward, outward. We are extensions of the universe, we are the universe – at play.

I once heard of a system that I have applied to my mindset ever since which goes like this

Circumstance – thoughts – feeling – action – results

Meaning the way that we deal with a circumstance is determined in that order. You can’t change the circumstance – it simply is. But everything after the first line can be changed. If you want a certain outcome work backwards to where you can see the sort of thoughts you need to have in order to change the feeling, change the action, change the outcome.

What we choose to think, changes what we feel and so on.

This is a light summary – people have written entire books on mindset but perhaps you get my drift.

It works wonders, and I use this step by step often. Actually writing each line down and working on it – I can indeed change my thoughts,feelings and ultimately the outcome of a situation. It’s magic. But the best kind – the applicable, doable kind.

Then I came across a new method. Because there are times when we feel ambivalent. Demotivated. Between thoughts and over everything in general. Apathetic. Lacking energy and direction.

So scratch out all of the above jargon and just take one word. Action.

Actually don’t take the word – take the meaning of the word and Do.

Don’t be.

Do.

Move.

Knock and the door will be opened. That’s from the Bible. Don’t sit at the foot of the door and lean on it waiting quietly. For what? Knock – ask – believe – receive.

Take your turn. That’s from Seth Godwin. We all have a turn, don’t sit on the sidelines wondering about what you want. Wondering when it might be your turn to get fit, get healthy, change your job, take that adventure, see the world. Whatever you want, go get it, take your turn. your time is now – this is your turn – take it. So often we seem to be almost asking permission, or waiting for it. Permission is not necessary, you can be whatever you want. Stop waiting.

Take the action, you know which one it has to be and if you don’t, take the step and another and eventually you’ll know, because that is how the path becomes clear. Not sitting at the kitchen table twiddling your thumbs and pondering, but by actually walking out into the reality of life and beginning to make decisions. Take the action, do it again, over and over until it becomes a habit to move. Inertia is real. It will suck you up and drag you down and make you stall.

Being still and being stalled are two different things – one is a choice and the other is a result from not choosing.

I add the following story, not to reveal something about myself so much as to show that this process works.

At the beginning of the year I made a decision to be fit and healthy and balanced.

I didn’t think about what that might look like or how I might go about it. I put no thought into it at all. At this stage of my life, and having been there before I know that to get to where I want to be physically, I simply have to get uncomfortable and work.

Everyday I move. I cycle, I run, I swim, I stretch. My body is changing and still I don’t stop to think. Because if I do, then thinking turns to feeling and if I begin to go on how I feel then – I may just be lying to myself. Doing is honest – it may hurt but it always tell the truth – just do.

This has been revelatory for me as a person who thinks deeply about all sorts of things to the point of stalling. This one thing, this thing that is extremely important to me as I head for the doorway into the second half of my life in July, I don’t think about. I just do.

Because thinking wrecks things. It can be just as demotivating as it can be inspiring. You have to train yourself not to think or feel if you want to get to an outcome otherwise you are going to wind up in bed on a Sunday morning somewhere along the way, saying to yourself “I don’t feel like…” which leads to a cluster of thoughts along the lines of “I’ve been good, I deserve a break, blah blah”

Stall.

I highly recommend action as a way to begin and carry forward that thing that you want to do or become. Ask only “what is my outcome?” And then choose your action. Repeat the action until the outcome arrives – yes, it really is that simple.

I have read so many inspirational books that in the end over complicate the process. Or perhaps I had to read them in order to distill this wisdom for myself. Don’t wait to feel good. Don’t wait to be motivated. Just act. Continue acting and everything will unfold in time.

“In the fullness of time Humphrey” that’s from Yes Prime Minister. And the time will pass anyway – so why not fill it with actions that are constantly progressing toward a version of yourself that will high five you when you arrive. A gift to your future self, instead of a burden of ill health and disease. Be kind to your future self and it will repay you in kind. This is the magic that you create in the present. A future that you can look forward to instead of dreading.

The thought for the day is not to think it – just to do. Whatever will be best for the version of you that will meet you six months from now. She/he is waiting, what are you taking forth to greet her/him?

Stalling can kill you, just ask any pilot. For me, thinking is my stall. Now when I sense I’m thinking too much about something that I need to do, I picture that light plane, adrift in the blue expanse of the sky, engine stalled, one second, two second, three second – just move already!

Mel Robbins five second rule – Google it. So simple, so clear. Count backwards from five and then do. Her method has changed millions of lives and is now being used with great results in severely depressed people. There is a magic to dodging the brain and just moving.

The 5 Second Rule is simple. If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it.

Mel Robbins

*Note – as you can tell from my opening poem, I didn’t intend this to be one of those cheesy motivational riffs – it just turned out that way – but maybe I needed to hear it today, so I may as well share it now it’s written in case someone else needs to hear it too. 😊💕

Which reminds me – I have things to do, and am now writing (read, thinking) too much, so.

Five

Four