Tag: change

The futility of wondering in other peoples heads

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Don’t wonder out of other peoples heads.

People do this all the time, I used to do this all the time – it is called assuming. And it is a process that is seriously flawed if you reach a conclusion based on this wondering and then turn the assumption (which is all you have really arrived at) into fact. Wondering about other people in a concerned kind of caring way is fine. Wondering what they think of you is just selfish – that isn’t kind at all.

But we do it.

Would you wonder about a maths solution in another person’s head? God I wish! Wouldn’t that be cool just sitting in class and wondering out of someone elses head – no study, no work – just wonder over there and write over here. But that is ridiculous. No – you would ask the person for their help with your maths problem. This is the intelligent way to behave – got a question? Ask.

Yet we do it. We wonder.

We wonder about what we might look like from another person’s perspective. Then based on how that person behaves around other people, what they say about other people, what they do themselves – we arrive at an assumption – and call it fact.

Yet it is not. Fact. It is an assumption.

Wondering out of another person’s head is so stupidly flawed as a process that it is a wonder (this is an actual wonder) that anybody bothers to use it as a system anyway. Yet self doubters do this all the time – with disastrous results! This is a small sample of what that looks like.

You bump into A you don’t really know A because A will only show you the socially prepared mask that they have unconsciously or consciously prepared  to whomever they think you are.  A is lovely, A is toxic. You have already formed your own opinion about A based on what someone else said (flawed!) or your own time spent mingling with them now and then.

A may trust you enough to let you get a pretty good glimpse of themselves because they feel comfortable with you – and more importantly themselves – but they may not. A is having a bad day – this is not their best day to be bumped into. A may like you but A doesn’t like themselves very much so their mask might look a little cranky – or distracted – or …A may not see you at all. Get over A. A is completely different to you anyway – A is a different personality type – not yours. They weren’t raised like you, taught like you or have been through what you have been through – research on their wondering mind through your wondering mind may as well be anyone and who the hell has that much time.

A is anyone. A is everyone and A may not only not see you – they may not even be thinking of you and probably aren’t. But it is our little world and we think everyone is. Um no they are not.

So that is the first problem with caring what the general populace think. They aren’t actually thinking about you. This is the point where you are supposed to sigh and collapse with relief. Perhaps you arrived here long ago and are slightly amused by me bothering to explain it but….lets not wonder about why I am doing something out of a head that is in fact…not my own or yours – have I lost you yet? If I have or bored you – good that is what this process looks like and is the point I am trying to make. It is pointless and boring yet ….

When we forget we do it we may go a little crazy for a minute – so we should write it down so we don’t forget it.

So now you’re wondering about me – or your not. Is she crazy? No I don’t think so but thanks for asking oh you didn’t that was me. So! W e still haven’t got the point – I have actually got the point – did a long time ago but!  You didn’t ask me so you keep wondering and I’ll keep wondering if you are still wondering….

So since we seem to be revolving in circles because that is what wondering from other peoples heads looks like and I am merely trying to demonstrate – I shall take you further down the rabbit hole – “Follow me says the White Rabbit” What’s that? Read more FFS (I didn’t swear there – you did or perhaps I am assuming hmmm) It is Alice in Wonderland and that! Is what wondering in other peoples minds looks like – welcome to Wonderland.

Righto so now while we are down here  we will take a look at B.

B is someone you know – really well. Or you think you do. You see them all the time and get on great. You should know B – you really should. You don’t. B is a beautiful individual who has a whole host of B that they don’t show to people not even their besties. They can’t – B doesn’t even know what they possess inside their own selves because B is to busy to look. Or has and is just not interested in showing you. That is cool because you and B get each other don’t you? Of course you do – you don’t go wondering in each others heads because hearts know what hearts know. So they don’t bother with heads.

And then there is C family and D family in law and E and….? Relax – chill – don’t worry about them I know they reckon they know you and you think you know them but! The fact is they probably don’t – neither do you and half of them won’t care either but we won’t wonder about it because then we start assuming and wind up with a fact that may in fact – annoy or hurt us and we really have no idea so …get back in your own self Family mind is the worst kind of mind to wander in – sorry wonder.

The interior of a person is vast – enormous. People who go bothering to look at themselves can take years and years which is why America and no doubt every country that has people in it, who  have enough cash to pay others to look at themselves – has a gigantic amount of money spent every year with support people helping people to go looking at themselves.

Which is a bit ridiculous when you can just do a bit of investigating yourself if you are so inclined because wondering about yourself out of your own head isn’t selfish. It is the opposite of selfish it is un selfish because you are trying to figure out how to love yourself and once you do that of course as the every great teacher from our past from Jesus to Buddha to Lao Tzu  says in their own unique fashion – then and only then can we turn that love on the world and keep the beam strong and true.

Which is nice isn’t … and no I’m not there yet – I fall in and out of love with myself all the time so I’m a work in progress …in case you’re wondering. What I do do is keep my wondering self in my own self – it is a danger to itself out there.

Most people won’t go looking in their own heads though and they probably shouldn’t because if you go poking about in there without the correct motivation and method – you’ll just get it wrong and wind up hating yourself which is why with burnt fingers and cringe burn – people withdraw and instead wonder out of other peoples heads. Or just because they are lazy. Or because they don’t know any better.  Or because…

We could go on for ages but we won’t because wondering about other people is an endless piece of string. Wondering through other peoples heads – is an even longer piece of string. You may as well wonder what the stars think or count them. What is the point?

It would be far more helpful to wonder through your own head. Once you start doing this the string is still endless but at least you are making decisions and plans from your own point of view.

Wondering through your own head is not pointless. It is the opposite of pointless it is purpose. That is why people who have a purpose and are on track and driven from their own heads – not others – rarely worry about what other people think. Did Mother Theresa worry about what other people think? No. Did Ghandi – no. They just had love to do and they did it. And that is an important point. People who seem to be selfishly driven are probably selfishly driven but…that is what their head feels is right so why would you wonder about why? It’s their head not yours you rude bugger get out of their way because without a doubt if you stay there they will run you over.

Love is love. It is not selfishness. Wondering from your own head is not selfishness. It is merely loving yourself in your head. Which is very intelligent if you consider the alternative. Why would you bring that muck home on your shoe and then walk it all through your lovely space?

If you see something in there you don’t love – fix it. As I mentioned before (in a post further back) sometimes if you can’t see what you don’t love in yourself you should look to where you feel judged by others – are they right? If not – why do you feel judged. You can only feel judged in the sense that it hurts you – if you agree with it. If someone actually says something to you (well done that person for being so brave many are not!) that they think about you then you have the chance to respond. If it is something you agree with and it and it makes you upset – fix it. If it is something that you don’t agree with – laugh – they are so deluded that they have been obviously wondering or in fact wandering out of their own heads.

Dear one do this – do your love and keep your wondering in your own head and out of other peoples. There are some very messed up heads out there and they are dangerous places to wander in. There are some very lovely ones too – but you don’t need them for a pick me up if you have your own peaceful place to relax.

Make it comfy in there – decorate it with beautiful books and learning – put up photos of loved ones. It can get difficult to stay there if you aren’t in the habit but…it’s nice in there why go out? We all need a little reminding sometimes about how beautiful our own souls are to live in. Life gets frantic. Here is your reminder – this post is for you and for me. You are beautiful – go home, home to yourself and just do your thing – whatever it is I’m sure it will be just fine for you. I wonder if I should go and do some yoga? Nice one that is a better wonder to have and yes do that and have a green tea too or wine or whatever you want – do what you want. Do just whatever you want that is best for you and feels right. Which is nice isn’t it in a world that is always telling us to change – our weight, our looks, stay young – don’t get old. Eat this, don’t eat that… yes it is very wearying – do what you want.

Finally – perhaps this helps the more aggressive ones, the ones that don’t curl up and do cocoa and a book – I don’t understand that – books and cocoa are great but …Just think of it like this…Wondering out of other peoples heads is like driving through a wildlife safari park – the sign says “stay in the car” believe me stay in the car!

Stay in your head your heart your soul – and don’t go wandering about.

Motorbike keys to Empowerment

Athousandbitsofpaper2 Comments

If you would like the keys to finding faith, empowerment and confidence in an ever changing and sometimes frightening world. Let me show mine. They hang from a BMW embossed leather tag and they are my prized possession. I would wear them like jewellery but why do that when you can use them to turn over a bike and kick off onto the highway instead.

Follow me for a couple of thousand words and I’ll tell you why 🙂

Don’t look where you don’t want to go.

The words flashed into my head as the bloated carcass of a large grey kangaroo appeared on the road. I glanced to the bitumen beside the large lump, the bike duly followed and seconds later I wizzed around the smelly lump. Don’t look where you don’t want to go. Such a simple rule of riding that I hardly thought of it much anymore but I knew what happened if I didn’t apply it. Any motor bike rider learns this rule very quickly.

In motorbike riding, the direction you move in, is all about where you look. This is actually true with any mode of travel including your own legs but for some reason we never consider it much until we go to sit on a motorbike where the results of focus can have such swift and sometimes disastrous consequences if you make a mistake.  Believe me, where you look is exactly where you will go. If you see a pothole and think “God I don’t want to hit that” – and you keep looking at it – God can’t help you and you will hit it.

As I dodged the kangaroo yesterday, I grinned in my helmet thinking of how this rule had been reinforced to me not long after I started riding when, with legs stiff and backside very sore, I  had arrived at a service station in Cunnamulla. Glad to have reached the town after a several hours riding, I was intent on fueling the bike and was therefore scanning the bowsers to see which one contained the unleaded fuel as I rode in. Forgetting the most important rule of riding – don’t look where you don’t want to go – I damn near ended up on top of the bowser and although I didn’t drop the bike or hit anything – it was close. And would have been embarrassing, if it wasn’t so funny, both to me and the goggle eyed bloke that was fueling his car on the other side.

It is a known phenomenon in riding and it is called focus lock. The risk of it occurring is compounded with long rides and a lack of awareness due to tiredness or distraction.

Awareness and staying in the moment is another important rule of thumb which is why it is such powerful meditation (and therefore highly addictive to me).

I simply can’t assume the position and Om my way into peace at home, my chatterbox mind won’t allow it. If you think I write long rambly posts – try living in my head 🙂

Out on the road though the wind noise and the requirement for a constant return to the present moment has me naturally deep in a meditative state. Bugger candle flames – true zen is accomplished by motorbike riders every time they go for a long ride. This is why something that looks uncomfortable and boring – is actually relaxing.

There are other reasons why motorbike riding is addictive. It allows me to conquer my old nemesis – fear.

When I first got my motorbike license and was beginning to take trips by myself, overcoming fear was a huge obstacle. Every time I would excitedly plan a journey, the inevitable spectre of death or injury would rise up and I would start thinking “what if?” I have a pretty good imagination so the “what if?” horror film could become quite luridly frightening if I allowed my thoughts to get out of hand. But I love riding and I love riding solo best so I had to find a way to get over these imaginary fears in order to go riding.

The only way to get over irrational fears is to walk through them and prove to yourself that they are in fact irrational and merely figments of your imagination. This seems easy enough in theory but as a mother and wife it is often difficult to do put into practice and it is why I believe so many women either don’t ever take up riding a motor bike – or if they do – give it up as they become mothers of young children.

Which is a pity. Riding a motorbike is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Riding solo and being free to go wherever you want, ditching all responsibilities and cares for awhile and just sitting on a humming machine, the scents of a change in season wafting through your helmet, zooming along with just yourself for company is an amazing experience. If it sounds like the perfect antidote to time poor mothers that is because it is. Riding is also a great instruction manual into how to conquer irrational fears – something which has plagued just about every human being on the planet at one time or other in their lives.

I used to be a very anxious person. I’m not now. I have ridden bikes that felt out of my comfort zone on roads that certainly were and learnt to handle them. I have chosen to get on those same bikes (I have a couple 🙂 and take long trips along a highway with the company of truck drivers on Ice, random animals prone to suicide attacks on my person and God knows who behind the wheel of every car that drifts past as I take a drink of water and a rest. As you can see – most of that is in my head but it doesn’t make it any less scary. Having all that crap transformed into calm awareness, confidence and a friendly wave at drivers and animals alike is pretty cool stuff.  Thanks BMW you have fixed a lifelong problem that could have otherwise plagued me for the rest of my life.

It is not just about solo riding though. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some great companions at times. I have had the opportunity to spend time with my older brothers on the road, keeping connections alive through a shared passion that I may not have been able to do without my motorbike.  I’ve ridden with other women that enrich the experience with their own tales of overcoming hurdles to do so and I have ridden in a mixed group of genders a time or two that was just as much fun. Bikers are great people because they meet death every moment and choose to see it as life enhancing rather than life threatening so they are always nice to hang around with.

Plus it is the strangers you meet along the way. The characters that you bump into who – without a motorbike as the draw card and interest – would never have come up and just started yacking away to me and telling me their stories – some sad, some funny and some just plain bazaar 🙂

I have had a couple of misadventures and been temporarily stuck here and there. Every single time within seconds a stranger has turned up to lend me a hand. I know this – if you are brave and take the leap, the universe really will provide you with the wings you need – suddenly instead of plunging you will be soaring.

I haven’t always thought everything through – for obvious reasons – that wasn’t working! Sometimes you just have to go and trust that you’ll be fine. I think that this is the greatest lesson that motorbike riding has given me. It is this deep steady faith that I will be okay – that whatever comes – I will be okay and will have the strength to deal with it or that someone will come along at the right time to help me. This certainty is not just provided on the highway, it is provided to me in every moment of my life now. ‘

This sort of faith is invaluable, it is extraordinary! It is also so hard for me to imagine that I would have obtained it in any other way than by riding a motorbike.

Life is an amazing journey whichever vehicle you choose to navigate it in. Riding a motorbike however turns the rather pedestrian pursuit of one point to another into an adventure. It lifts the mundane into the realms of extraordinary. It isn’t for everyone but just from the conversations I have had with other ladies I know – a lot of women yearn for it, however due to all those risks and fears, they don’t do it. Plenty of blokes don’t either and it is shame.

If this post helps one woman or man take the risk and find themselves smiling in their helmet – happy and confident out on the road and in their everyday lives then it has been well worth the effort in writing it…at 2am in the morning ha!

*Please note – after all this positive encouragement I do know people have in fact died on the roads on motorbikes or been terribly injured. I also know people die in car crashes, plane crashes and sitting at their breakfast table eating their bacon and eggs. Life is random – I am not going to be responsible for your death on a motorbike anymore than I would be because after a lifetime of eating crap you have a heart attack and die.

I will however take full credit if  – after reading this post – you pull up your big girl panties (or Y fronts) and go and get a motorbike licence and then find yourself in a couple of years time floating along some long highway somewhere and whispering”thanks Kate” with tears of gratitude flowing down your face because you feel blessed. I’ve done that but I was whispering it to myself and you should to – because I know – it’s tough, it’s scary and  male or female – you did that all by yourself, kudos to you dear – just you XX0X

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Your Mind

Athousandbitsofpaper1 Comment

Ever had a thought which instantly drops your gut.   Within seconds you are hooked on a mental loop with tentacles that reach deep into your body causing a rise in heart beat, a tightness in your throat and more. I’m not describing a full blown anxiety attack though it may feel like it and those attacks spring from the same place.  I’m talking about a single thought and the pulling power it has to multiply others until they overtake your present moment causing body weather to change like clouds rolling over a blue sky.

This is how it spirals:

You may stop at anger (150)

You may stop at fear (100)

You may fall as far as grief (75)

But God help you if you go back to either guilt (30) or its lower inmate shame (20)

Depending on how you were feeling to begin with – you are now a much easier target for bad shit to happen to. Don’t believe me? Do a test and spend a few moments on each level.

Think of something that makes you feel loving (500)

Think of something makes you angry (100)

Think of something which causes grief (75)

Think of something that makes you feel guilt (30) – now shame (20) and that is SHAME not its more ordinary embarrassment which is probably just an offshoot of pride and anger so calibrates somewhere between ( 100 – 175)

Obviously this test works far better if this were to happen to you in real time and if you just actually conjured up abject shame for even a moment I’m so sorry that you now feel like crap. However,  it is a prime example  in how energy drops affect our body and mental state. It is sickening how quickly mere phantoms can reach out from the ether and twist us into knots – turning our perfectly pleasurable present into a morass of seething memory born pain or anger. No wonder societal physical and mental health as a whole is deteriorating.

I read a book a couple of years ago by Marie Kondo about decluttering. The premise being that you decluttered your home and contents ruthlessly leaving only the items which made you truly happy. When the mission was accomplished the person would be surrounded only by things which brought pleasure to their lives and nothing less. Nice one.

After experiencing the usual rollercoaster ride in my head and energy levels the other day I had the idea to attempt just that. Mental decluttering. It’s hard.

One whole section of our brain is wired for memory – like a spacious closet which has no concern for what you fill it with. Unfortunately the trip to the bin with mental possessions – your bad memories, grief, regret, grievances and grudges is akin to throwing a boomerang, turning your back and getting struck a couple of seconds later by the returning flight.

How do you stop the elastic nature of mental clutter? Why do certain people and things just keep looping back to you whether you care for their presence or not? I read somewhere (please don’t ask me to reference every single thing I have read – I simply can’t but if it is a particularly good book/article  rest assured I will give you the heads up).  I read somewhere that it is because we build bridges to that person/event in our mind. I particularly liked this explanation because it meant if I had built the damn bridge I could burn it down again. Did I tell you it’s hard?

It serves no purpose thinking or willing a thought away. You may as well try to take a nap on a Sunday in a room full of flies. Thoughts will crawl all over your brain until you really wish you hadn’t started the process in the first place. Meditation helps but you have to take time out and sit and hum and have incense – okay you don’t need any of that but you do have to stop whatever it is you are doing and go mediate which is just not realistic. You have stuff to do and it would be a lot easier without these thought flies.

So the way to kill a thought before it drops you is to kill it – splat – like a fly – as soon as it lands. Don’t indulge it – don’t pay it any attention. Let it go. If you can do it fast enough then the full force of the emotion which usually accompanies the thought will not arise making it much easier to let go. Yes it takes practice, everything takes practice to perfect.

It also helps to think of thoughts as energy clusters and to read them as they come at you. Once you realise what reaction a particular thought (and we all recognise them because the repetitive ones just keep coming back to us day after groundhog bloody day!) about a person or thing does to you, you will catch yourself having it. With practice you will see it faster and be able to prevent the descent. I’m not pretending to be a guru you understand – I am just sharing what I try to do and if that helps you too – awesome.

This is how it goes (sort of) for me:

“Oh crap I’m thinking about such and such again and they always bring me down – I’m not thinking about them right now because he/she messes with my head”smack, dead fly.

Or

“Oh crap I’m having the thought about <Enter latest Crisis/Drama> again and there is nothing I can do about it.” Anxiety about the future is the same as rumination on the past – it solves absolutely no purpose. Planning serves a purpose. Anxiety does not. Look at a problem squarely, plan a way around it and work positively. Do not just worry about it. Agitation serves no purpose but to make yourself sick. I should know, I used to spend large chunks of my time either worrying about the future or ruminating about the past. I don’t do that anymore because I know that the best way I can operate in the present moment and with hope for the future is by lifting my energy as high as possible. But then there are these thoughts.

Or

“Today is Mum’s birthday – I miss her, I wish…” Stop – its okay to miss but not to wish. It is okay to think about loved ones that are gone but it is not okay to descend into grief and rumination. There is a raw period of grief that no one can negotiate happily but after awhile and when they are not in our thoughts every single second, then it is more helpful to – instead of descending into grief when they do pop up – instead send them blessings and great love.

Love calibrates at 500 Grief calibrates at 75. One lifts us (and in turn everyone around us) the other sinks (and sucks the sunshine out of the sky). You get to choose and when you do you automatically choose for your remaining loved ones as well (unconsciously or not). They deserve to be around someone who is vibrating at the very best energy level they can achieve. Once you grasp this fact then you start to feel less selfish about being happy, realising that actually the best you can do for everyone around you is to be as happy as you possibly can be.

Why would I mention feeling selfish or wrong or even rather slightly sheepish about being happy? Ever been around someone when you are high energy who tries to make it seem like a crime? I have. It used to effectively bring me down. Which is where sayings like “cut you down to size” “bring you down to level” may stem from. Perhaps they are not always applied to people behaving arrogantly but rather those that are simply radiating happiness – which seems intolerable to someone who is radiating anger or grief.

Energy stealers and toxic people do this. They want what you have but for some reason won’t ask you nicely as in “I need a hug” instead they roll their eyes and start to bleed you viciously with the miseries of their lives or other peoples lives or just misery in general.

Don’t attack them back – they want your energy (your focus) and they don’t care how they get it. At the very least they want to cut you down to size. Be nice, send them some love -if it doesn’t work to alleviate the situation – walk away. I’m not a bloody saint either and I don’t always get this right because being drained of energy happens in a myriad of sneaky ways and is nasty to cope with. It has helped me enormously to make a few realisations about energy though and why people behave the way they do.

Summary of how to declutter your mind in three simple steps:

  • Everything is energy.Once you are aware of your own energy – what lifts it and what drops it – you are in control of how you manage it. Treat thoughts (and people) like energy clusters and avoid or handle the ones that drain you with a little more awareness.
  • Clean out old thoughts. Reframe old memories. Some will continue to pester you and repeatedly come back. The way to get rid of them is to write them out of your system. Write everything about why and what you are feeling about that particular person/event/memory. Eventually they will be empty of energy, then if you want throw the paper in the bin.
  • Sever (and keep severing) any links that you are making to toxic people in your head. You may not be able to prevent yourself from bumping into them in real life but you don’t have to make them comfortable in your head. Besides which if you stop thinking about them you are less likely to actually bump into them in the real world.

 

 

*Energy calibration figures taken from “Power vs Force” by Dvid R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D.