Feelings, Feelings, Feelings
You remember the song Feelings. At one time you heard it everywhere. That was the problem. We heard it so often it bored us. We felt bored.
So much of what we do is determined by how we feel. “I don’t feel like working. I don’t feel like writing, I don’t feel like playing music.” Why? Because I’m bored. Because I don’t want to experience the same old feeling I get when I do these activities. I already know how I feel doing these and they are not new feelings.
Where is my inner voice on days like this. I rely so much on it. Somehow the novelty of discovering my inner voice, the one that tells me what to write, has worn off. That high, that a-ha feeling of accomplishment, that we got when we first started doing something new has lost its shine.
This is the wall, the resistance we meet when we are about to master a skill. If we give up now, all the work we have done, all the seeds we have sown will be for nothing. We are about to make the skill second nature, to write it into our unconscious mind. Once there we can rely on duplicating it without conscious effort. We are about to make the skill a part of who we are.
We need to notice how our feelings changed. Naturally our body is adapting because it cannot tolerate that high feeling forever. They went from elation at learning a new skill to acceptance of the skill then finally to unconscious performance of the skill.
Our conscious mind wants to be aware of those highs. It loves being aware of what is new. Once we absorb the skill it is now longer new. Our motivation has to change. We need to find a higher level of motivation. We need to feel our whole being as successful.
Do you remember when you got your first paying job? Didn’t it give you a feeling of independence? You were the king of your world. You could do anything now that you had money to spend. Take another example. Remember when you had that first promotion? You felt that you were finally recognized, you were on your way to becoming a manager or even president of the company. Think about your work now. Is it still as exciting as that first moment?
Remembering our successes is very important, especially when we feel we can’t go on doing the same old thing. We need to remind ourselves about why we do what we do, especially if we chose to do something because of our love for it. Take time out to just sit and relive those happy moments. Actually feel what you felt, think the words and see the events as you saw them. Bathe in the glow of those feelings. Be there hearing the congratulations you received.
It is so easy in a moment to do something that gives us instant pleasure. It depends on what we tell ourselves, on how we frame our reasons for doing something. For example, we may be working to get to our ideal weight. Losing weight requires that we control how much we eat each day and how much exercise we get each day. But eating that extra chocolate bar gives us instant pleasure. Unless we can convince ourselves to put off that instant gratification we will never reach our long term goal.
When you are tempted to eat that chocolate bar or drink that bottle of fizzy sugar-water remind yourself how you will feel when you fit into that fancy tailor-cut outfit you want to wear. Imagine, seeing it clearly in your mind, the pleasure you will feel when your friends admire you. See yourself in the mirror how you look and feel when you are at your ideal weight.
Feelings. How we feel about ourselves, how we feel about doing something, how we feel about mastering a skill and how we feel about taking control of our minds and body, is the most important way we get to do what we want. Our feelings flow from what we tell ourselves about the world and about our being. So be aware of your inner voice, what you are saying and how you convince yourself to do or not do things.
I finally had to do this myself this morning. I had to remind myself that I love to write, that I love to think about how the mind works, that I have feelings of pleasure even though at some level I was bored with doing the same old thing. I reminded myself that I committed to writing this blog. If I want readers like yourself to keep coming back, I need to constantly write something new.
Feelings figure in everything we do. Sometimes we just need a reminder of how pleasant they are.
This article and many more featured at http://www.themeaningisyou.com
The author has many years experience, writing and reading for self development.
Copyright Gilles Hamann 2007
Permission is granted to publish this article providing the author, Gilles Hamann is identified as the author and the link to ezinearticles and the link to The Meaning Is You remain intact and are displayed with the article.
Leave a Comment