Decisions Based On Shonky B#LL$%T
For this blog post I thought I'd share something I posted on my facebook wall a few weeks ago that resonated with a lot of people. Hope you enjoy!
You wouldn't check the speedometer in your car and make a judgement about how much fuel you needed to buy. Speedometers don't tell you about fuel level. They tell you about speed.
You wouldn't make a financial decision based on what a set of traffic lights is telling you about your bank balance. Traffic lights don't tell you about a bank balance. They tell you about who has right of way.
You wouldn't make a travel decision based on what the level of water in your dog's bowl is telling you about train times. Dogs' water bowls don't tell you about train times, they tell you about how much water there is.
You wouldn't call your electricity company and complain because you put dark sunglasses on in while you were watching TV one evening. How dark it looks when you wear shades doesn't tell you about the electricity company's service. It tells you about the fact that you're wearing dark glasses.
It doesn't make sense to have an action in mind that you know would be of great benefit to you, but be put off by how you feel when you think about actually doing it. That feeling isn't telling you about your chances of success, it's telling you about how you feel about it in the moment. Nothing else.
It doesn't make sense to make a decision now, based on feelings that seem like they are coming from the past. Your feelings about the past happen in the present moment and are made by purely by Thought. They tell you about your current thinking, not what is the right or wrong action to take in the future.
It doesn't make sense to feel nervous or worried about the future and to take that feeling as a signal about what to do. Feelings that seem like they are coming from the outside don't tell you anything other than how you're seeing it in the moment.
It doesn't make sense to try to clear your mind, to master your breathing, to be more emotionally intelligent, or employ any other wacky attempts to control a system that can't be controlled.
It doesn't make sense to be sat on a rollercoaster, along with the rest of the human race, expect a steady ride and spend the whole time trying to even the whole thing out, instead of experiencing the fullness of it all. Rollercoasters are up and down because of their nature, not because of you. Same for the human experience. Spending time trying to flatline your emotions (trying to keep them steady, to 'stay' positive, self-medicating, coping, gossiping, blaming etc) goes against the natural lay of the land.
Understanding basic principles saves you energy, time and gets you further. It also aligns your thinking with the facts of the matter. Making decisions based on shonky BS diverts your attention away from something more important.
Feelings are made on the inside. They happen in the now. They are no-one's fault. We don't control them. Let them be.
