Remember the Brightness
Why do we so often overlook what is good and life-enhancing, and continue to get captured by the negative?
That habit comes from ancient biological survival mechanisms. Scouting for the bad takes top brain priority because survival is a primary need. We have to scan constantly for what could snuff out life in a heartbeat. Goodness is nice, but badness is important. And if we find no threat, then we become suspicious. What is hiding out there to overtake us by surprise?
So, how do we keep the alertness without it overwhelming us? How can we loosen the tightness of focus on the negative to permit more appreciation of the bright and beautiful?
We can only do that through reprogramming training.
You are very busy, so here is a short but powerful routine I do each morning and whenever I find myself dulling out or hardening up too much during the day. It only takes a couple of seconds.
- Slowly take in a very deep breath and hold it for just a second or two.
- Reflect on how fortunate you are to be aware of your potential as a bright light bringing goodness, peace, sanity, and stability to the world.
- “I am alive with significance”
- Slowly breathe out.
- Slowly take in a very deep breath and hold it for just a second or two.
- Reflect on how amazing it is that you are tuned in to the truth that every moment of every experience brings you closer to fuller realization of your potential.
- “I follow my path with purpose”
- Slowly breathe out.
- Slowly take in a very deep breath and hold it for just a second or two.
- Reflect on how blessed you are to attract into your life just the right friends, guides, and mentors who share what you need and encourage you on with their example.
- “I am tuned in to finding living examples of what I seek”
- Slowly breathe out.
- Finally, remind yourself that when you get off track, you will remember to do this exercise.
Thank you for that. I’ve been working hard to train myself out of concentrating too much on the negative and it helps just to know that someone else realizes this truth. I’ll make use of this technique and hopefully become a more balanced person for it. Thank you again.
Thank you An-Shu, I find this especially useful and necessary during this “vacation” time of the year.
NOW is a perfect time to start or regain an extra boost of positiveness and reaffirming how lucky we are to be alive and well.
I absolutely love these three short phrases, they allow to reaffirm and at the same time, they help to explore just how much we are on or off track.
Through my own investigation I have found that sometimes we get caught up by negativeness because we can get a false feeling of success by overcoming obstacles that seem to be re-appearing over and over again…and we seem to like that sometimes because it makes us feel like winners. Whereas, it would of course be ideal to eradicate the obstacle the moment it declares itself to us.
Thank you for keeping us on track!
Thanks for this active reminder that there is a much bigger picture to our lives than the day-to-day, moment-to-moment rush that is so easy to get caught up in.
Thanks for this very useful post.
It’s positive reinforcement like this that is so necessary to keeping not just a positive outlook but focusing our energy on positive actions in martial arts and in life.
Thank you so much Sensei for all this gentle reminders of our potential!
Indeed Sensei…….thank you much for words of encourgement which are all too hard to find in these times except for the wisdom shared by experienced teachers and leaders.
Thank you An-Shu for giving us this reminder. We should practice this extensively. May we all become immovable, have a strong vision on where we are headed. And succeed in our journey knowing we had the right direction and did not become lost amongst all the diversity.
Awesome post…..