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Dr. Terrie Wurzbacher

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Sabotage!

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stick_figure_carry_text_11312Take some time to look at your life – it can be a small chunk like the last month or six months or you can look at a much bigger portion. This is going to require you to be honest with yourself. You don’t have to tell these things to anyone else but you really do need to examine your motives and results very closely in order to get anything out of your work.

Once you’ve picked a section of time, you want to look at actions you took and then at the results that came from those actions. Although it’s good to look at the wonderful things that have happened so that you can repeat them, just write them down for now and put them aside. You can use them to compare later.

Select the things that didn’t go exactly the way you wanted them to go. Now, look at these events/occurrences and see if you can identify any thoughts that contributed to their development. I’ve used this example before but it’s the most vivid one I can think of. When I was one week away from starting my 2nd 100 mile race in 6 weeks, I started to worry about the heat and the sun and how on earth I was going to be able to endure all that for the long hours I was going to have to be out there – it was pretty wide open so the sun was going to beat down the entire time. I kept thinking that maybe I should pull out and just be happy with the race I had just completed. These thoughts were consuming me. Then low and behold on Wed (before the Friday start day), I suddenly developed severe low back pain to the point that I could not walk. It came on while I was sitting down teaching a class so there wasn’t anything specific I did. I was able to make an appointment with my AIRROSTI provider and she saw me that day. On my way to the appointment I realized what I had done. I had created this back pain to keep me from having to start the race. After all, it’s “socially acceptable” to drop out because you’re injured, right? However, by then I had also realized I really did want to participate in this event and was very psyched up for it. That was fortunate because between that desire and the work of my provider, I was able to make it to the start line just two days later AND complete it. The point to all of this is that I had sabotaged myself almost into not being able to start – all by my thoughts!

And last year I let all the doubts about my abilities once again lead to low back pain 2 weeks before my attempt to run across Tennessee. It was my fears and questions (instead of just trusting in the Universe to take care of me as It always does) that set me up for injury. I am pretty powerful in using the Law of Attraction and you would think that would make me more cognizant of what I am thinking.

This year, the same has almost happened with different problems – first it was the surgery and convalescence and then a different kind of back pain recently  that has been very debilitating.  What brought that on? My indecisiveness and fears of looking stupid to all the other runners.  What if this, what if that? How stupid of me. People already know that I’m slow and old but I’m out there and so what if I don’t finish? Will the world end? Of course not. So why sabotage myself and end up in such pain because of my dumb emotions.

When I realize I’ve done all these things I can plan future events (whether running or otherwise) in a much different mindset. Often we only plan the physical steps to accomplishing what we want. We forget to go into the deeper aspects which are as important (and often more important) – deal with and plan our emotional responses and feelings to anything that could possibly develop as we get ready to embark on a project. Do you make this a part of your planning procedure? Do you take your feelings and emotions into consideration when doing goal setting and plans for goal achieving? You should. We all should. That is what will really lead to our success. All the other techniques we learn are essential for sure. But we also have to put out potential (and desired) emotional responses into every step of the planning procedure.

Finish your list and see if you can determine where you’ve sabotaged yourself. Now, figure out how you’re going to prevent that from happening again. Awareness is key! And now you’re aware.

Terrie

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Momentum Monday

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momentum-monday1“Once you really start changing your negative thoughts into positive thoughts, the stress that you have in your life will start to diminish.” ~Dr. Steve G. Jones

Have you noticed this in your life? I have. It takes some  effort, though, to focus on your thoughts so that you can catch the negative ones and immediately change them into the positive ones. Often we don’t want to do that because it “feels” better to talk about what’s NOT going well in your life. After all, you have to work at it to make yourself notice what you are thinking, characterize these thoughts (whether they are positive or negative), make the commitment to do something about the negative ones and then put in the work to change the negative into positive. We can get backfired at any point along this line. And you need to put them all together to be successful here. You can get started by just noticing your thoughts. The next step is to characterize them into positive or negative. That would be a terrific beginning if you’d do it.

From there you can build on it and make a commitment to make a change. So, you notice yourself telling people one after the other that you’re not feeling all that great today – after all, they did ask “how are you?” and you don’t want to lie.

Remember, though, that every time you tell your story, it becomes embedded in your mind and your subconscious. You begin to believe it. And what happens then is that you begin to attract more of what you’ve been telling. So, if you’ve been telling people how bad you feel, you’re in that “bad” vibration and the Universe thinks that you want more of that because you’re focusing on it. Lo and behold, the Universe delivers more of what you’re focusing on – and you get more “feeling bad”.  You’ve heard people joke about how they’ve played a joke on someone by telling them how lousy they look and “are you feeling ok, you look pale” or something like that..by the end of the day, that person you’ve been “playing” with, starts to feel really cruddy. It’s the same when you continually tell your story.

So, start noticing what happens when people ask you how you are or how you’re feeling. Stop, take a deep breath and say something like “fine thank you” EVEN if you’re not feeling fine. You are not doing any good by elaborating on what’s actually going on with you. If you don’t stop first, make it a habit of listening to what you are saying when talking to someone else about yourself. Are you telling them the good things in your life, past and present? I hope so because that is the best way to make sure you get more good things!

Once you’ve started to notice what you’re saying, then characterize each thing into positive or negative. This act will force you to consider what the effect of what you say. If you don’t have to label it, then you won’t be paying attention to what you’re saying. When you don’t pay attention, anything can/will come out of your mouth and you will be attracting more of whatever it is. Don’t you want to be in control of what you’re attracting? I do.

Now it’s time for you to make a commitment to changing what you’re thinking (or saying). Once you’ve said it, do you want to keep it as a part of you OR do you want to change it and maybe change what comes into your life? Take a chance. Live on the edge and try to bring more good things into your life. So, if you catch yourself having a negative thought, immediately say to yourself “that is NOT my truth” followed by, for example – “I am prosperous and healthy” – something that focuses on the opposite of what you’ve been thinking. Don’t get discouraged. Everything won’t change immediately but it will start to change. Your job is to be persistent, knowing that the Universe will provide for you and you will receive all that you’ve asked for AS LONG AS you continue to make these conscious efforts – eventually it will be no effort at all and that’s the cool thing.

How do you do this when you’re experiencing pain, whether it’s physical or emotional? This is tough. I’m not saying that it’s easy. I try to use something to help it along and my favorite tool is EFT. But I also just use the simplistic phrases “I declare it good” and “everything always works out for me”. I then try to recall that no matter how bad something may seem at this particular moment, it is for a reason and it will be a good reason and something good will come from it! Try to be persistent even when you’re in pain. Things will change. Just remember to focus on what you want and not what you don’t want. You want health and strength not to be without pain. That will just bring more pain. Put feeling and emotion into telling the Universe what you want it to bring you – HEALTH and STRENGTH, JOY and HAPPINESS. Remember that emotions and intense feeling will bring about change more rapidly than just saying something without emphasis.

Here’s the steps again:

  • Pay attention to EVERYTHING you think and say
  • Characterize what you’re thinking/saying into positive or negative categories
  • Make a commitment to change your thoughts in order to bring great things into your life
  • Work to change the negative thoughts into positive ones…and take baby steps in doing all these things.

Try it – try one or two steps to start with and see what you think or feel. Then move on

Terrie

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Is There Chaos or Clutter in Your Life?

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signs_going_everywhere_400_clr_15206It’s so hard to be productive and happy when there is either clutter or chaos in your life. You can’t see where you’re going because if you have physical clutter/chaos, you can be assured that you have mental, emotional and even spiritual clutter/chaos as well. That’s a perfect formula for spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.

Can you sit quietly and be relaxed without chatter in your mind? If the answer is no, if you sit and hear voices arguing back and forth telling you what you should or shouldn’t be doing, then there is plenty of clutter in your mind. What do you think you can get done when there is no stillness for you to go to? How can you possibly hear what the Universe has to say when there’s so much noise in there?

More importantly, once you realize you have all this chaos and clutter, what do you do about it? How can you get rid of it?

First, you have to decide that you want to get rid of it, that you want to clean it up. But in order to do that, you have to know WHY you want to create order out of chaos. And the answer “because that’s what you should do” is not the answer. Sometimes the clutter serves a valuable purpose. What would you be thinking or feeling if you didn’t have all that ‘stuff’ keeping you busy. Would you have to feel old pains, fears, anxieties? Often that’s the reason for the clutter. It takes up space and you don’t have to deal with the past and all the pain that’s associated with it. I know. I’ve been there and in many respects I’m still there even though better.

You have to decide that you want to have quiet and you want to face whatever might come up when you’re in the quiet. Are you ready to experience the feelings that might show up? Can you forgive whomever might have caused you that pain? Can you move on? Do you have other thoughts and ideas you want to put in that space? This takes some planning. Know what it is you want to put in there before you start trying to eliminate the chaos and clean up the clutter.

Then start with some basic meditation. If you’re like me, that’s not so easy. It’s hard to quiet your mind. But you have to try. It takes time to become good at meditating. But just start with sitting quietly and focus on a spot on your wall or a noise in your house. There shouldn’t be any distractions though – turn off your TVs and radios, make sure the kids are out of the house and you have a few minutes (it only takes a few minutes until you get comfortable and happy with it).

You should also consider journaling to get rid of many of the thoughts in your mind. You can do a “Brain Dump” where you get all your concerns and worries out of your mind and onto paper. Once it’s written down, it frees up space in your mind. It’s kind of interesting how that works. I have used that before I started doing any meditation. I think it’s based on the fact that once it’s written down you don’t feel as if you have to worry about it any more. So you can forget it. The brain cells you’ve been using trying to remember every little thing are now free to go on to something else.  They are no longer worried since they know you’ve got whatever it was down on paper.

Gratitude exercises are also helpful. The more you’re grateful and express that to the Universe, it calms your energy and puts you in greater alignment so you can move on to other things. You should make it a habit every day, to either write or state ten things that you are grateful for in your life. Try to include various aspects of your life too – spiritual, financial, health, well-being, relationships, etc.

It’s a good idea to write down the thoughts you want to take the place of the clutter. This can be in the form of goals or other ideas you want to work on. Have a plan for how you’re going to fill in the void.

Do you have any other things that you’ve done to clear the clutter? Share them with us if you do….

Terrie

 

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Derailed? Get Back On Track

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train_haul_text_11262So you’ve been derailed. You had a perfect course or action planned and everything was going fine and dandy. Then all of a sudden  – poof! You’re knocked for a loop and off course. Now what? Do you just quit, crawl in a hole and mope? Or do you regroup and revisit your goals and plans? Do you feel as if you just have to start all over because your initial plans were so elaborate and thorough that you have no other options at this point? You’re not giving up but it will take time to get back on another course.

The first thing you need to do is declare it good – no matter what it is! Follow this with “everything always works out for me”. Then remember that you do not know what the Universe has in store for you. Think about people who have missed their flights and it turns out that plane crashed – this was never more evident than on 9/11. What if those folks had made it to their plane? What about the people who were late to work and thus were not in the World Trade Center buildings when the attack was made? Were they cursing that they missed out? Even if they were initially upset, they should have been very, very grateful after the event.

I think I’ve mentioned the one time I was working in Washington, D.C. and there was a snow storm coming. I had asked my boss if I could leave work early and he said “no” because we were having a special lecture. I was pouting for the entire session. When I finally got to leave, I was not able to go down I-95 as I usually did because there had been a 100 car pile-up when the storm blew in suddenly. Even though it took me 8 hours to get home via the detour, I was safe. Had I left when I wanted to leave, I would have been right in the middle of the mess and who knows what would have happened. The Universe was really looking out for me.

This year I ended up having a medical issue and major surgery and my training for the run across Tennessee has been completely derailed. Normally this would have bothered me a great deal especially because last year I had to pull out of the run at only 104 miles and have been mentally and emotionally preparing for it this year. Now, my ability to complete it has, once again, been placed in jeopardy. I could pout and sulk and be all upset….or, I could declare it good and remind myself that everything always works out for me and move on from there. I chose to do the latter. So, my training has been compromised quite a bit and I have absolutely no idea how I will do or if I will be able to complete this event.

But, you know what? It’s not the end of the world and it’s not even a very important time in the grand scheme of things in life. It’s an event and it will be there next year if I need to try it again. I do know that this will be one of the best times I have had in my life no matter what the outcome. I will be able to see people I haven’t seen in either 6 months or a year even and I’ll get to experience the kindness and caring of the people all along the route in Tennessee. The generosity and friendliness I saw and felt last year was overwhelming. These people didn’t know me from Adam and yet they wanted to do anything and everything they could to help me. They were supportive and caring and cheered us all on even though I was at the end. If I had just been mopey that I couldn’t complete the race, I would have missed the feelings I had from interacting with them. That was priceless to me. Yes, it’s just a “run” but the people and love you get to see and have touch you is more than you could ever expect. Do you think I want to miss that? Heck no! So, essentially it’s all about priorities. As I said, this is not a great priority when you think of famine and illness and poverty throughout the world. So, I’m not going to let the derailment get the best of me. I changed my plans and training and will simply enjoy whatever happens.

What’s your attitude when your plans get derailed?  Where is your vibration? What can you do to feel good about whatever is happening to you? Step back and look at what’s happened and then ask yourself how important this thing really is in your life. Can you regroup? What needs to change in order for you to enjoy what’s coming up?

Perspective is what’s important. Then, next is knowing that whatever happens can be the best that ever happened to you – you just have to make it that way – declare it good! Know that the Universe is always taking care of you and that all you have to do is focus on the good and more good will come. It may not be what you initially planned but it will be good! Believe that and trust in what has happened and what will happen.

Enjoy your life!

Terrie

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Momentum Monday

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momentum-monday1“Make a decision and then make the decision right. Line up your Energy with it. In most cases it doesn’t really matter what you decide. Just decide. There are endless options that would serve you enormously well, and all or any one of them is better than no decision.” ~Abraham [Excerpted from the workshop: Orlando, FL on February 21, 1998]

I have finally learned that no matter what decision I make, if I embrace it, love it and respect it, it will turn out great for me. When you second guess a decision, you are filled with doubt and that leads to negative thoughts, which, as you all know, will attract more negative thoughts and things. When you’ve attracted enough negativity by repeatedly doubting what you’ve done, then you should not be surprised that you now think it was the “wrong” decision that you made.  See how good we are at twisting things to mean what we want them to? It’s actually kind of funny.

If you are a Libra as I am, you’d be laughing even more right now. Libras bounce back and forth weighing the pros and cons over and over again. It often drives our friends and loved ones nuts. In fact, it often drives us nuts. I am chuckling as I write this.

Once you make a decision, declare it good and continue to do so no matter what seems to happen. Do NOT falter in this declaration. Don’t do the “what if” game. That will raise more doubts and doubts bring negative thoughts and change your vibrations to a lower plane.

Last year I had to withdraw from the race across Tennessee. I had been dreaming of accomplishing that for an entire year.  It took me a day to make the decision that it would be better for my overall health (I was injured) to withdraw than to try to keep on pushing and risk further injury.

I accepted it knowing I did the best I could and also knowing that I wanted to learn from my decision. I chose to think that it was a great decision. And you know what? I learned so much from that experience as well as that decision that this year’s event will be so much more of a success. Maybe I won’t finish this year, but maybe I will. I only know that I’m going in with greater knowledge and have done things completely differently in preparation. Whatever I have or haven’t done has been declared “good” and will serve me in some way as I make the trek again. Sure, I could sit here and worry that I haven’t trained enough but then I think back to last year when I was over trained and trained incorrectly. Look where that got me – nowhere useful. So this year, I’ve had some limitations forced upon me and I have declared them good and made the most of them!

I can’t help but “win” this year. What that means is that whatever happens will be considered “winning” by me!

Make your decision then declare it good and it will be. Every day look for the good from your decision. I guarantee you WILL find it!

Have a great week.

Terrie