Keep it LIGHT: 3 Ways to Lighten Your Mental Load

Girl running in field with balloons

Ep. 89 The goal of today’s episode is to infuse you with LIGHT by offering 3 simple ways to access the power of “light” to lighten your mental load. Light has multiple connotations. Light is brightness and illumination. Light is carefree, not heavy. And light is also funny and cheerful. These are all things we need when life feels heavy. Tune in to hear HOW to Keep it Light. 

Lies of the Magpie Ch 32 & 33

Husband and Wife reading Lies of the Magpie

Ep. 80 Listen to these FREE sample chapters from the best-selling memoir Lies of the Magpie by Maleah Day Warner. In these chapters, Maleah questions whether she is “sick enough” to merit seeing a doctor. The challenge is that she isn’t bleeding, bruised, or having any specific pain. She knows she doesn’t feel “right,” but struggles to put what is wrong into words. She is terrified the doctor will say it’s “depression.” For Maleah, depression isn’t a legitimate illness, but rather a judgment of a person’s weak character. Maleah thinks she would rather get a cancer diagnosis than be told she has postpartum depression. In the end, her diagnosis isn’t at all what she expected, and will create more complications and confusion as the story progresses. 

Why You Fight with Your Spouse

Woman and man sitting on park bench having a fight

Ep 67 Why do you fight with the person you love? Today we are talking about the explosive arguments that leave you and your partner feeling emotionally wounded. If you love your spouse and can’t figure out why you fight, this episode will show you the root cause for your arguments. Listen to gain new perspective on what the fight is really about. 

SHOW NOTES:

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Becoming by Michelle Obama

What is Your Word for the New Year?

New Years Resolution or Word

Ep. 50 Welcome to the final episode of 2019. Today we discuss the power of choosing a WORD for the year rather than setting yet another New Year’s Resolution. We’ll talk about why our resolutions tend to fail and how choosing a word can set you up for success. 

Add Your Heading Text Here

How to Recognize Self-Sabotage

self-sabotage limiting thoughts

Ep. 43 Subscribe to receive Maleah’s Monday Message every week in your email. https://maleahwarner.com/subscribe/

How to tell the difference between intuition and self-sabotage

show notes

BRAZIL: Ten Things I Didn’t Know

Travel to Sao Paulo Brazil

Ep. 42 What do you know about Sao Paulo, Brazil? Join me for stories and surprising experiences from my trip to Sao Paulo. 

#10 BRAZIL is a Country of Immigrants

Like my home country, the United States of America, Brazil consists of the true native indigenous tribes, such as the Gaurani, , but otherwise the citizens have descended from immigrants. I could sense a spirit of building, enterprise, and a hard work ethic. The people I met knew the stories of their ancestors.

My tour guide, Doris, descends from immigrants. Her grandparents were Jews who escaped Poland at some point during Hitler’s regime and the outbreak of WWII. They didn’t know where they were going. They got on a ship having no idea where the ship was headed. That is the true definition of fleeing, taking the gamble that any place you land will be better and safer than where you are. I would LOVE to know the intricate details of their story, how they ended up on the ship, who they were with, what happened to their friends and family who decided not to go with them or who found a different way out. I only know what Doris told me, that her grandparents arrived in Brazil with nothing, and found a way to work and carve out a living.

Another man’s great-grandparents escaped from Syria due to war in their homeland in the late 1800s. A new wave of Syrian refugees has been fleeing to Brazil over the past eight years since the civil war has driven close to 5 million Syrians from their homes.  The UN refugee agency reports that Brazilian consulates in the Middle East have been issuing special visas under simplified procedures to allow survivors of the war in Syria to claim asylum and have a chance to start a new life.

#9 Sao Paulo is HUGE

Sao Paulo is the largest city in Latin America, larger even than Mexico City. With 19 million residents living in 587 square miles, the Sao Paulo city sky line goes on and on and on. The view flying over Sao Paul is hard to comprehend—miles of skyscrapers, apartment building that just keeping going.

Yes. Traffic is an issue. What’s interesting is that I didn’t feel crowded. There was a vibrant energy to the city.

#8 End to Slavery Spurred Immigration

The sugar cane and coffee plantations were largely built on slave labor. Brazil was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery in 1888. At a loss for labor, Brazil began paying voyage for immigrants from countries such as Italy. Today, Brazil has the highest Italian population outside of Italy. But Italian immigrants worked for low wages, were ill-treated, and had poor living conditions. In 1902, Italy banned subsidized immigration to Brazil. 

Meanwhile, poverty in Japan forced Japanese to migrate, but their options were limited due to bans in the U.S. and Australia.  In 1907, the Brazilian and the Japanese governments signed a treaty permitting Japanese migration to Brazil. Between 1917 and 1940 over 164,000 Japanese came to Brazil, 75% of them going  to Sao Paulo where most of the coffee plantations were located. Today Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

#7 Language Encounter

English is not taught in Brazilian schools, so you’ll find that many residents do not speak English, and those who do have found ways to learn on their own. My tour guide, Doris, spoke excellent English. Doris is an example of the Brazilian population of immigrants. Her Jewish grandparents fled Poland in the 1940s. Doris regretted never learning to speak Polish from her grandmother. However, she did learn Hebrew studying the Torah in school, but has since forgotten all but the phrase, “I don’t speak Hebrew.” When Doris explained that she can’t really consider herself a Jew because she’s forgotten Hebrew and hasn’t been to synagogue in years, I taught her the English suffix “-ish.” I explained that –ish means not exactly. A person can be tall-ish or hungry-ish, or wealthy-ish. So I told her she could call herself Jew-ish. She loved that. 

#6 Bandeira Means Flag

I picked up this little piece of trivia. Bandeira is Portugese for flag and is close to the Spanish Bandera. So, the name of Spain-born actor Antonio Banderas can be translated to English as Antonio Flags. Now you know. You’re welcome.

#5 MOUNTAINS

I learned what it is like to drive through long mountain tunnels. Now, I live in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, and there are some tunnels here and there. My kids have contests to see who can hold their breath to the end of the tunnel. But we don’t have anything like the tunnels on the route from Sao Paulo to the coastal city of Santo. Those tunnels go forever, you wouldn’t be able to hold your breath and live to tell about it. I have never before experienced mountains covered by a solid carpet of lush green foliage.  

#4 Soccer

With five World Cup trophies, Brazil is the soccer capital of the globe. The dominant religion in Brazil is not Catholicism, but soccer, and what team you cheer for matters. A lot. There are four main soccer clubs. 

  1. Corinthians is the most popular team in São Paulo (and the second most popular in Brazil). Corinthians regards itself as being the “team of the people” and gathers most of its support from the city’s working-class suburbs. It’s jerseys are white & black.
  2. Palmeiras is Corinthians’s biggest rival. The club is traditionally linked with the city’s Italian community, having been founded by a group of Italian laborers in the early 20th century. Playing in green and white, Palmeiras is officially nicknamed Verdão (Big Greens).
  3. São Paulo  is known as the Tricolor for its white, red and black uniform. São Paulo is the city’s second-most supported club and one of Brazil’s most successful. 
  4. Santos  is not technically part of São Paulo’s Iron Trio, as they are from a city outside of the state capital, but Santos is one of the most famous football clubs in the world, not just in Brazil. Playing in the coastal city of the same name, Santos is nicknamed Peixe  (Fish) and its all-white jerseys are recognized across the globe. The club’s fame is most known thanks to Pelé, the greatest soccer player of all time, who played for Santos for 18 years, arriving as an unknown 16-year-old and leaving as a 34-year-old global superstar. Pelé won three World Cups as a Santos player, while he also took his club to an astonishing 26 trophies, including two South American championships and two world championships.

#3 Gambling is Illegal; Fake Gambling is Fun

Gambling in Brazil has been illegal since 1946, so our hotel hosted a Casino Night offering every guest 100 worth of fake money. I don’t know how to play Poker or most Casino games. And the hotel employees did not speak English. I was trying to learn how to play Poker with Portuguese instruction, and somehow it worked. My husband and I had studied up on Portuguese numbers before going. It turns out that “gambling” is a great way to practice learning numbers. The employees helped us learn to count in Portuguese and we helped them learn to count in English. 

#2 Ibirapuera: The Central Park of Sao Paulo

With massive growth of population, mostly old buildings or historic sites weren’t preserved, just torn down and replaced with bigger, more modern. Except in the city there is this huge park. Parque Iberapuera.  Swamp. 1950s president planted foreign trees like Eucalyptus that drink a lot of water. Now it’s a tree park with trees from all over the world. I love trees. Justin and I walked half the park one night, and guess what? Felt perfectly safe. So many people jogging, sprinting, biking. 

Cool thing: adult exercise playgrounds. Never seen this before. Par corp/Ninja equipment. Chin up bars. Leg presses. Rowing machines.

#1 Brazilian Cheesy Bread is GLUTEN FREE

Maybe you remember from Episodes 19 and 20 talking about not limiting summer screen time, my family chose different things they wanted to learn and practice during the summer. Then, at the end of the summer we had a Family Shine Time (Ep 34) and took our kids to eat at Rodizio Grill, which IS a Brazilian Restaurant. BUT, I didn’t eat the cheesy bread there because I assumed it wasn’t gluten free. I didn’t even think to ask. 

From Doris, my tour guide in Brazil, I learned that Pao de Quejo, or Brazilian Cheese Bread is made from Tapioca flour and is GLUTEN FREE!!! 

The best part of the story is how Doris came to know that Brazilian cheese bread does not have gluten. It happened like this: even though Doris is Jew-ish, a few years ago she was fasting and not eating flour. Her brother, who is not Jew-ish, but more like Orthodox, told her it was okay to eat Pao de Quejo because it is made from tapioca flour. Right away Doris asked the man behind the counter if indeed these particular cheese breads had any flour and he said NO. I bought one and ate it on the spot. 

This marvelous thing happened on my first full day in Brazil. For six days after that, I ate Pao de Quejo every day. What would my trip have been like if we hadn’t stopped for juice at that cafe, or started talking breaded and fried foods, and Jewish fasts, and flour-free bread options? It would still have been a marvelous trip, but not nearly as tasty.

This makes me wonder what other yummy morsels of life I miss out on because I don’t know or because I don’t think to ask. Months ago, when I was debating whether to purchase an airlines ticket and join my husband on his trip to Brazil, my daughter said, “Mom, of course you’re going to Brazil with dad because it would be ridiculous if you missed the opportunity.” 

I think this is the summary of what life is all about. If I had to summarize the meaning of life I would say it is this: Life is about getting an education, about having experiences, and opening your heart to find the love in all of it.  

I loved this lesson learned from my Jew-ish, Polish, Brazilian tour guide (now friend) during a trip that I didn’t want to take: that life has all kinds of delicious bites for me to partake of, if I open myself to the possibility. 

And this is what I learned traveling to Brazil.

References:

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/02/brazils-syrian-refugees-bring-a-taste-of-home.html

https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/stories/2016/3/573c364f4/the-syrians-starting-over-in-brazil.html

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-sao-paulo-2136590

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo_dos_Campos_de_Piratininga

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Brazilians

https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/brazil

Why Meekness is the Super Power You Want

Greek War Horses Meekness

Ep. 41 Greek War Horses were “meeked” which meant they were trained to stay in battle rather than flee at the sound of loud canons. The Greek origin of the word meek is “praus” used to describe these strong and disciplined horses and means “strength controlled.” 

Strength Controlled

 In his work, The Art of Horsemanship, Greek author and soldier Xenophon describes the selection and training of war horses.

The Greek army would find the wildest horses in the mountains and bring them to be broken in.  After months of training they sorted the horses into categories: some were discarded, some broken and made useful for bearing burdens, some were useful for ordinary duty and the fewest of all graduated as war horses.  

When a horse passed the conditioning required for a war horse, its state was described as ‘praus,’ that is, meek. The war horse had ‘power under authority,’ ‘strength under control.’ A war horse never ceased to be determined, strong and passionate.   However, it learned to bring its nature under discipline. It gave up being wild, unruly, out of control and rebellious. It would now respond to the slightest touch of the rider, stand in the face of cannon fire, thunder into battle and stop at a whisper.  

Xenophon uses the adjective “praus” to describe these war horses. It was now meek.

Yes, Meek People Get Angry

Aristotle said that the praus man is the one who has the virtue of the mean between two extremes.

For example, if there were a continuum with recklessness on one end and cowardice on the other end, the virtue in the middle would be courage.

This is how Aristotle defined it in relation to anger. The praus person, the meek person, is the one who feels anger on the right grounds, against the right person, in the right manner, at the right moment, for the right amount of time. Notice that he didn’t say: A meek person never gets angry.

Meekness is developing a focussed, deliberate center. 

Every Power Principle has a polar opposite, such as mess on one end and order on the other. On one day I could teach the power of embracing mess. And I would be right. The next day I could teach the power principle of creating order. So which is right? Embracing mess or creating order? The answer is finding the right middle place. It isn’t healthy to wholly inhabit one extreme or the other. [See Ep . 36 Organized Chaos]

Meekness is the effort of pulling both extremes together to find strength in the middle. 

Sources:

Mindset Conference: Master Your Influence 

Xenophon’s Anabasis 

 

Five of My Favorite Artists

John Lithgow Lindsey Stirling The Piano Guys Voice Male Josh Groban

Ep 40 I LOVE artists. Today I’m sharing stories of how five artists have colored my life. 

I’m grateful for anyone who creates and shares on any level. It doesn’t matter if it’s amateur or professional, hobby or full-time gig.  Fro me, art is the sauce of life.  When I lived in France, I learned that the secret to delicious French food is the sauce. Without art, life would be like plain mashed potatoes or dry chicken—you get the basic nutrition, but it’s the sauce that adds the spice, the flavor, and makes everything taste so good.

“Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you.”

Chuck Klosterman

All Kinds of Art

MAGICAL COMEDY

Years ago my husband and I went on a campout with other young married couples from our church. One man from our group performed a magical comedy routine while we sat around the campfire. I laughed so hard that my belly hurt for three days. It was awesome. This wasn’t something he did professionally. He was going to college like the rest of us, probably studying bio-engineering or something rather serious. I can’t remember what got him interested in magic and comedy or why he had taken the time to learn the skill. But I remember feeling grateful that he had taken the time to hone that talent and that he would share with us and not be embarrassed about it.  Twenty years later I still remember that night of entertainment. 

HUMOR

I love comedians. I love humor. You know those friends you love to be around because they are funny. They have a unique way of seeing and saying life. You never know what is going to come out of their mouth, but you know that when you’re around them your belly is going to hurt, in a good way. I’m really grateful for people with a good sense of humor. I think humor is an art. 

ACCENTS

Accents. I love accents. Real or imitation. With the internet and social media, our world is becoming more monochromatic. And I like that around the world we realize that we are more similar than different. But I hope we don’t lose our accents. I have a friend who can shift into accents on a dime and it’s hilarious. I love conversations when she gets in a mood and suddenly I’m having an international conversation with an Irish lady or German man.  I don’t know why. It’s just so colorful and entertaining. I think being able to do accents is an art. 

WRITERS

Of course I love writers. It took me awhile in my writing journey to think of myself as an artist. What finally gave me that AHA! was realizing how similar my writing process was to learning piano. Both required that I to sit my but in a chair for at least an hour every day and plunk away at the keys. And at first what came out wasn’t very pretty. However,  little by little over time it got better. Aha! Creating art, developing an artistic skill requires practice. Daily practice. 

CHILDREN’S AUTHORS

I could go on and on about writers I love, books that have changed my life. I want to mention artists who create for children. Thank the heavens, truly, for artists who create for children. I don’t know how I would have survived mothering without Dr. Seuss. Other favorites are Betsy Lewin’s Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type and Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm.  How about the gorgeous language and illustrations of Don and Audrey Wood in “The Napping House” and “King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub.”  

NATURE

For me, life without artists would be a black and white outline. A blank coloring book. When I look back on life, on raising young children, it is our encounters with art that added the color to our pages.

I feel this way about nature, which makes sense because God is the great artist and an encounter with nature is to experience art. 

CHILDREN’S MUSICIANS

I feel extreme gratitude for artists who create clever, engaging, fun music for children. I’m not talking here about a run-of-the-mill CD of Mary Had a Little Lamb sung to a strum guitar. Sorry nursery rhyme album recorders that sound like you hired Donna Reed to sing straight from the book of Mother Goose accompanied by a few basic piano chords. I suppose you have your place in the world, and you are certainly better than nothing. But goodness, if I had to listen to your menu in the car one more time, I would have parked at the drive-through of the crazy house and checked myself in. 

And Kidz Bop? PLEASE. With your aerobicized Top 40 synthetic, auto-tuned, lip sync! Have mercy on us mothers whose mental faculties are already as fragile as the thread of Justin Beiber’s relationships.

Five Favorite Artists

I said I would name five of my favorites artists, so I will. But choosing five is HARD! Much harder than naming five of my favorite children, which I can do without hesitation. BUT, choosing five favorite artists is much more difficult. I’m mentioning these five because they have come into my life during a transition or when I needed comfort or uplift. Their creativity, their art became the soundtrack of my life at that time. 

1. John Lithgow

I owe any strand of musical mental fortitude remaining to John Lithgo and his children’s album Singing in the Bathtub.  Thank you, John Lithgo, for witty lyrics, catchy tunes, and comedic poetry set to music. How a Tony and Emmy-winning performer ends up creating children’s stories and music, I don’t know. You didn’t have to do it. You didn’t need to do it. And yet you did. For this I say THANK YOU, and I mean it.  Friends with kids, if you want a squirt of fun in your day, ask Alexa to play John Lithgow’s album Singing in the Bathtub or YOUTUBE it. Our personal favorites were From the Indies to the Andies in His Undies and Big Kids Scare the Heck out of Me.  I don’t love the Triplet song, but in light of the exceptional, over-the-top fun of the other 13 tracks, I can forgive track #7.   

And my thanks to a public library, the lovely building that houses all this art for free. The best price for young families who have more toddlers show up to the dinner table than they have dollars in the bank account. Each of the books, and music CDs I mention we discovered through our public library. 

2. Josh Groban

In 2001 Josh Groban released his first album including track #5 “To Where You Are.” When my brother passed away that year, I would get in the car by myself and play Track #5 over and over, crying and feeling my brother close to me. I had never heard the song when I purchased this CD; it wasn’t the reason I bought the CD. That’s how I know that artists, teachers, mentors come into your life when you’re ready and seeking. That song was the wings of my healing. It carried and soothed me. I don’t know how anyone could ever heal through grief without music.

While Josh Groban performed the song “To Where You Are,” it is especially the writers who need acknowledgement. Do you know who wrote the song? Richard Marx! Yes. The Richard Marx of “Right Here Waiting for You” fame. As well as Linda Thompson, who I don’t know anything about, but I’m sure she’s lovely.

3. Voice Male

Voice Male is an an a capella group consisting of six men who have performed together for twenty five years, since they first met in their college choir. It’s their improv slapstick humor and witty asides during concerts that endear them to me. Also, the fact that I’ve known them since college.

What I love about Voice Male, in addition to their unique arrangements of popular songs and original compositions, is the energy and relationship of their group. I appreciate that these six guys really go out of their way to keep creating and performing art. They each have day jobs and live in different states. When one of the original members passed away from cancer, it would have been easier to call it quits. They have wives, kids, and mortgages. And, they continue to make it work to do concerts, put out albums, and create art. What’s more? They’re getting old. I know because they are my age!

I don’t get a kickback for mentioning them. They don’t even know I’m talking about them. They probably don’t even remember me. But I can without reservation recommend that, if at all possible, you see them live in concert. Our favorite albums are Kids Stuff  or their Christmas albums Jingles 1 or Jingles 2.  They also produce beautiful arrangements of sacred hymns.

Voice Male has been the soundtrack to our family gardening projects and the background music each December when we set up our Christmas tree. Their songs are my favorite background music to my annual Christmas Card Videos. 

4. Lindsey Stirling and The Piano Guys

I remember not too long ago seeing a flyer advertising a performance by John Schmidt. Tickets were $30 for his outdoor concert at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. I wanted to take my husband for date night, but we had something else that weekend. Now John Schmidt and The Piano Guys are selling out stadiums and tickets are four times as much. I missed my chance to see him perform his original composition, Waterfall, in front of the actual waterfall at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. 

Lindsey Stirling has a similar story. She performed in local venues until AGT judges told her she wasn’t a talented enough violinist and that her act wasn’t strong enough to make it on her own.

For both John Schmidt and Lindsey Stirling it would have been easier for them to not pursue their art. Their acts certainly weren’t mainstream. They were probably not going to get picked up by a major record label. “Don’t give up your day job,” was probably sound advice. The Piano Guys were doing classical music. Nobody pays money for classical music. We fill sports stadiums and pay out enough ticket money to give rookie athletes million dollar salaries. But all our symphonies and art programs are subsidized. But I’m so glad they didn’t listen. I’m so grateful they didn’t quit. I love that they sell out sports stadiums.

I am a daily beneficiary of their creative artistic endeavors. Every morning I listen to Lindsey Sterling and the Piano Guys. They are both on my morning yoga playlist. I’m grateful for their hard work, their perseverance. I’m grateful they fought through  the self-doubt and public doubt and brought their art into the world. 

Both Lindsey Stirling and The Piano Guys have shown that becoming an artist is about tapping in to what you have unique to offer the world and becoming more of who you are.

5. ABBA and Mamma Mia

I grew up in the 1980s listening to my older brother’s cassette tape recordings of ABBA’s albums and rewinding to my favorite tracks Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, Take a Chance, and Money, Money. ABBA was the soundtrack of my awkward tween years.

Then, what I find truly genius is that playwright Catherine Johnson found a way to take a string of unrelated songs and mold them into a story. I admit that to me the plot sounded a bit scandalous—a young girl afflicted with back-to-back sleep overs and three potentials fathers. I never say the musical, but when the movie came out—well, I will watch anything with Meryl Streep. And I LOVED it.

Next, imagine the genius required to take all the leftover ABBA songs and create a believable, unique, and even more lovable prequel. When Mamma Mia Here We Go Again came out, I was helping my oldest daughter pack to move away to college. We took a break from packing and wen to the theater and laughed and cried. The ending scene between mom and daughter was particularly poignant.On the drive to college, we blasted ABBA music full power. That movie and all its glorious music became the soundtrack for the story of my daughter growing up and leaving home for the first time.

Then (and how cool is this?), for Homecoming her university had an ABBA tribute band and she got to rock out live with her college friends. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving. And through this all I kept thinking how grateful I am for artists who create what literally becomes the soundtrack to our lives. 

Conclusion

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life,

in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

References

John Lithgow Singin’ in the Bathtub

Josh Groban, Singer   Josh Groban Album

VoiceMale Website    

Lindsey Stirling Website

The Piano Guys Website 

ABBA Website

Mamma Mia Movie 

 

How to NOT Feel STRESSED

Stress

Ep. 38  This episode is all about STRESS and how to NOT feel stressed. The goal is to understand that it IS possible to have a lot on your plate and to NOT feel STRESSED about it. Listen to learn POWERFUL thoughts to help you to NOT feel STRESSED.

THE PROBLEM

So often we believe that we have so much to do and not enough time to do it all. We believe ALL the things are so important and we worry that our effort won’t be good enough. Therefore, we end up panicked and stressed, which actually freezes us and limits our ability to finish ALL the things. We end up working frenetically, staying up late, getting sick, but not finishing the tasks. 

THE SOLUTION

I promise that life does NOT have to feel STRESSFUL. It is entirely possible to have a lot on your plate and to NOT feel STRESSED about it. You can have an amazing life and be engaged in purposeful work and move forward through accomplishments and success steps and never feel stressed.

If you think this can’t possibly be true, that I’m exaggerating, then this is going to be an excellent episode for you. I’m glad you’re here. 

WHY WE FEEL STRESS

Let’s talk about Why We Feel Stress:

Every emotion comes from thoughts. Every. Single. One. It’s not possible to have an emotion that wasn’t triggered, that wasn’t created by a thought in your head.

Now, that thought in your head doesn’t necessarily have to be your own thought. Other people can put thoughts in your head, dark spirits can put thoughts in your head, TV/media/billboards can put thoughts in your head. Sometimes this can be frustrating because we can’t always control what thoughts pop up in our minds, but can control how we think about, how we react to those thoughts.  In any case, the emotions we feel always derive from a thought.

I’m not saying this to chastise or belittle anyone for experiencing stress. I feel stress at times, not too often these days, but I used to live in a chronic state of stress. And it’s not fun. Stress is a real kill-joy, it sucks the bliss out of life and makes you not a very pleasurable person to be around. Not to mention that it can make you really sick. 

STRESS-INDUCING THOUGHTS

Let’s look at some of the thoughts that lead to us feeling stressed.

“I don’t have enough time.” 

You feel the crunch of the deadline. The calendar days are turning, the clock is ticking, and you are running out of time. This is a common thought. I think we’ve all been here, probably several times already today.

“Not good enough.”

This is the thought of either “I’m not good enough” or “What I’m doing isn’t good enough.” This is where perfectionism comes to roost. This thought is a relative of the thought of not having enough time, because usually we are afraid that we don’t have enough time to make our work be good enough. We fear our imperfections and weaknesses and so often we allow our subconscious to make it be about time, when in truth, it’s about fear of not being good enough.

“I should do more”

 

CHALLENGE THESE THOUGHTS

I’ve practiced noticing when I’m feeling stressed and following that feeling, like a detective hunting for clues, back until I discover the thought triggering the stress. Then, I’ve found it helpful to ask questions: Is this thought true? Or, is this a useful thought?

I discovered this tool of discovering and questioning thought when I was searching for healing from postpartum depression and autoimmune disease. This is when I realized that my thoughts were the roots of so many of my so-called problems and stress and that my sickness stemmed from my toxic thoughts. Most everything that I talk about on this podcast comes down to what’s going on in our heads.  If there’s one thing you get out of this podcast, or any of these podcasts, if you learn to question your thoughts, that skill alone will launch your life in powerful ways. 

Let’s do it. Let’s question these thoughts.

Thought: “I don’t have enough time.”

There are so many ways your brain can verbalize this. I’m so busy. I can’t do it all. I have too much to do,  thus I don’t have enough time. 

Challenge:  Is it TRUE that I don’t have enough time?

Instead of going into a huge existential discussion about what is TRUTH, let’s skip to the understanding that when it comes to your life, you get to create your truth. It’s a gift called Free Agency. So I would ask, Do I want this to be true  for me that I don’t have enough time?

I can choose to believe that it’s true and my brain will be extremely skilled at finding evidence to support why I don’t have enough time.  Or, I can choose to say it’s not true. I can choose to think that I have plenty of time. I have SO much time. Time is an unlimited commodity. I can use time today and I will have more tomorrow. I can use tomorrow’s time and I will have more time the next day. It’s amazing!

For so long, self help people have pushed this idea, this “thought” that time is a precious, and limited commodity. Get it done today because there are no guarantees for tomorrow! And it’s true you could die at any moment. But still, I believe that death is not the end of me, that I will go on living and have, get this, even MORE time! More time to learn, progress, experience, etc. When my brain throws up that idea that I don’t have enough time, I challenge it and I argue for all the reason why I have an abundance of time.

I’ve never found a scenario where the thought “I don’t have enough time” is a useful thought. It doesn’t serve me well. The panic of running out of time makes my insides contract, it freezes me up, and it drains my power to take action. Ironically this thought of not having enough time actually leads to procrastination rather than prevents procrastination. 

Replace: What to Think Instead

I have plenty of time.

I have exactly enough time.

I have an abundance of time.

I have exactly enough time to accomplish all the things that are important to me

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