BIRTHDAYS get you to thinking. Today my oldest son has his third birthday. Not old, not so grown or big yet. Still among the grasses in the cosmic forest of life.
THE coming of the event has set me to thinking; where, oh where, does the time go? Scanning briefly over his short life I recall early pregnancy in Australia, birth day at home in Berkshire England, learning to crawl (5 months), talk (10months), walk (13 months). I see games and fun and stories and travels to some far-flung places. THIS sets my mind to that old question, where does the time go? TIME goes to the same place as everything else in our lives. Look to your attention. Where does your attention focus, that is where your time flows. And that also is where your thoughts flow. And your money flows, your effort, your action, your plans, your successes, your memories. EVERYTHING flows where attention goes. WHAT do I see as my life over the last three years? I see games, and stories, and long walks, canoeing and paddleboarding, watching birds, spotting deer. I also see time spent arriving home from work wearily, to evening meals and bath time, I see long days of work as an instructor coaching with other peoples' children. I see the full moon, always ripe for spotting! I hear words often repeated "Look Daddy…" followed by some revelation of a Robin, a snail, a stick 'fire' being built. WHEN I have these sweeping moments of revelation and remembrance I feel it vital to recall all the best places that we have been, to release all the non-ideal places. When I focus my mind on my memories that I want more of, I can create more of those experiences. When I focus on the memories that I do not desire, then I will attract more of those events. WHERE do I desire my next three years taking me? We are gearing up for cycling adventures - something I have always deeply enjoyed and therefore something that I know will be of tremendous benefit to both my boys. So I see my adventures moving faster and further afield on bicycle. As an outdoor sports instructor I anticipate my boys being involved in climbing and canoeing, enjoying long days outdoors celebrating moving through the landscape under their own power. I see lots more "Look Daddy…" moments. Painting on rainy days, reading quietly, singing loudly, dancing crazy. THESE are the ways that I anticipate my next three years with William unfolding. As I focus my attention, so goes my life. FOR more on how to focus our attention and get what you truly desire sign up for my free mini e-Course on Visualisation, click HERE
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OUR emotions affect how we perceive the world, by affecting what we think. They also affect what we do, by affecting how we act. Mind (Thoughts)---------Emotions (Feel)-----------Body (Act) THE process from Mind to Emotions to Body, from Thoughts to Feelings to Actions is a two-way process. Our thoughts affect our emotions and our emotions affect our thoughts, and our emotions affect our actions and our actions affect our emotions. It is our job to monitor what each is doing, how they affect each other and how best we can adjust any of them to be more beneficial. TO this end I will introduce the Emotion-Energy relationship. We have a sliding scale of emotion, through negative and positive. We also have an ability to feel these emotions with varying intensities, with different amounts of energy. BY energy of an emotion I mean that you can see emotions as high energy - strong emotions - or low energy - weak emotions. EMOTIONS can, therefore, be positive or negative, and the energy of that emotion can be high or low. We can have positive emotion with high energy, positive emotion with low energy, negative emotion with high energy or negative emotion with low energy. THE relationships of them settle in a pattern as shown below: __________________________________________________________________________________________ | | NEGATIVE EMOTION / HIGH ENERGY | POSITIVE EMOTION / HIGH ENERGY | | | _____________________________________________|___________________________________________ | | | NEGATIVE EMOTION / LOW ENERGY | POSITIVE EMOTION / LOW ENERGY | | | _____________________________________________|____________________________________________ | FOR example, we may be feeling negative emotion, having failed on a climbing problem, or lost a sale at work, or missed a green light when late for dinner. These emotions will not be too strong: low energy. We feel their negative power, though not too strongly. Now, take it that you have fallen off most of the routes you have tried, or not made a sale all day and your manager is watching your every move, or spent the week hitting red lights. The emotions gain energy, gain momentum, the energy they have is stronger. The negative emotions become high energy. Now think of the affect these high energy negative emotions have on your thoughts and actions. ON the flip side, we may be having a positive day, succeeding at a few moves on a project problem, making steady sales, and seeming to catch green lights. This produces positive emotions, and when this keeps on the energy of these feelings builds. Creating high energy emotions. What affect will this have on your thoughts and actions, compared to the negative emotions? WHAT are you going to continue doing, in each case? In the negative emotion, building into higher energy, are you likely to succeed at tricky moves or fall off and possibly get injured? Will you begin to make those sales? Will you see the green lights you do catch, or just fume quietly as you sit at red lights? Conversely in your positive mood, how will your climbing continue during your session, you will continue to succeed. Your sales will continue to be good. Your drive will feel easy and flowing. AS a climber, in most sport, and to succeed in things that require creative thought and fine motor skills (most of our daily tasks) requires positive emotion in a low energy state. When we find ourselves in negative emotion these emotions cause our minds to become distracted by negative outcomes. When we run with positive energy and high energy the emotion controls the body too power-fully, causing failure in the same way as negative emotion. Your task is to monitor your emotion state and energy level throughout your day. AS you go through your day look at how your emotion changes and allow your-self to observe what affects your emotions and energy levels of your emotions. You can do this by sketching out the chart above in a notebook, then at various times of day note down your emotions and energy. Alternatively there are Apps available, such as 'In Flow', which give reminders at certain times of day so that you can chart and easily review your results and progress. THE useful thing about charting your emotions and energy is that it allows you to know what it is that makes your emotions move into positive patterns, and how your energy is affecting your performance throughout your life. FOR more on how to affect your emotion-energy relationship for more positive results check look at my E-Courses: CLICK HERE! Reference: Training For Climbing: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Climbing Performance. Eric Horst, Falcon Guides, The Globe Pequot Press, 2003. |
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AuthorAndy Clubley-Moore: joyful outdoor sports activist, writer, father, husband. Lover of life, activity, success and barefoot living. |