Empower Yourself
FABLES FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN
READING TIME: 1 MINUTE
One of the Jedi powers you’ll want to cultivate in your life is the ability to empower yourself. Sometimes you want to be empowered for a huge challenge and sometimes just to be in a better mood. Most people look outside themselves, but it’s not there. If you learn to empower yourself from within, you are unstoppable.
So how do you shift your mind from one gear to the other?
STEP ONE - NAME YOUR PROBLEM
(I learned this from decades of your wise grandfather asking Maggie, Mollie, and me these questions).
Are you hungry? (Then eat).
Are you tired? (Then rest).
Are you sick? (Then rest).
Are your hormones out of whack? (Then rest).
Something else? Scared, bored, overwhelmed, procrastinating, distracted? Name it.
The first step is always to notice how you are feeling and give that feeling a name. It instantly makes that negative thought or emotion smaller.
STEP TWO - LOOK FOR THE GOOD
(I learned this from a very wise Buddhist Neuroscientist named Dr. Rick Hanson).
What can I learn from this?
What doors might this unlock?
How could this be the key to something better?
If I actually chose to have this problem right now, what would I be trying to teach myself?
Is there some way this could help me or someone else?
How could this lead to a better future?
WHEN YOU FIND THE GOOD, that one little thought actually changes the chemicals in your brain, and you are on your way to power and happiness. Hold on to the good. If you do this often enough, it actually changes the physical structures of your brain. You are literally rewiring yourself for happiness and resilience.
May the Force Be With You,
Granny