Have you ever noticed…
The harder you think…
The deeper you sink?
Perhaps the answer isn’t hiding…
Inside your thinking.
Perhaps…
It’s waiting just beyond it.
THE ANSWER IS THERE YOU ARE NOT
Have you ever thought about this?
(Pun intended.)
By obsessively dwelling on your circumstances, your dilemma, or your problems, you can unknowingly deepen the very hole you’re trying to climb out of.
One thought produces another.
Concern becomes worry.
Worry becomes doubt.
Doubt becomes confusion.
Confusion feeds fear.
Fear slowly paralyzes.
Eventually, what began as a problem becomes an identity.
Many people never become trapped by their circumstances.
They become trapped…
By their thinking about them.
SINKING IN YOUR THINKING
Think about your situation…
Absolutely.
But only long enough to understand what you’re looking at.
Observe it.
Assess it.
Name it.
Then stop feeding it.
Every additional thought gives the problem more life.
More energy.
More attention.
More power.
Consider this…
If your present way of thinking created your present predicament…
Why would more of that same thinking create your freedom?
Sometimes the answer…
Lies outside your thinking.
INSANITY DEFINED
We’ve all heard the saying:
Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is insanity.
The same applies to thinking.
More thinking…
Produces more thinking.
Round and round we go.
If you already had the solution…
You wouldn’t still be searching.
You would simply implement it.
The very fact that you’re stuck often means you’re asking the wrong questions…
Or asking them from the wrong place.
I SET THIS UP
This is one of life’s hardest realizations.
Many of us fail to see the part we played in creating our present circumstances.
We’re quick to blame.
Quick to accuse.
Quick to explain.
Quick to defend ourselves.
Certainly, many situations involve other people.
But before examining everyone else’s contribution…
Look honestly at your own.
That single act changes everything.
WORTHY NOTE
Personal growth begins the moment we stop asking,
“Who did this to me?”
And begin asking,
“How did I participate in creating this?”
THE WAY OUT
Taking responsibility…
Even for a small part…
Begins the healing.
Accountability is not punishment.
It’s freedom.
The Greek word for repentance simply means…
To change.
To think differently.
To turn around.
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is…
Pause.
Don’t react.
Don’t defend.
Don’t justify.
Observe.
Become objective.
Many difficult situations become far worse because we respond before we understand.
ADMIT IT…
SOONER RATHER THAN LATER
Avoiding responsibility feeds dysfunction.
Owning responsibility starves it.
If you cannot clearly see your part…
Ask someone you trust.
Invite honest feedback.
Explore it without defending yourself.
Don’t keep replaying the event in your mind.
Learn from it.
Then release it.
Otherwise…
Today’s mistake quietly books passage…
Into tomorrow.
IT’S YOU
More often than we’d like to admit…
The problem is us.
Ouch.
Oddly enough…
That should be encouraging.
Why?
Because if you’re part of the problem…
You can become part of the solution.
I recently spoke with someone who had found themselves in quite a pickle.
I asked,
“What are you doing about it?”
Their answer immediately told me they would be fine.
They simply said,
“I’m trying to figure out how I set this up.”
Now that’s a person who’s about to grow.
FINAL THOUGHT
If you find yourself resisting this entire discussion…
Pause for a moment.
Resistance often protects the very lesson we most need to learn.
Sometimes…
The breakthrough you’ve been searching for…
Has been waiting patiently…
Just outside your thinking.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
Been expecting you