I Love Mondays #25: Hit the Reset Button
In a few days we’re having our very first visitor to our new place in Cleveland. We’ve been scrambling to get our home in order—hanging blinds, thrifting furniture, painting walls, cleaning toilets. I caught myself starting to get overwhelmed and stressed, but I just refer back to the list of prompts in this worksheet and I know everything will work out! With a little concentration, we can transmute resistance into gratitude and live life in peace. This week, focus your attention on new thought patterns, unwavering vision, gratitude and trust in the flow of life. When we look back, everything will have worked out for the best. Let’s live as if we know that now!
Physical
1. Physically reset your thought patterns.
One of the most major adjustments we faced when moving to Cleveland is having getting to pay rent. Thanks to the generosity of Kelly's mom, we were living rent-free in Galesburg for a year and a half. Not only did this help us save a ton of money and turn our lives around after being basically destitute in Austin, but it also helped us change our vibrations surrounding abundance. Moving to Cleveland presented the first situation in quite some time that forced us to have to budget our expenses to the dollar. This brought up a lot of old vibrations of lack and fear. What if we can't do it? What if we become poor again? What if we can't afford to do things and die of boredom?
We worked ourselves into a pattern of worry thoughts which resulted in feeling like we were trying to force life. When you try to force life, it feels hard. Luckily, we had a trip back to Galesburg planned which forced us to stop trying for a few days and think about something else. The more distance we got from our fear-based thoughts, the more we realized they were just that–thoughts and fears–not reality. As the trip went on, we started to feel better and better about life in general. Of course, being with family and enjoying a day at the lake contributed to those feelings of well being, but more than that we felt the relief of being free from a lack mindset.
As a result of merely placing our attention somewhere else, things we had been yearning for for weeks or even months started clicking into place. We resolved a misunderstanding with a consignee; we heard back about jobs; we were a match to rendezvous; the list goes on. All of these manifestations happened because we stopped trying. For three days, we weren't thinking about what we didn't have. We weren't thinking about how we hadn't gotten paid. We weren't thinking about how someone didn't write back. We were focused on the here and now: driving there, figuring out what and where to eat, going to court, engaging with family, driving back. We didn't manifest what we wanted by willing them into existence, we allowed them to appear by placing our focus elsewhere.
Thoughts and habits gather momentum. When you are in the same place doing the same thing every day, it can be hard to find a different pattern of thought. How can you break your physical patterns this week? Can you take a day trip? Maybe even spend the night with a friend or family member (or maybe alone in a hotel!) in your city? Switch up your routine and your external stimulation and you will be forced to break your everyday thought patterns. When you get a break from thinking about what you always think about, you'll realize you don't have to think those thoughts and they won't seem so "true". While you're focused on the fluffy robe in your room or maybe the trees at your local park, you may just create enough space for something you've been wanting for ages to slide right in.
What’s a thought pattern you’re sick of?
Physically go somewhere new today. What realizations do you have?
Mental
2. Know what you want is already done.
If you follow us on Instagram, you probably already know about one of our amazing new stockists, Coven in Lakewood, OH. The shop opened recently to wild success and our books are among the top sellers! On a recent visit to the shop, store owner Miranda Scott spoke knowingly about the popularity of her new venture. "I already know the store will be successful," she explained, "I know it in my heart." She knows. She has a vision, a version of reality that she sticks to and never wavers from. She doesn't have to, because she knows. She knows that her store is successful and she never, ever has to wonder if it will be. When you know life is how you want it to be, it is.
What is it that you want?
Now, know that it is already done, and never waver from your vision. Any time you start to wonder, say to yourself, “I know ______(what I want)_______ is mine. It is already done.”
Emotional
3. Find presence with gratitude.
I had a court date on Tuesday, which resulted in yet another scheduled court date. Part of me hoped the whole saga would be over on Tuesday, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Long story short, I felt discouraged and crabby afterwards. This case has been dragging on for nearly a year. Even though we had a fun day ahead of us, I couldn’t shake my bad attitude.
I had seen this Robert Holden quote a few days before, and it popped into my mind as we drove to a lake for a picnic. Here I was, pouting over my legal troubles, while we drove through beautiful countryside to one of my favorite types of destinations. Suddenly I was able to watch myself pouting, instead of being stuck in the thoughts.
This switch in perspective nearly made me laugh out loud. “What an ungrateful baby!” My detached perspective laughed. Here I was, surrounded by abundance, and I was focused on what I was lacking. I decided to start thinking “Thank you” instead of criticizing everything in my path. Over the next couple hours, my day improved considerably. I slowly but surely dragged my negative ass into the present moment, where everything is fun and there’s nothing to worry about!
I know in my heart that presence is the only worthwhile goal in this reality, so the gratitude quote was a really helpful technique that I latched onto right away. It’s so true—if you’re busy thinking “thank you,” you have no choice but to see all the glory of the present moment!
Make a list of 10 things you’re grateful for, in your reality right this moment. Feel the calmness of presence come over you, and stick to the mantra “Thank you” for the rest of the day. Welcome back!
Spiritual
4. Know the threads always connect.
I think pretty much all our suffering comes from not having faith in the flow of life - sure, looking back we can connect the threads (like Steve Jobs said), but why not assume that the threads will connect and live from that place? Heck, *knowing* that the threads will connect - if we can live from this place, rather than trying to control everything, I’ll bet it results in peace naturally. And even if it’s just for those moments we do so consciously, so worth it. –Kamal Ravikant
Any time we look back on our lives, we can see how all the “bad” things brought us to the good things. If it wasn’t for ___________, I wouldn’t have ___________. The threads always connect. The upsets, setbacks, problems and disasters pave the way for the miracles, abundance and solutions, every single time. So lately every time Kelly and I experience something less than desirable, we say to each other, “Well, the threads are connecting.” It’s really helped us stop questioning every minor negative experience, and trust the process of life more.
We can choose to trust that everything that happens is helping us get what we want. Every time you experience a problem this week, write it down. Then keep an eye out for the solution it brings, and imagine what it could be. Keep a list on this worksheet and watch the threads connect faster than ever!
If it wasn’t for _________, I wouldn’t have ___________.
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