What do you do when your life really sucks? Complain about how bad your life sucks? Say “fml” on a regular basis? Place blame? Lash out? Try over and over again to get it to NOT suck, only to fail or even make things worse? Try to escape into some substance or addictive behavior?
For a long time, my own escape was drugs and alcohol. After that it was work. Whether alcohol, cocaine, or work didn't really matter, though. It was the trying to escape in the first place that always (always always!) caused my life to spiral downward.
One day I was introduced to some new ideas about what could be, if only I would be willing to believe in the possibility that things could change for the better.
I decided to try it. Just the tiniest willingness to believe in possibility. Full, solid belief was not necessary in the beginning. I mean, really, there was no part of me that BELIEVED that things could change for the better, but I could choose a small willingness to believe.
At that time, I hated everything about my life. And since the only thing I had left to lose was my life, what was it going to hurt if I changed this one small thing, just to see what would happen? Successfully changing my life would have been fine with me, but dying would have been okay with me, too. I just wanted my misery to end, and I didn't care which way that might happen.
It may not seem like it, but that was actually a really powerful place for me to stand and make my choice to have just the barest amount of willingness.
I decided to do it as a 30-day experiment. Who knew…? Maybe things WOULD improve as a result of my willingness…
And they did. Just in the tiniest of ways at first, and then more and more significantly, until – just nine months later – my entire life was different. In fact, it was about a thousand times better than anything I could have imagined on the day I decided to do my willingness experiment.
In the weeks to come, I’ll get more deeply into what it was like. But for now, if your life feels bad to you and you’d like it to change, I encourage you to do your own experiment with this.
You CAN change your life for the better. Just start with the willingness to believe that it’s possible. Relax into willingness. Be willing to see and feel your life changing for the better around you.
My own experience has proven to me that even the smallest willingness serves to crack open the life I have felt locked into, no matter how long I have felt trapped in it. Try this for yourself and watch what happens.
Print the following statement out, take a screenshot of it, or write it down, and then carry it with you everywhere you go. Pull it out often and remind yourself:
For a long time, my own escape was drugs and alcohol. After that it was work. Whether alcohol, cocaine, or work didn't really matter, though. It was the trying to escape in the first place that always (always always!) caused my life to spiral downward.
One day I was introduced to some new ideas about what could be, if only I would be willing to believe in the possibility that things could change for the better.
I decided to try it. Just the tiniest willingness to believe in possibility. Full, solid belief was not necessary in the beginning. I mean, really, there was no part of me that BELIEVED that things could change for the better, but I could choose a small willingness to believe.
At that time, I hated everything about my life. And since the only thing I had left to lose was my life, what was it going to hurt if I changed this one small thing, just to see what would happen? Successfully changing my life would have been fine with me, but dying would have been okay with me, too. I just wanted my misery to end, and I didn't care which way that might happen.
It may not seem like it, but that was actually a really powerful place for me to stand and make my choice to have just the barest amount of willingness.
I decided to do it as a 30-day experiment. Who knew…? Maybe things WOULD improve as a result of my willingness…
And they did. Just in the tiniest of ways at first, and then more and more significantly, until – just nine months later – my entire life was different. In fact, it was about a thousand times better than anything I could have imagined on the day I decided to do my willingness experiment.
In the weeks to come, I’ll get more deeply into what it was like. But for now, if your life feels bad to you and you’d like it to change, I encourage you to do your own experiment with this.
You CAN change your life for the better. Just start with the willingness to believe that it’s possible. Relax into willingness. Be willing to see and feel your life changing for the better around you.
My own experience has proven to me that even the smallest willingness serves to crack open the life I have felt locked into, no matter how long I have felt trapped in it. Try this for yourself and watch what happens.
Print the following statement out, take a screenshot of it, or write it down, and then carry it with you everywhere you go. Pull it out often and remind yourself:
“This week, I choose willingness. I choose to just be willing to believe that things can change for the better and that my life can begin to improve. And I am willing to live an improved life.”
And then, if you’re a Community member, join me for our Community Conversation on Monday at 5:30pm Pacific time where we’ll go much farther into how powerful this practice really can be for you. The Zoom link for the call can always be found on your member page on my website.
If you’re not yet a member, you can join us by following this link. We’d love to welcome you into our family.
I’ll see you there! In the meantime…
Have an awesome day if you choose to!
Love,
Sandi
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.”
~~Joseph Campbell~~
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