Messages from The Magic Kingdom!

A weekly column about the adventures and insights that come from living in Sedona or as I call it--The Magic Kingdom!

Message for November 7th

High Up!
(Extended version)

I took the day off last Monday and went on a big hike/climb. Above the “Healing Tree” there are several high red rock plateaus. Its way up! On an earlier hike I’ve made it half-way and promised myself that one day I would make it to the top. Today was the day! I made it! The view was breathtaking. I was probably at 5000 feet. For one moment, I sensed in some small way what that joyful feeling must be like to make it to the top of Mt. Everest. I ran around on the summit, shouting, “I made it, I made it!” I thanked all my guides and the Grandfathers and Grandmothers and many others who help me with my mission here in the Magic Kingdom. Then I thought of all my clients and how I would love to share this moment with them. I wished I had all your numbers on a big speed dial and I could you text message with these words:

“The further up you go, the further you can see! Don’t forget! Wait for the elevator to go up to a better mood—it will sooner or later. I promise!”

That day I got deeper insight around the principle of waiting for your mood to change and seeing the bigger picture. As I climbed higher and higher, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. At a lower elevation I could see the mountains but as I walked higher I could see a way to go around them, the pass thru them was obvious. In other words the pass thru our problems is clearer if we getter a bigger perspective. How do we see the bigger picture? By being in a good mood.

When you’re in the basement, a low mood, sooner later the elevator arrives and you get on and you are taken to a higher/better mood. How does that happen? A few ways: one, don’t judge the low mood you’re in—“Damn, I am so tired of feeling this way!” “Why do I let this stuff get to me?” We have a variety of ways we judge ourselves when we get in a low mood. So first step—STOP DOING THAT!

Second, distract yourself without trying to distract yourself! I know you’re reading this and saying, “Oh no, Greg, not another riddle. Please, just tell me!”

I got in a very bad mood a few months ago. And I mean BAD! I hadn’t felt that way in many years. I was beating up myself over something. Walking around, going, “How stupid, what’s wrong with you, damn damn, etc….” I am sure you have all been there! After about half hour, I thought, “Ok, brother, remember what you teach people—“It’s just a thought!” Yeah right! That really helps! But I made a different decision in that moment then I use to make, I didn’t get into “stacking”. I didn’t start looking at my life thru that bad mood and start stacking one bad feeling on top of another. I decided to get myself home—a safe place. I knew inside that I just needed to wait for myself to shift out of it. I remember thinking, “What would feel good right now? Ok, I will just sit down and watch TV and relax. I had a few episodes of Nip & Tuck from the video store. So, I watched them, getting pulled into the story. After the second episode was over I suddenly realized that I was no longer angry, it was completely gone. I felt better. I really didn’t care about all the stuff I was beating myself up about. I just thought, “Ok, you made a few bad decisions.”

I tell my little story because I didn’t sit down and watch TV thinking I better distract myself to get myself out of it. It’s a little subtler. My intention was just to try and point myself towards a nice feeling as opposed to an action to distract myself. Once your mood rises, you will get a whole another perspective about the issues. In that moment after the second episode, I was stunned how I had totally deflated from that anger I was feeling. I saw that I just made some innocent mistakes that came out of some needs that I have. I was simply kinder to myself.

So if you’re in a big bad mood and reacting all over the place and think, “No. I have to work this out, this needs to be talked about, I have to defend myself, they hurt me, I can’t let them get away with it”. Just believe that no matter how bad and deep the feelings are you will feel better again. So instead of acting out of the low place and creating a lot of drama and conflicts WAIT.

These two simple actions of not judging yourself and waiting will save you a lot of misery. Try taking them. See what happens. Maybe you’ll hear that voice: “All aboard! Elevator going up!”

Remember:

Low mood > negative thoughts > negative feelings > negative behavior.

Good mood > positive thoughts > positive feelings > understanding>freedom!

A Ho,

Greg