A Moment for Mindfullness
What do you do when life hands you lemons?
Do you immediately start making lemonade? Do you just sit and suck on the lemon until your face screws up because it's so sour? Or do you take a moment to ask yourself, what else is possible? How does it get any better than this? That's what I want to talk to you about today.
Artwork by my incredible friend Stephanie Richardson. Check her out at StephanieRichardon.com
What else is possible?
My dear friend Stephanie Richardson is the person featured in blog photo and is the person who has provided the artwork for the blog post today. She's also a registered Access Consciousness facilitator. That basically means that she has learned a set of tools that she uses to help coach you through a tough time and help you come out the other side better for having had the experience. She tends to work by asking a series of questions, and today, I'm going to talk to you about two of the questions that come up again and again throughout her sessions - the first one being "What else is possible?"
This question is all about finding a perspective shift. Let's get back to the proverbial life and lemons situation. Have you ever had two events scheduled on the same night. They're both being thrown or hosted by close friends of yours. Do you feel trapped into making a choice where you know you can't win? I know I have. That's when you ask yourself, "What else is possible?" I realized that I was much more interested in attending one of the events, but I loved my other friend more and didn't want to hurt her feelings by not attending hers. I wound up helping the friend I cared deeply about set up for her party by moving some furniture, hanging some string lights, and helping her prepare and plate her appetizers for her guests. I was there for maybe an hour and a half, and this resulted in us getting to spend some great quality time together! I got to help her which obviously made me feel good, and I was still able to leave in time to attend the other event that I was actually more excited about. This solution had not been immediately visible, but when I took a moment away from the panic and the heat of the moment trying to force me to make a decision, I found another way!
Artwork by my incredible friend Stephanie Richardson. Check her out at StephanieRichardon.com
HDIGABTT?!?!
No, my dog didn't just walk across my keyboard. HDIGABTT stands for "How does it get any better than this?" another question and tool to go in your mindfulness toolbox. Where the last question, "What else is possible?" is designed to put you back into choice when you feel trapped, this question is designed to make sure that you're always getting the best for you out of any situation.
Let's make up another scenario. Let's say your waiting tables, and you're tired of it, and you're hoping to find a new job. You've been submitting resumes and going on interviews, but it just hasn't worked out for you yet. In trying to find a glimmer of hope in what looks like a pretty bleak, jobless situation, you ask yourself, "How does it get any better than this?" You wished, why can't the job just walk into my restaurant and hand itself to me? About that time one of your regulars walks into the restaurant. Over the course of the conversation with your regulars, you mention that you're looking to supplement your income by taking on a new job and just waiting tables on the weekend. Your regular patron says that he is in fact looking to hire someone starting next week, why don't you come on in for an interview. Well, in this made up scenario, I was the waiter, and my regular patron became one of my greatest chiropractic mentors. He was also the Dean of the College of Chiropractic at Life University at the time. He wound up giving me my job in the clinic system there where I realized that I wanted to be a chiropractor! Had it not been for HDIGABTT and some eggs benedict, I might not be Dr. William Hatten at all!
Stephanie and her nephew. Check her out at StephanieRichardson.com
How to get more of these tools in your life?
I offer a small number of these tools in my Wellness Coaching sessions, but if you want to truly explore the world of WEIP and HDIGABTT, you should get in contact with Stephanie Richardson by checking out her website, www.StephanieRichardson.com. She also co-hosts a weekly radio show that I love called The Good Girl's Guide to being Wrong (and Happy) which can be found here.
Yours in health,
Dr. William