When you’re confronted with something you’re afraid of, you have two options. You either run away or rise to the challenge. This is called the flight or fight response. In prehistoric times, the human fight or flight response was manifested in aggressive behavior as we faced a predator for example. In current times, fight and flight responses have assumed a wider range of behaviors. For example, the fight response may be manifested in argumentative behavior and the flight response may be manifested through social withdrawal. The thing is that by turning away from our fears, we allow them to remain alive and kicking. Whereas to rise to the challenge, ultimately leads to the eradication of our fears. So – whether it be in your personal or professional life – If you can’t stand the heat, get into the kitchen. For you will grow, by doing what you fear.
When we have fun our perception of time is shortened. We may even completely forget about time. And forgetting time let’s you live in the now, simply because history and future need time to exist.
Feel free? Choose your own way? Right, you might think, so easy for you to say, as you walk into the office on monday morning facing deadlines and seeing your boss, bossing around already. Sure, reality can be harsh. Making it seemingly impossible to feel free and choose our own way. Our surroundings can be so dominant, we sometimes think we ARE these surroundings, while instead, we are only IN these surroundings. That means we can get out of them as well. It’s not your boss making you feel not free. It’s not your deadlines making it hard to choose your own way. It’s your perception and how you deal with this, that makes you feel free or not. Reality begins in your mind. If you want to be free in reality, start feeling free within yourself. That means taking responsibility for yourself first. Don’t blame your boss, for that will make you a prisoner of him/her. Don’t blame the deadlines because that drives you away from yourself. And you – is where your freedom begins. To feel free, free yourself. Let nothing stop you and let this picture by Erik Johansson – inspire you.
Being succesfull or a failure, far away or closeby, having lots of opportunities or no chance at all: it all depends on your perspective. Change your perspective and your world will change. To discover what your perspective is on something, simply ask yourself: do I feel good or bad? To change your perspective simply challenge yourself by asking: why? Why do I feel the way I do? Do I really have to feel this way? Is the way I see it, the absolute and only truth? Or, are there any other options? It’s like a mind game, because you always have other options – the trick is to find them and to choose the option that meets your needs. In the midst of things this can be hard to do, but even the awareness of a possible other option, gives you space to breathe – in(side) and out(side) – a bit more calmly.
It’s a mistake to be afraid to make one, just like it’s useless to feel useless. We often feel scared because we’re scared. Or we feel so excited because we’re so excited. Basically it’s a loop we’re getting ourselves into. When positive, ok, when negative, not ok. At this point awareness is key. Whenever, whatever you feel, take a moment and ask yourself: why do I feel this way? This creates a moment of choice for yourself: you can choose to enjoy it, or change it. And if you choose to change it, don’t be afraid to make a mistake for the biggest mistake in life, is being afraid to make one. That’s because mistakes, same as failure, don’t really exist. How that works? Read it here.
