emotional_mathmatecs

So often I've observed that the intensity in which a specific event or events impact us is very related to the way in which our thoughts process them and in what context we see the experience. It is a natural expression of the human mind to try to understand and make sense by constructing logical patterns. It is also one of the most potent opportunities for creation that we have in the choices we make in imagery, language, and beliefs.

Even though for many years, I have told people how poor I was at math, the following imagery has been developing strongly.

Life can feel extremely overwhelming when we take various incidents and add them together. If seeing a consistent pattern in our behavior, helps us to choose a better course of action, then that's empowering. But, if in taking isolated incidents (no matter how seemingly related) and building a case which justifies hopelessness, we will then be immobilized by our own thought construction. There may be a number of difficult challenges happening at the same time in our lives. But some things in life are apples and oranges and have no business being added together.

Have you noticed the odd phenomena that negative things seem to have a greater value than positive things ? It's like we can have a full day of successes and then have one person criticize us. The results is that we then feel that we've had a bad day. It's as if, we have a tendency to remember words that wound us more strongly that praise. It helps to realize that we can be in choice in how we focus our thoughts. Continually focusing on how unfair things are or how we are a victim may slow our growth and healing. It's just like Mom always said, "Keep picking at it and it will never heal." Placing things into perspective and making an accurate assessment of the percentage of positive and negative things in our lives will give us a clearer view of the reality we are creating.

If in solving a math problem, you over and over again keep working with the same numbers, you will invariably come up with the same answer. By creatively seeing what factors can be changed and choosing what to add and what to subtract then a different outcome is possible. One way of approaching this is to assess one or several things that you are tolerating that are taking much needed energy from the goal you wish to fulfill. By letting go of these specific things (habits, relationships, grudges, old promises, etc.) you can freely establish a new pattern. The other approach is to recognize the resource or way of behaving or thinking which when added to your past efforts will multiply them to a more productive sum.

How often does a current event give you a flashback of some trauma or tragedy of the past ? Exploring our own history and family of origin can be a fruitful endeavor. But, the information and lessons you learn can only be of value in how we apply them to our current situation. It is natural to have emotional reactions which cause us to feel as we did as a vulnerable child. It can be essential to let ourselves experience these feelings freely. It is also important to bring ourselves more potently into the present by viewing ourselves as the adults we are, with the resources, skills, and the experience as a survivor that we possess.

If, perfection is the only standard by which we measure our lives, then we will rarely come up with the right answer that is called success. If, on the other hand we use an evaluation scale which measures subtle changes then our progress will be evident. As humans, we are very adaptable creatures. Yet, there is an optimal range "a comfort zone" of factors which allow us to progress and change. Though due to circumstances and expectations we may emotionally feel despair, a relatively small percentage of improvement may return us to our "comfort zone". Progress over perfection is a way to keep ourselves in process. A journey only continues by putting one foot in front of the other and continuing step by step.

We may feel at times that things just don't add up. It may be the time to have someone else check our "figures". Seeing our lives in context and understanding the nature of feelings can help us maintain the emotional "bottom line". I feel that his "bottom line" is that whether we are experiencing the exhilaration of the mountain top or the struggle of the swamp in the valley below, our ability to truly feel is the success of being alive.