How To Rise Above The Clutter In Your Brain

 by: BZ Riger-Hull

Ever notice when you start a new hobby or fall in love with a new shrub or flower you start to see it everywhere? This isn’t necessarily because everyone else has the same new hobby it’s because you have the flower or shrub or hobby at the top of your mind.

You are focused on it, thinking about how much you enjoy it and you end up noticing it when you never did before. It’s not merely a coincidence it’s your Reticular Activating System located at the junction of the base of the brain and the spinal cord that is responsible for stimulating this top of the mind response.

Every minute our body receives thousands of stimuli; sounds, smells, sensations, tastes, and changes in environment. All these stimuli are filtered through the Reticular Activating System and the most important ones are passed onto the largest portion of our brain, the cerebrum; the central portion, which is responsible for cognition and then, translated into thoughts and emotions.

Understanding how this system functions allows us to better filter the distractions in our world. You can focus on the work or play at hand and only process the things that are most important to you at the moment. It’s a great way to filter out all the distracting thoughts while you are fishing or gardening. Or to come up with the best ideas for the new brochure you’ve been working on.

Use the Reticular Activating System to help you reach your goals or solve a problem. Keep it on the top of your mind by thinking about it, writing about it, even doing affirmations. Talking about the things you want to achieve as if you already have achieved them.

Another good tool is to create and image book. Clip pictures that reflect the idea or desired outcome and keep adding to the book. Look it over every day and keep your goals foremost in your mind. You can use the same system to keep you from being overwhelmed. Don’t look at everything that needs to be done. Pick out three of the most important things and break each one down into two or three steps and work in a methodical fashion to complete each step. Then list the next three things that need to be taken care of and continue to focus on the most important things first.

Do some spring-cleaning of the clutter in your brain and make your year more productive. Write down the five most important goals you would like to achieve in the next 6- 9 months. Then list three or four steps under each that will let you reach each goal.

Put the paper some place clearly visible so you will look at it several times a day. By keeping it on top of your mind your Reticular Activating System will help increase your focus, creativity, and resolve to reach your goals this year.

About The Author

©BZ Riger-Hull. Author of The Soul of Success http://www.in-spiros.com For valuable free articles, mailto:A1@smartautoresponder.com Certified as a Success Coach, “Four Agreements” Facilitator, & Tele-Course leader We help you communicate powerfully, reduce stress, Strategically Attract success, & increase your financial well-being. Our coaching programs and Tele-Courses give you the Tools you need to Succeed.

bz@in-spiros.com

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If you’ve got a dream you’re intent on pursuing, chances are you’re going to bog down at some point. That’s just the way dreams are. In fact, there’s a little known rule about this called the Second Rule of Thermodynamics, which states that sooner or later everything returns to chaos.
In other words, expect your dream to come crashing down around your ears periodically.
Yet, no need to despair; such meltdowns are actually good for your dream, because they force you to stop and rethink your approach if you want to continue. That’s the only way you can find the footing to continue, and in that process, you’re forced to learn and grow. This is when I always pull out my trusty guided visualizations.
Nothing, but nothing, can turn your mind around quite as effectively as a good guided visualization. It can create hope where there was none, clarity in a space of confusion, and immeasurable inspiration. If you subscribe to the same notion that I do – that all of our ideas and instincts around our dream are guided – then this is where you’ll find the mother lode of such information. A good guided visualization will connect you with deep inner truths that most of us simply can’t tap into consciously.
So basically, you, too, can be a Ghandi or a Nelson Mandela or a Thich Nacht Hahn … if you dig deep enough and surrender fully enough. (Those enlightened souls have taught us that such round-the-clock access to the spiritual goods requires one heck of a lot of meditation, not to mention a saintly obfuscation of the ego.) In the meanwhile, the next best thing is to turn on the guided visualizations.
By guided visualization, I mean a recording of someone leading you through a meditation. First they relax you; then they help you imagine yourself in a particular place, or having a certain experience. A great guided visualization will lead you into situations where anything can happen and anyone can show up. You simply sit back and observe as helpers show up, insights are gained, and instructions are received.
Sometimes the path you see is a familiar one you’ve imagined often with your conscious mind, and the meditation serves as a wonderful confirmation of your plan. Yet, other times it can be strange and dark, making no sense whatsoever. My own students have come to me with alarm when they saw a picture of chaos, or violence and degradation. And yet, in talking it over later, they usually recognize a deeper meaning to the picture. Over time, if they repeat the process, they are often left with a greater insight than they anticipated.
For instance, Rosemary was a frustrated writer who hated her daytime job, and was given to fits of gallows humor about it. When she first did my Discover Your Soul Purpose meditation, she uncovered a chaotic back alley, full of lurking, menacing figures. She did the meditation several more times and the situation only marginally improved. Yet, what Rosemary took away from the experience was that her life was out of balance, and filled with dark, negative energy. She quit her job, attended to her failing health, and re-approached the meditation some months later. Now the scene was remarkably different, a sunny courtyard in which she could see herself as a writer for the first time.
In fact, Rosemary had not ‘done the meditation wrong’, as she’d been quick to assume. (“I must be the only person who didn’t do this thing right!”) Instead, her soul was giving her a direct signal that she was tangled up in life circumstances that were obscuring her dream. The meditation, for all of its supposed lack of clarity, had really been clear as a bell.
The only real way to interpret the images we get in these visualizations is to check in with our gut. There may be age-old gypsy wisdom that water means good luck, or that a duck is an omen of impending death … but I say that’s all poppycock. The only person who knows what your visualization means is you; your gut is the only thing that should ever guide your interpretation. What is it telling you about what you saw — that you need balance, like the confused Rosemary? Or that you need courage? Could it be that you simply don’t want to admit that what you saw is actually true?
Often we get images of ourselves leading such a life of power and abundance that we can barely stand it. It brings tears to our eyes as we acknowledge that we really can do that thing we sorely wish to begin. In that instant, we see how small and constrained we’ve allowed ourselves to become; yet, we also see how much impact we could have, if only we could choose the right path.
Above all, guided visualizations give us permission to dream. They allow us to see ourselves graphically living a different life, feeling the feelings, smelling the smells, and owning the power. We see a higher, truer aspect of ourselves, and in that instant, understand how unstoppable we really can be.
This is the biggest reason I rely on guided visualizations in my work – because they take you beyond the sugary platitudes about ‘going for it’ and ‘reaching for the stars’. Instead, they deliver you smack into your dream for a moment, so you can see the impact and importance of what you’re here to do.
Once you really know the true rightness of what that feels like, down deep in your gut, nothing can keep from making that vision a reality. Even if the images you see are more fleeting or obscure, they will leave you brushed with truth. This is the wisdom that lurks in our bones; wisdom we can access simply by taking the time to turn on a visualization.

You can learn more about guided visualizations at www.howmuchjoy.com angdysp.html Suzanne Falter-Barns’ free ezine, The Joy Letter, brings you practical tips and tools for your dream every other week. Sign up at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html and receive her valuable report, “Thirty-Five Guaranteed Time Savers”. It helps you create time to finally live your dreams.

©2002 Suzanne Falter-Barns. Reprint permission available by request. Article must be complete and must include all contact information above. Apply to info@howmuchjoy.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The following article is offered for free use in your ezine,
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Title: Addiction to Clutter
Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
Copyright: © 2004 by Margaret Paul
URL: http://www.innerbonding.com
Word Count: 797
Category: Addictions, Self Improvement

Addiction to Clutter
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

Clutter is a big problem for many people. At a lecture that I gave, I asked for a show of hands regarding how many people had problems with clutter and disorganization. I was surprised to find that at least half the people raised their hands.

One of my clients told me that she was trying to help her sister get back on her feet after her sister had been laid up with an illness and lost her job. Her sister’s house had always been a mess, and had become so filled with clutter that there was no place to walk or sit. My client, Rebecca, offered to buy her sister a car if she would clean up her house. Rebecca even offered to help her sister clean up the house. Rebecca was shocked when her sister refused the offer, even though she desperately needed the car. He sister was unwilling to get rid of the clutter.

Why? Why was the “stuff” so important to her?

Underneath all addictions lies fear – of emptiness, helplessness, loneliness and aloneness. Addictions are a way to feel safe from feeling these difficult and painful feelings, and an addiction to clutter is no exception. It’s all about having a sense of control over feeling safe. Clutter, like all addictions, provides a momentary feeling of comfort. However, as with any addiction, the clutterer needs more and more clutter to maintain the illusion of safety and comfort.

When my mother died and my son was cleaning out her house, he discovered huge amounts of clutter. While my mother’s house always looked neat and clean, the cupboards and drawers were filled with clutter. My son told me he found 6 broken hair dryers in one cabinet. Why would my mother want to keep six broken hair dryers?

My mother grew up during the depression and always had a fear of not having enough. No matter how much she accumulated materially, she never felt that she had enough. The six hair dryers made her feel safe from her fear, even if they didn’t work.

Carrie has trouble throwing things away, especially magazines with “important’ information in them. She subscribes to many magazines but, being the mother of three small children, doesn’t often have the time to read them. So the magazines pile up and pile up. Carrie hopes at some point to have the time to read them, but that time never seems to come. When asked why she won’t throw them out, her answer is, “Because there might be something important in them and I don’t want to miss it.” Carrie fears missing out on some important piece of information – information that may give her the peace she is seeking. It makes her feel safer and in control to have all the magazines around her with their important information, even if she never gets to read them.

When we don’t feel safe on the inner level, then we try to make ourselves feel safe on the outer level, and clutter is one way of doing that. Whether it’s things, such as hair dryers, or information, such as in magazines and newspapers, clutterers do not trust that they will have what they need. In addition, clutterers may be resistant people who see messiness and clutter as a way of not being controlled by someone who wants them to be neat.

HEALING THE ADDICTION TO CLUTTER

Clutter is created and maintained by a wounded, frightened part of oneself, the wounded self – the part that operates from the illusion of having control over people, events, and outcomes. As long as this wounded self is in charge of the decisions, the clutterer will continue to accumulate clutter as a way to provide comfort and the illusion of control over feeling safe, or continue to be messy as a way to resist being controlled.

Healing occurs when the individual does the inner work necessary to develop a strong, loving adult self. A loving adult is the aspect of us that opens to and connects with a spiritual source of wisdom, strength, and love. A loving adult is capable of taking loving action in our own behalf. The loving adult operates from truth rather than from the false beliefs of the wounded self, and knows that the comfort and safety that clutter seems to provide is an illusion – that no matter how much clutter accumulates, the clutterer still feels afraid. The loving Adult knows that safety and integrity do not lie in resistance. Only a loving adult who is tuned in to the guidance provided by a spiritual source and capable of taking loving action in one’s own behalf can create a sense of inner safety.

Practicing the six steps of Inner Bonding that we teach develops this powerful loving adult.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anger And Your Health

 by: Anthony Fiore, Ph.D.

HOW YOUR OUTLOOK INFLUENCES HEALTH AND ABILITY TO CONTROL ANGER

Jane and Anthony have differing ways of viewing the world. Jane is a pessimist (the glass is half-empty), while Anthony is an optimist (the glass is half-full). These outlooks influence how they experience similar situations.

SCENARIO 1: JOB LOSS

Jane is devastated, convincing herself that she is all washed up, she can never catch a break, it is useless for to try to be successful, and she is never going to succeed at anything.

Anthony, however, has a healthier inner dialog. He tells himself he may not have been good at that particular job, his skills and company’s needs did not mesh, and being fired was only a temporary setback in his career.

SCENARIO 2: NEW JOBS

Offered a new job, Jane, the pessimist, believes she was able to find a new job only because her industry is now really desperate for people, and must have lowered their standards to hire her.

Anthony, however, feels he landed the new job because his talents were finally recognized and he can now be appreciated for what he can do.

IMPLICATIONS

As these examples illustrate, optimists tend to interpret their troubles as transient, controllable and specific to situations. Recent research by Dr. Marvin Seligman confirms this. When good things happen, optimists believe the causes are permanent, resulting from traits and abilities.

Optimists further believe that good events will enhance everything they do.

Pessimists, on the other hand, believe their troubles will last forever, will undermine everything they do, and are basically beyond their control. When good things happen to pessimists, they see them as temporary and caused by specific factors that will eventually change and lead to negative outcomes.

BENEFITS OF OPTIMISM

Optimism creates better resistance to depression when bad events strike, better performance at work, and better physical health.

In fact, one long term study at the Mayo clinic in Rochester, MN, found that optimists lived 19% longer than pessimists.

Optimism is also a powerful antidote to anger. Many participants in our anger management classes report their anger lessening as they learn to replace negative thinking with positive thinking.

GOOD NEWS FOR NEGATIVE THINKERS

You can learn how to replace pessimism with optimism.

The starting point is to access your vulnerability to pessimistic thinking by taking the self evaluation test you can find at http://www.authentichappiness.org.

Your responses will be compared to thousands of other people in various categories, down to your Zip Code.

If you scored lower than you’d like, you can become more optimistic. As Dr. Seligman writes in Authentic Happiness his latest book: “the trait of optimism is changeable and learnable.”

LEARNING TO BE AN OPTIMIST

There is now a well-documented method for building optimism. It’s based on first, recognizing, and then disputing, pessimistic thoughts.

People often do not pay attention to their thoughts and thus do not recognize how destructive they can be in leading to negative emotions.

The key is to recognize your pessimistic thoughts and then treat them as if they were uttered by someone else—an external person, a rival, whose mission in life is to make you miserable!

Basically, you can become an optimist by learning to disagree with yourself— challenging your pessimistic thinking patterns and replacing them with more positive patterns.

Note: this view of optimistic thinking is not the process of “positive thinking” in the sense of repeating silly affirmations that you really don’t believe.

Rather, it is the process of correcting distorted or faulty thinking patterns that create health, career, and relationship problems for you.

By teaching yourself to think about things differently, (but just as realistically), you can morph yourself from a pessimist to an optimist—and tame the Anger Bee in the process.

About The Author

Dr. Tony Fiore is a licensed psychologist and anger management facilitator and trainer. He also publishes a free monthly newsletter “Taming the Anger Bee”. Subscribe at http://www.angercoach.com

drtony@angercoach.com

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