07/25/2024
We all have tapes playing inside our head. Most of the time we’re unconsciously listening to some unlabeled version. Sometimes we intentionally pop in a different tape to rehearse anger or some other emotional state. Being aware of the tape we’re playing is super important. When we choose to become familiar with an old tape, we can become so conscious of that unconscious self that we don’t have to go unconscious to it anymore.
The moment of change begins when we choose to stop forgetting and start remembering. Only then can we ask better questions.
What thoughts do I want my brain to think?
What behaviors do I want to demonstrate?
What would greatness do?
What would love do?
Change the tape. Practice a greater way. Rehearse it enough times that you could actually step into the new rhythm. Do it over and over again so it becomes familiar to you. Unlearning and relearning takes intentionality. Breaking the habit of the emotional record of the past isn’t accomplished in one day, but a daily choice, often hourly choice. It’s unfamiliar and uncomfortable to prune the synaptic connections in our brains and make new ones.
It is 100% our choice whether we want to change, but it’s not usually until we’ve painted ourselves into a corner where we finally don’t care how it feels or how long it takes, or even what other people might think. This is the gift of desperation, where we can make a decision with such firm intention that the amplitude of that decision carries a level of energy that is greater than the hard wired programs in our brains and the emotional conditioning of our bodies.
If you lose it, just try again. You only get better at what you practice. Notice where you went unconscious and rehearse what you would choose instead next time. It really does become easier with time, but let go of the notion of guilt or failure (another old tape to eject) and live in the grace of being midprocess.
Keep at it!
