The Light Inside

By The Age of five, the word “NO’ is etched in our brains - happening at a startling 60,000 times.

And for a long time, the only window to the mind was through introspection.

This posed a methodological problem as a result of the unreliable and disruptive nature of meta-cognition — a state also known as” thinking about one’s own thoughts.”

We often experience it — the cycle of negative thought patterns clouding our perception of life.

Why is it perhaps, we tend to have a hard time with the word “No”?

We are joined today by Mark Scherer - Founder and CEO of Encompass Life. Mark is a life coach who has created a coaching strategy called the Quantum Leap Technique - a system which focuses on the energetic impact our chosen words have on our day-today experience of life.

The program brings specific awareness to the significance within the word “Not” - and how repetitive use of this one word, is directly related to the amount of anxiety one experiences throughout their lives.

At times - it can seem as if life is somehow destined to challenge us. And at times we question this notion, seemingly on almost a daily basis.

Our motivated thinking and projected constructs aside, as we each address our daily circumstances, there are times when we turn towards coping mechanisms to address such feelings as anger, contempt, disgust, fear and sadness.

Perhaps chief among these - is a desire to complain.

Complaining is referred to as expressing discontent or resentment. While we may think we are just “venting”, in reality, complaining has significant impacts on our brains and our happiness.

Input from this data shows that most people complain once a minute during a typical conversation. Complaining is tempting because it feels good, but like many other things that are enjoyable -- such as smoking or eating a pound of bacon for breakfast -- complaining isn’t good for you.

Research from Stanford University has shown that complaining shrinks the hippocampus -- an area of the brain that’s critical to memory, problem solving and intelligent thought. The study found that engaging in complaining or simply hearing someone complain for more than 30 minutes could physically damage our brains.

Heroes.

Are they born - or made? They touch our hearts, fill us with admiration, and make us reconsider our world view. As we look at the plethora of superhero movies these days and you can see how much our society values and loves its heroes.

-Just what makes certain people take heroic actions in the face of great danger?

If you joined us last week, you learned how our biases influence so much of our reality. Shaping and moving how we each see things.We also talked a bit about that great classic movie - the Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz is a fantastic movie that tells an allegorical story with many different layers and symbolism. Whether intentional or not - It was a great reminder that everything I need I already have if I only look within.

-To see that light that already shines inside.

What can we learn fro The Wizard of Oz…. Stuff like dream interpretation, the nature of our hidden fears and what constitutes ‘rational reality’. We hold the power to create the life we desire; while taking time to truly look within and reconnect with who we are and our heart’s desire -Embrace change.  Change and facing our fears can be scary.

Just like the witch and tornado that Dorothy faced, we too will face challenges and change. These things are neither good nor bad.  We simply need to see them for what they are —  An opportunity for growth.

We revisit our conversation from last week with Michael Hynes to discover… the rest of the story.

Michael and I explored additional insights discussing how as a result of our biases; our stories often become myth or fable.