I have noticed a pattern among my patients in these past few months. It’s probably always been there, only I’ve just recently taken notice and started exploring it with my patients.
Maybe you can relate to this? Here is a typical scenario I come across:
Woman (usually age 40-mid 50’s) comes into my office for her hormone re-assessment. She is doing well on the hormones- they are helping her sleep better, have more energy, have better moods and more of an ability to cope with stress, compared to before starting them. That piece of the puzzle is ok. However, she has a multitude of things going on in her life that she feels are outside of her control- usually they are work-related- and they are causing her to be pulled in many directions, feel depleted and possibly depressed. She may like some aspects of her job, but in general she dislikes many others- like the hours, the deadlines, the heavy burden of responsibility, the toxic work environment etc. She believes these stresses are affecting her quality of life and possibly her health.
When I ask her “do you have any idea of what it is you’d like to do instead?”, she always has an answer. “Well sure, I’d love to (insert her passion/idea here) but (insert her reason why it can’t happen here).”
I have noticed that most people stop there- meaning, they don’t take their idea that would make them happy any further, because they so quickly hit an obstacle that makes them feel that it would never work.
Our brains are used to thinking in a certain way. The thoughts we have on a regular basis reinforce neuronal pathways in our brain- and the more energy we give these pathways, the more active they become. When we limit our thinking, and stop ourselves from thinking in a new way, we limit the creation of new neuronal pathways in our brain. A pathway associated with our awesome idea- eg dream job- won’t exist, if we don’t allow ourselves to think about it! Thinking about an idea is what allows it to become a physical substance in our brain- a pathway of signalling within our nervous system.
If you want to have something manifest in your life, it has to exist as a pathway in your mind first. The thought in your mind is the blueprint for the idea. Our consciousness is what creates our reality, and so only when an idea is fully developed in our consciousness can it stand of chance of becoming reality.
I have started giving my patients homework, “for fun”. I say “for fun” so that there is no pressure, and it doesn’t have to be believable to their conscious mind at first, since this can be an obstacle to them doing the exercise properly.
I have them imagine what it would look like if they actually were doing what they loved to do. And that it met their needs- it gives them financial security, happiness, all the things they want it to provide them with. I tell them to just practice imagining this. In the beginning it can be hard for people to remove the limitations that their minds so quickly impose on their thinking, so I tell them to pretend that they are God, and they can do anything. Or imagine that they are in a different universe, where the rules of this one do not apply. What would their ideal life look like then?
Our subconscious mind is a very powerful tool. When we create thoughts like this, our subconscious mind takes over and tries to make it happen- without our conscious awareness. It tries to find ways to make our thoughts become manifest. Why not get your subconscious mind starting to work on this idea for you? What could you have to lose other than the possibility that your dream could actually come true?