I had a moment of great insight this morning after weeks of befuddled misery. Is the alcohol withdrawal finally ending?
I have a very strong inner voice that is quite smart. I keep letting my brain cancel it out. In the past week I've let the voice guide me and I have accomplished a whole lot. I have stopped doing a bunch of things that were making me really unhappy.
I am learning to say "no" and mean it.
Now I'm ready to translate that into going into weight loss mode again to take off the 5-7 lbs. that are now jiggling around on my body.
Dagmar, I thought I smelled smoke earlier. It was the "paradigm shifting without a clutch" smell. Roll with it - that voice is as close to truth as it can get!
Michele, I'll be on the coast near the Port Aransas/Corpus Christi area for a week. I'll be spending most of my days tromping around in the marsh and on boats collecting water samples and not have much free time, but if you have any must try food recommendations or must see sights I could see in the evenings I'd welcome them! This trip will be a mix of working with faculty I've worked with before and get along with, as well as newer folks who I don't know as well. It shouldn't be stressful but I do need to put my best food forward and act semi-intelligent. I'm taking the day off tomorrow but will be at home studying my marsh plants (not my strength at all).
Dagmar, one's inner voice is often wise. For me the trick is to quiet down enough to hear what it's saying. Sounds like you've gotten there - good for you.
Megan... I'm not real familiar with that area as I haven't been there since college. It will probably be quite similar to Florida in many ways. I'd love to hear what you think!
Would everyone's life be better if each of us listened to our own inner voices?
My problem is deciding between the advice given by different inner voices. There are several (which makes me sound crazy, but it's the truth). One is intuitive. One is authoritative and critical. Now conventional wisdom is that my intuition is always right and represents my better self. But in my experience, it has been wrong. And my critical thinking has been right and said some smart things. I'm used to listening for both because one helps me write new material, the other helps me rethink it, revise it, tighten it up. I need both. And sometimes I confuse my intuition with the voice of my anxiety. Anyway, how do you know which one is talking? Honestly most of the time I can't tell.
Often the voice that I find I resonate with the most is the one that says "You don't have to put up with this sh!t."
But as with all inner voices, I wait a bit and consider my options.
Intuition often isn't a voice at all.
And calling something "intuition" may or may not be correct. Sometimes I think it's intuition when it's just knee-jerk or conditioned response on a subliminal level.
Anxiety voices are never helpful. They are all "What are you going to DOOO?!" "What will happen NOWW?!" "That may be OK today, but what about toMORROOWWW?!"
Really. STFU, anxiety. Not helping.
Meditation helps; but one has to set aside time, and then watch what happens when you try to sit and be quiet for even 10 minutes. Or even 5 minutes! And you have to be willing to keep setting aside the time and keep sitting for the minutes you've decided on. At first it seems pointless, but the fact that it does, only highlights the problem.
My inner voice differs with the time of day. Usually anxiety voice shows up in the wee hours of the morning. Cerebral logical voice shows up in the evening. The quiet, quiet "gut feeling" voice that is the one I should be listening to more often generally shows up sometime when I'm out with the dogs. Or when I'm out walking by myself in the early morning. I'm usually fairly happy and relaxed when it whispers to me.
Jayell I find I can meditate or the equivalent of for me - quiet the mind - when I'm moving far better than when I'm sitting still. So I meditate when I'm out walking or paddleboarding and I used to do it when I jogged with my own dog in the mornings.
I made a bit of a mistake in saying that I do walking meditation when out with my dog groups. I do feel happier with them but it's not a meditative state as I constantly have to monitor them and interact with them.
I'm not endorsing these people at all but this is a description that quite well matches what I do re "walking" meditation.
Not the traditional form but it works for me. I always feel much calmer and my minds quiets down when I walk alone for awhile. I could also do this with my dog when jogging as I didn't have to mind what she was doing - she was trained to stay fairly close to me while we jogged and we were on a boardwalk at 6 a.m. so no traffic or people to worry about.
Jogging was really an intense body connecting experience for me. I was totally aware of what was happening to my body at first - what hurt, how hard it was to breathe, etc. etc. Then my body fell into a rhythm and I could start enjoying the view of the sky and lake and the trees. Most times my mind shut right down at this point and I could just BE there.
I miss that. But now I can't handle jogging. I think paddle boarding will fulfill the same need for me. I have to start getting down there on Sunday mornings. Now there'a a new obstacle - someone is doing smash and grabs at the club and making their getaway in a jeep type vehicle. Not many people down there at 6 a.m. so I'm a little concerned about going. The police probably couldn't find the club either. City life - ARRRGH!
We had one of those beautiful sunny blue sky summer days today - not too hot but perfect for wearing a t shirt and shorts. DH and I went for a kayak this morning and it was beautiful! Not too much wind and not many people out yet.
I'm finding that we get out on the water a lot more if I make it the first priority of the day. DH will get out of bed for kayaking.
no more!
Roll with it - that voice is as close to truth as it can get!
at the club and making their getaway in a jeep type vehicle. Not many people down there at 6 a.m. so I'm a little concerned about going. The police probably couldn't find the club either. City life - ARRRGH! 