The Bug in the Box

It's all about perception.  Everything is as we perceive it to be.  I am sticking out my neck and probably will have my head cut off for this blog, but I am willing!  My stand on all of life is that it is about what we see, and mostly about what we WANT to see.   Even about our own attitudes it boils down to perception.

What do you perceive?

If you see yourself as weak, you will be - you will go out of your way to BE weak - even if it is subconsciously, you will manage to be weak if you perceive of yourself as weak!   Victims of bullies are always people who see themselves as weak and ineffectual.  And vice versa.   As usual we are our greatest enemies. 

Have you ever got out of bed and felt a bit down, and then told yourself you KNOW that this will be a dreadful day?   What happened?  Yep!  It was a DREADFUL day - and most of it was simply because you had decided it would be.  So everything that happened that day became a trial, or a nuisance, a disaster, whatever!  If, on the other hand, you had felt a bit down and said to yourself "I will be great once I have my cuppa!" - your day would have been so totally different.  

I have seen this type of perception explained as a "self-fulfilling prophecy" and couldn't agree more.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I am so guilty of this myself, and can't think of one person I know who isn't.   My blog has been idle for a while because I saw myself as too ill, or too tired or some other feeble excuse not to talk to you.  Once I gave myself a hard mental shake, it was just so easy!  As it is all too easy to fall into my own trap - and if that happens I become an invalid overnight.  I become INVALID.

It takes enormous mental effort to be aware (cognisant) of our thoughts (perceptions) and to change them.  You need to work hard to overcome a lot of your current mindset.  I have read a recent blog by a little friend who has depression.  She lost her tablets, and instantly fell into a state where whe felt she couldn't function without them.  So she retreated virtually to childhood - it was easier!  She will most likely hate me for this, as it is not going to be a hug, but a bit brutal.

She needed to change her perceptions immediately she lost the tablets.  Big deep breath.  Slow down.  Methodically look for the pills.  O.K. you suffer if you don't have them, but you made yourself suffer worse by not taking yourself by the scruff of the neck, giving yourself a good shake, and asking "what the hell do I think I am doing here?".  A negative attitude breeds more negativity yeah?  I am not a psychologist, have only learned through bitter experience, but I do understand that once you let yourself wallow you are damned well doomed. 

Well?  Are the stairs going down or up? lol

It is so easy, and human, to feel sorry for yourself.  And it actually makes your illness ten times worse.  Your mind can affect your health, to put it simply.  You can see that at work, just think about when you "feel sick"  -  if you feel a bit nauseous and concentrate on that feeling, you end up being horrendously sick, head down the toilet, moaning and sweating.   You can actually take the feeling away by concentrating on other things, deep breathing and refusing to think about the nausea.   I have done it!  It works!  My daughter has done it also, with a bit of coaching.

One brilliant illustration of changing the way your mind works is to use singing!   I maintain that if you smile on the outside, your inside simply ends up following along, and you feel happy!   If you start to think negative thoughts, be aware of what you are thinking.  It is so difficult to learn how to turn the thoughts off, so use an aid that works wonders - put on your favourite music and sing!  Loudly as you want to, the louder the better!   And after a while you can take note of how you feel.   Guarantee you that you will be 100% better. 

I will probably put more on my blog about changing your thoughts - in fact it isn't such a bad idea to break this down into parts.  First part is you gotta sing honey!  SING!  And the "Bug in the Box"?   My perception.   I had a box of arnica cream for the bruising on my grossly swollen feet.  I picked up the box and could feel something bumping around inside it.   I immediately thought there must be a beetle or a cockroach or something in the box.  I held it to my ear and could HEAR it bumping and trying to get out.  I could "see" the bug in my mind, and went into a mini freakout.   So I asked my husband if he could get the tube out for me, as if it was one of those brown beetles I would flip, and if it was a cockroach then I am gone like a bullet. He held the box, nothing.  He listened to the box, nothing.  He went to open it, and by this time I have thoroughly convinced myself that something will come blasting out - so I was about six feet away from him.   He reached in and pulled out the tube of cream.   NOTHING was in the box, no bug, just an empty box.

The noise?  The movement?  He explained to me that I was shaking badly and it would have moved the tube and made it bump around.  I hadn't realised I was shaking, and my perception was that there must have been a creepy crawlie in there.   Mind over matter.  It's all about perception!