| 🎶🎵 My bolognah as a first name It’s 0-S-C-A-R My bologna has a second name It’s M-A-Y-E-R 🎵🎶 |
| Everything has a name – and everyone’s name deserves to be sung about, including Oscar Mayer bologna, apparently. This ad, by the way, is 49 years old now and people still remember the jingle – and how to properly spell bologna! ☺️ In the book A Liberated Mind by Steven Hays, Hays recommends naming your mind something different from your name. The reason? Because then it’s different from “you.” (I named mine Amy!) When we listen to someone else, we can choose to agree with what they have to say or NOT, and if you don’t want conflict, you don’t try to argue your point with the one in disagreement with you. This is how we need to handle our inner voice. Remember Monday’s show? It’s your RELATIONSHIP to your thoughts that matters – NOT the content! Don’t. Give. Your. Inner. Voice. A. Vote! Don’t agree, disagree, fuss, fight, put down, obey, or resist. Doing ANY of this constitutes a vote for Amy! (Remember I named my amygdala Amy – yours may have a different name!) Hays goes further to explain how to handle your inner voice – “Thanks for the thought, Amy. Really, thank you. I get that you’re trying to help, so thank you for that, but I’ve got this covered.” This dialogue helps you take back control from your scaredy cat amygdala and make choices you want instead of allowing your brain to run with it and knock down all your dreams in its wake. If you’re still struggling with these important divisions between your thoughts, your brain, and you, then here’s something hardcore: See yourself as 4 years old – that age when you’re just starting to put stuff together and understand abstract thinking. Now have the ugly words you say to yourself come out of your little 4-year-old’s mouth: I’m stupid I’m no good I don’t deserve anything good And little 4-year-old you’s eyes are filled with tears, bottom lip quivering … what would grown-up you do? You’d hug and comfort her – you’d tell her she isn’t stupid, that she just had a stupid thought, and that it has nothing to do with her lovely self! It’s not the content of your thoughts, it’s your RELATIONSHIP to your thoughts. Remember, your thoughts don’t have to be 1) believed, or 2) obeyed, and you don’t have to take them seriously. Name your brain – specifically, your amygdala. When you SEPARATE yourself from those thoughts – it’s not YOU, it’s that damned Amy again! Thank her for her concern and move on, just like you would if someone were annoying you on a train! Comfort your 4-year-old self – you simply wouldn’t allow for such torment, you would reassure her and comfort her. Do that for big you, too! And don’t forget Monday’s powerful exercise – you can say something contrary to what you’re actually doing, like walking around a room while saying you can’t walk around the room. That shows you that you can control your thoughts! |