Friday, May 20, 2016

Invisible Killers

Invisible Killers ©2016 Joan M. Newcomb, CPC

I had a startling discovery this week. I thought I'd pretty much vanquished my gremlins, those negative thoughts in your head that cast doubt on what you're doing, that distract you from making positive choices. I recognize them now for what they are, so they no longer have power over me.

What showed up this week were the mute ones.
old wolf by Retron

They aren't verbal. You just find yourself frozen in inactivity. Or submerged in a mountain of busy-work, thinking you're taking action but really spinning your wheels.

They came up because I've hired virtual help to take on administrative tasks, freeing me up to develop new programs and be available for more clients.

I've noticed them in other people before, but never in myself (now, isn't that special)!

I've seen folks get lost in vagueness, be forgetful, lose track of time, behaviors that seem the opposite of mine, and yet they're really the same thing. I'd been so judgmental of space cadets, but now I recognize that they're overrun with this different sort of gremlin. They're infested with mimes.

It's habitual behavior so deep it can't talk.

And just like we all have negative thoughts, we all have this kind of inertia that keep us from moving forward.

Gremlins come up whenever we're about to break through our limits and take bold steps in the direction of our dreams.

The silent killers tie our shoelaces so we're fearful of falling on our faces. We feel immobilized as if our ankles are chained together. We think we'll die if we move beyond our boundaries. And yet, it's our creativity that dies, instead.

With mental gremlins, you recognize them and redirect them. You dismiss them, send them on their way.  You reframe them from something catastrophic to manageable. You replace them with beneficial thoughts.

How do we handle these invisible killers? You shine a light on them. Acknowledge their existence in your life. And you take action.

If you're enmired in inaction, any step is a step out of it. It's why 'just do it' actually works (when you actually 'just do it', that is).

If you're stuck in busy work, running on your giant self-created hamster wheel, it's a little more tricky. You have to just STOP doing it, and do something else instead.

Sometimes it's doing the opposite of what you normally do. If you are used to doing it all yourself, get help. If you are used to do it quick and cheap, perhaps it's time to invest time and money in transforming your life.

When I look at my invisible "killers", they're aging white wolves, blind with no teeth. They may have seemed like legitimate threats many years ago, but now they're just laying around the hallways taking up space. I can release them into the woods, or send them to a sanctuary for elderly imaginary beasts.

This frees up my time and energy to do more fun stuff!

What are your (silent or loud) gremlins? What are you going to do with them?

Try this for the next week and see what happens!

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