Have you ever had a thought that you just couldn't seem to let go of? You know it isn't true. It definitely isn't serving you. But it just keeps coming back?
Have you ever rock climbed before? You know that feeling, when you are looking for the next good hold and you can't seem to find one? Your arms start to shake from holding up your body weight.... You grow weaker by the second as you hang helplessly.
Not very fun. Actually, I love rock climbing, so it is pretty fun for me. But when, I feel that way while climbing, the last thing I want to do is let go! Letting go seems like sudden death.
Until I find a new hold to shift my weight to. Then it's a relief to let go of the old hold.
It's your brain's job is to protect you from danger. Because we live in a world with relatively little danger, our brains will often try to protect us from negative emotions or uncomfortable situations, as if they were dangerous. They aren't, but sometimes it feels the same.
Our adrenaline spikes, our hearts beat fast, we may freeze up. But those feelings are only caused by thoughts. They aren't actually dangerous. We can let go of the beliefs that create these feelings, and we won't plummet to our deaths.
But it can still be really helpful to offer your brain a rope, just to be sure. Give your brain something new to hold on to, so it can let go of a disempowering thought more easily.
I see some of my clients catching themselves in their negative thinking and then spending lots of energy discounting the unintentional thoughts. That's not a bad first step, but the thoughts keep coming back if they don't find new beliefs to replace them with.
So if you find yourself experiencing some emotions or results you don't want, don't stop there. You'll miss the fun part. What do you want to believe is true instead?
