The Loaded Weapon Within

I shot my first gun a couple months ago.

I've been wanting to try it for years, and a relative invited me out. We shot an AR15. I was hitting a target that was 200 yards away!

There are a number of insights that I took away from that experience, and here’s one of them:

The trigger was so easy to pull. It took nearly nothing at all to pull it, and it initiated some serious damage!

And yet the trigger itself actually does very little - it’s a very small part of the weapon. 

What really does the damage isn’t the trigger - it’s the loaded gun that it’s attached to. 

The same is true of us. The people, situations, and experiences that trigger us aren’t the problem. It’s some deeper, unhealed, and unintegrated part of ourselves, the loaded gun, that’s at issue.

On Saturday I led a Mind Mastery Experience to 12 students 16-18 years old. It surprises and inspires me each time how willing our adolescents are to be vulnerable, to express themselves, and to step through and beyond their self-imposed limitations...when we give them a safe space, a profound listening, and an effective body of work.

At one point I was working with a student who’s been grappling with anxiety, and at another point I was working with a student who gets annoyed and angry at a younger sibling - both of them getting triggered by something outside themselves. No, we can’t possibly avoid all the possible triggers in life, but we can disarm our inner weapons.

“Turning swords into plowshares” - it’s exactly what this student learned to do. To practice sowing seeds of acceptance, love, and gratitude no matter what inner storms might arise. 

So beautiful and powerful. 

Next time you’re triggered, try to see that the trigger isn’t a problem. Instead, allow the trigger to support your healing and integration by looking within at the loaded gun of unresolved judgments, trapped emotions, past experiences, or stories you’ve bought into as the truth.

The trigger simply releases the power that’s already there. Turn that weapon into a tool for inner and outer peace, love, and joy for yourself and others.

If you don’t know how to do that, set up a call with me and let’s connect - it’s something I’ve gotten quite good at supporting people with.

Much Love. ❤️

Not Saying It Out Loud, but Still Saying It

What is it you’re not saying out loud, but still saying?

You’re saying something with your body language and your tone.

You’re saying something in the friends you keep, the people you live with, the colleagues you hang around.

You’re saying something even when you’re saying something else.

We are always communicating something, even when we think we aren’t.

And people are always interpreting what we’re saying, especially when we’re not saying it out loud.

If we’re not even clear what it is we’re communicating, how can we be surprised when others make assumptions about us?

Here’s the opportunity in the fact that we’re always communicating something: to be intentional.

Intentional in my tone. Intentional in my body language. Intentional in my relationships.

Where does our intentionality begin?

"What you perceive is communicated always. You do it with the [clothes] that you place upon the body. You do it with your gestures and the sound of your voice... What you are choosing to perceive, believe and accept as true will be radiated through you." The Way of Mastery

Our intentionality begins in how we direct our will in our thinking.

Intentional in my thoughts about others, and intentional in my thoughts about myself.

Intentional in my thoughts about the past, and intentional in my thoughts about the future.

The fact that we’re always communicating doesn’t need to be stressful or overwhelming. In fact, it can be quite liberating. 

People will always interpret in their own way what we’re saying and how we’re showing up, often regardless of what we intend.

And so if we’re intentional about what we say and how we’re showing up, we get to be clear and grounded in what’s accurate for us. 

We can let others take it however they take it, and keep checking in with ourselves on our integrity and intentions.

Let's be intentional about the seeds we plant in the garden of our mind, our heart, our body, our relationships, and our souls. Those seeds grow into the communications we give, whether we say them out loud or not.

Much Love. ❤️

Opening the Mind up to Possibilities

Last weekend I began preparing for a Mind Mastery event I’m leading at a school in a couple weeks. The first thing I did was review feedback from teen participants from previous events. 

Here’s some of that feedback. I invite you to hear the wisdom in these statements, and consider how it might apply or make a difference in your life:

”I feel like I've awakened to my own life.”

“It opened my mind up to possibilities.”

“I gained a greater insight into my life.”

“This class was probably the most beneficial event of my life.”

“I am in control of what I want.”

“I’m right where I need to be.”

“I don’t need a reason or a purpose to do what inspires me.”

“I’m committed to the idea that this is practice.”

“Getting mad in the car stays in the car, like a fart with closed windows.”

“My inner songs really should be sung.”

“This is so applicable for everyone.”

“People I thought were my opposition actually make it clearer to me what I feel is important, what I value, and how I want to treat people. All people are a gift to me!”

"Ever since the Mind Mastery Experience, I've been laying in my bed at night in perfect peace and oneness."

“I’m not taking things personally like I used to. I have a lot more peace of mind and room for people to be however they are.”

“Maintaining my integrity would involve paying attention to my true self, primary emotions, guiding values.”

"The strengths of this conversation was that it really got me to open up and I felt completely safe the whole time."

“The day after the MME, I had a really terrible set of circumstances in the morning. Just because I had bad circumstances doesn’t meant mean it’s a bad day. I took some time to myself and applied some of our principles and tools, and it ended up being a really great day.”

“We have an inner toddler, and the toddler isn’t the problem - it’s all about how we react to the toddler.”

Which of those statements resonate most with you?

Much Love. ❤️