Do you see what you're planning?
“Whatever you're thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you're worrying, you are planning. When you are appreciating, you are planning. What are you planning?”
- Esther Hicks
I’m taking a workshop for my own growth and development. The focus is on deeper listening to the communication of the animals in my life. This quote by Esther Hicks was the opening to an activity that was powerful for me.
Given all that is happening in the world, and all the troubling and frightening things there are to focus on, this quote and the activity I’m about to share, helped to anchor me in positivity and pull me away from hopelessness.
In times like these it is easy to get stuck in worry, fretting, discussing, lamenting, and obsessive planning. But you can only do that so much before your nervous system takes a hit and needs rest.
Sandy Rakowitz, of One Heart Healing Center, introduced me to this activity in my class. I’ve adapted it a bit and am sharing it with you as a tool to help you find your motivator and anchor to offset negative or limiting thoughts in tough times.
It only takes a few minutes.
Draw a vertical line down the center of a blank sheet of paper.
In the first column (left side) free write a few lines about what it is YOU desire to create in this world. This can be anything. It can be a sense of safety for your family. A healing garden. A loving relationship. A piece of artwork. A new career. Imagine what it will look like, feel like and sound like to you when you’ve created it.
In the second column list out all the thoughts or beliefs that hold you back from creating it. These are not external factors but things like:
“I doubt I can do it.”
“Who am I to do this?”
“I worry too much about what others will think of me.”
Be really honest here.
Putting these thoughts on paper calls them out and allows you to examine them and recognize them for what they are: saboteurs that hold you back from creating the future you desire. When these thoughts are allowed to be present in your mind, as Hicks says, they are planning your future.
In both of the columns avoid editing yourself as you write. This is a free writing exercise and for your eyes only. No one will grade it or judge it or even see it unless you share it.
Here is where the magic comes in. Whenever you are having thoughts of doom or gloom, hopelessness, or excessive, unproductive worry, focus on what you want to create in the world. Hold those thoughts. Allow yourself to imagine that future.
If your brain tries to interrupt or stop you by repeating the thoughts that hold you back, pause and return your gaze to the image of what you want to create. Sit in the positivity, glow, and possibility of your vision. Allow this to be your anchor, your pause, your respite. Your mind will notice the planning you are doing just by being present in the vision.
To take it one step further, look at the phrases you wrote on the left side and find one small action you can take right now that brings what you want to create a bit closer to actualization.
You can do this activity anytime and anywhere. You can use a piece of scrap paper at work, a paper napkin, or a page in your journal. It doesn’t matter. Once you’ve completed the activity, hold the vision in your mind’s eye and in your heart.