Our sixth meeting: An animation - Our thinking can be like a backseat driver, especially as we shelter in place.
This video comes from Amy Johnson, PhD's "Little School of Big Change" which some folks at SCC have hung out with.
It was made especially for folks who are struggling with dysfunctional thoughts and habits. So it takes on thought/feeling patterns we've been in 1000s of times. They really are just thinking/feeling - very powerful thinking and the intense feeling that arises from it.
Your Thinking can be like a Backseat Driver: Your brain gives all sorts of commands, but did you know that you don't always have to listen?
And here is the script... without the animation... with me reading it... because, sometimes, going slower is helpful... for people like me.
So, what do you think about just letting such thinking/feeling pass?
One of my favorite versions of letting such painful thinking pass is to say to it something like: "I may feel this intensely right now, but it's only my thinking, so I'm gonna say 'NEXT! …I'll take the Next thought in line please!" - And keep saying that until something more helpful comes along.
May we do what we can for those in our care - and find life in more and more moments of each day.
yrs, Peter Buck