These are more often described as conditioned responses and they can be particularly annoying when they arise. I think we are all aware of how habits play themselves out so in that respect they are almost like another part of ourselves that is working on an autopilot basis. We set out to undertake a task and our body is already doing the task for us before we have decided what has to be done. Or we respond verbally to a conversation and before we have given it any thought a stream of words and statements come out of our mouth. So we can see that some habits can be very useful and at other times they can be quite inappropriate to the situation on hand.

This demonstrates that there is a mountain of stored responses on hand in our minds that our brain then simply passes on to the motion or verbal articulation. A problem can arise when they were appropriate for what happened in the past but are no longer relevant to a current situation. This is where our emotional state can interfere with our mental state. A situation arises and we get a reflex emotion arise which mirrors a similar past event. In reality the current event may be about to play out quite differently from the past event but our emotional memory is so strong that it triggers an old mental state. And here lies the problem because we react from that past emotional state that is overriding our ability to recognise what is really presenting itself.

Be very mindful of how strongly you are defending your reaction or actions as that will be a good indicator of where the emotions are coming from. We are actually needing to relearn about our behavior to overcome the problem of when habits become counterproductive. Our emotions can be our best friends or our worst enemies. When we are driving a car the learned behaviour can be very useful but when we get angry or defensive then we know that something has triggered the way we are feeling. If we get caught up in the disturbed emotional states then we are more likely to create a story to justify our behaviour or what we are saying. However when we are aware that we are swinging out of balance then our emotions can at least signal to us that we have been triggered and it might be a good idea to stop, have a pause and evaluate what and why we are feeling the way we are. That’s when our emotions can be our best friends.

Habits are like imprints in our subconscious. Its like a short cut that can cue us on what actions we might want to take based on what happened last time or many times before. However we are not static objects, we are always evolving and as such a habit may actually no longer be the best way for us to evolve further. At its best a habit can act as a foundation of knowledge we can build upon, at its worst we respond based on a past emotional response that prevents from seeing what is now available to us and can be acted on from a different perspective.

Unfortunately many of us are still caught up in our old emotional responses that were either traumatic or only appropriate to the time and place they initially arose. It will take fortitude and perseverance to both recognise and change a habit that is no longer serving us. Self acknowledgement will be the first step to take to change outdated habits. Reflection within or from others will help to identify when a habit is running the show. Professional therapy will give you a more neutral territory to be able to expose the emotions that are still distorting our present reality. And sometimes just a good break or pause will assist us to review and reset.

Maybe best to start by getting a different take on what our future really is. If we look at what our future is constructed of we see that it is a accumulation of all our past events and the choices we make in any given moment. So in reality we are constantly formulating our future which means that it is a very fluid state. Consider your future more as an intention that is only limited by the ideas we have held from the past and the actions we allow ourselves to make in every present moment; right up to the micro second before our future arrives.

Our state of mind is such a critical element when we decide to create a future event. So you could say that we are formulating the life we are choosing to live. Every thought we have is extremely creative and has far reaching influences way beyond just our self. That is why our past plays such an important part in determining our future, as our mind has a great capacity to store thoughts and ideas – both positive and negative. We often talk about the vibes we pick up in the company of others, or at an event. And this is a two way phenomena as the thoughts we carry are also picked up by others. It is this aspect of creation that we haven’t really accounted for in our understanding of creation – we don’t live in a vacuum, thus the thoughts we carry are going to affect others and this is what often causes the distortion in the “perfect” future we had mapped out for ourselves.

This is often described as our subconscious and is best recognised as the undercurrent of thoughts that we are harbouring. Whilst we might desire a perfect outcome we can just as easily still believe it will never happen. This thought , or vibrational frequency has tremendous influence in bringing together all the elements that subscribe to the outcome of our future event. As much as it influences the choices we allow ourselves to make it also affects all the other factors that will contribute to the outcome we have subscribed to. In short, our future may be initiated by ourselves but it is created by the influences we hold that affect every particle that is making up that whole – our state of mind up to and including the moment our present and past meet our future moment – and every other part of creation that participates in that moment.

It is so useful to examine the things we say, the thoughts we carry and the visions we hold for our future. See for yourself if you still hold on to any negative thoughts around the outcome of a future event. Do you have a history , or a story about the doubt of ever being able to achieve an outcome. Is your family, friends, culture or global history telling you that the outcome you desire is impossible or beyond your reach. This self examination may give you some direction on what limitations are still at play. If these still haunt your reality know that there is always assistance to reveal what is lurking in the background of our minds – giving us the ability to begin mastering our minds and being much more in balance in harmonising our future.

Or maybe more aptly titled : how to change the world I live in. This is probably at the top of a wish list for many of us. Its important to take stock of the world you subject yourself to as it has a significant impact on what our minds wrestle with. We are all now so connected with virtual reality that our every day life tends to blend with the affairs of the world, the opinions of others and this in turn sets up a very comparative narrative in our minds. This is not to say that it is a bad thing to be aware of the state of the world but it is important to be aware of what is really affecting your reality – your life.

What is happening for me right now – am I starving, am I stone broke, is my country threatened by another country… That’s a reality check as to what is happening right now in your life. Some of the aforementioned, and many other statements you could add, may be relevant to your life but if you took stock of the many fears we accumulate you will find that most of them are virtual. By that I mean that they exist somewhere else but are not actually taking place in your life.

Your world is happening right now, that is where your attention and energy is best directed. Sure, not everything is to your liking, but those are the very factors that need the attention to change the world you live in. The majority of the virtual news you receive you would not even know existed if we didn’t have constant access to the never ending stream of multi media exposures. It is definitely ok to acknowledge what is taking place, both the good and the bad, but we need to be aware of how much thought and emotion we attach to those events.

Simple measures are useful to take the next step – disengagement. By all means take action if you feel your support would enhance or benefit the situation you observe. However don’t linger over the emotion that is associated with the event. Know that you have contributed to the degree of energy and resources you have available at this time – and then let go. If this is difficult then explore if you can execute a ritual or ceremony that only sends love and liberates you from any negative ongoing emotions. Sometimes just taking time out, connecting with nature, being in the company of uncomplicated friends or surrendering in the embrace of your lover or partner is sufficient.

Still caught up? Time to reach out to professional help to learn the wide variety of techniques that foster compassion, empty mind, open heart. Caught up in wild emotions or a constant chatter in our mind ultimately leads to a lack of energy , which in turn can lead to physical impairment or depression. Isolating ourselves only compounds the situation so at the very least reach out to someone you trust, go on to a help line and let your self be lead to the help, support and knowledge that will teach you to not only change your word , but the world around you.

When we look into the above words they probably represent some of the greatest confusions we face on an ongoing basis in our lives. As an infant and very young child we operate nearly exclusively at a feeling level, our minds are still developing to have the capacity to comprehend or articulate what these feelings are actually about. In other words we simply feel a sensory reaction to what is either touching us, being witnessed or creating discomfort in our bodies. As we get a bit older, as a young child, we start to develop our emotional body, we are able to connect better with how these feelings are affecting us and thus we start to express them – emotionally. We start to do this by expressing these feelings, we articulate them through our body language, a complex factors of internal chemical reactions in our body or we demonstrate them verbally.

This evolvement is closely followed by developing ideas and concepts – these are our thoughts. Our thoughts can be very subjective; at a younger age they are often based upon what we see our peers expressing, but initially more so from our parents or caregivers. As our exposure to the world opens up then our thoughts are even more influenced by social media, news, fashion, cultural behaviour and the movies or books we read. We start to align or believe these thoughts that are forming, and thus they are further strengthened and can easily become very rigid personalities. Problems can arise when we only view life through the prism of our beliefs – we all have them – but considered solely in isolation they can cause us to develop a very narrow view point and prevent us from recognising our more primitive functions. These are the core innate feelings we have, that alert us to a deeper connection to our true sense of balance and well being.

When we can connect to our core feelings, and express them emotionally, then we are able to release any tension we may be holding. We also allow ourselves to be recognised by others , and hopefully receive the support we are attempting to receive.

It is quite evident that the nurture and support we get in our developing childhood is critical to develop and mature the three elements of feelings, emotions and thoughts. At the extreme end of the scale of suppressed or corrupted development, we start to create very strong thoughts to validate the unexpressed feelings that we have not been able to assimilate as we matured into an adult. Then we either express uncontrolled emotions or we internalise them completely. If left unattended we build a fortress to protect ourselves from the hurt and pain that never got acknowledged earlier in life, or we justify these hurts by viewing life though this prism and see life outside ourselves as dangerous or unable to understand us.

None of this has to define us. It is part of being a developing human. With love and care we recognise a better pathway. Sometimes good or bad fortune overcomes us and shows us where we have erred and we open up to a better balance, attitude or way of behaving. And if none of the above happens we can start to apply ourselves to a more connected and conscious way of living. This can be through self help literature or online seminars, the company of wise souls who inadvertently show us another way of being, or we access professional help to gently expose what we have not been able to recognise.

In this way a whole new world opens up to us – sometimes beyond what we even knew could exist!

In this age of rampant social media, covid19, mass main stream media alerts, climate change crisis and so called conspiracy theories, there is so many strong thought influences that are affecting and infecting our minds. So a good understanding of the power of our mind is useful to be able to redirect our thought patterns.

It helps to visualise our thoughts as vibrational frequencies. A positive uplifting thought will resonate at one frequency and a negative fearful thought will resonate at another. In other words we are able to affect our health, and our relationship with others, by the thoughts that we hold. So much of what we hear about, or read these days is pointing towards a negative or fearful outcome. This in turn sets up a wavelength which is destructive in nature and affects the very chemistry in our body. If we continue to hold this thought then we subconsciously transmit this, not only to ourselves but also to others.

Admittedly this can be challenging to overcome when this is such a constant negative stream coming our way. It is one thing to stay informed of what is happening in the world around us but it is another thing altogether as to what we choose to align ourselves with. One helpful approach is to pause for a minute and ask yourself – what would be the best possible outcome in the situation I am looking at? To do this you will need to overcome the temptation to ask yourself how this change could possibly take place. What you are doing here is changing the negative thought frequency to that which carries a harmonious resonance. It will take practice to even realise that we are carrying negative thoughts but eventually you will not allow yourself to think , or indeed carry negative impacting thoughts. Likewise you will eventually not adopt the negative thoughts of others. You will hear what others say, recognise the place that they are choosing to be, and then consciously change the thought – or energy – you choose to hold around the event happening or being discussed.

When you have mastered this approach you will see how creative the mind is. And as a consequence you will start to use this creative ability to really manifest your own / chosen reality. Its what we often call “Miracles”, however it is in the reach of all us as we consciously reconnect with the interconnectedness of all that is.