MANAGING YOUR MOODS

Part 4: Filling in the Rest of the Diagram

This series of articles is on the topic of moods. Moods are defined as a predisposition to action. For example if you are in a depressed mood, you are not as likely to take action than if you are in a mood of excitement.

Learning how to manage our moods is a useful life skill. It assists us in taking action, which is what makes things happen in our lives.

Let's go back to the diagram we were drawing in the first article in this series (See Managing Your Moods: Turning Resentment to Acceptance )

You have drawn a large square on a piece of paper and divided it vertically in half. and horizontally in half. Now your square contains four smaller squares. Above the top left square you wrote the word FACTS. Above the top right square you wrote the word POSSIBILITIES.

That is what IS in this world. Facts and possibilities.

Now, on the left side of your box, to the left of the top square you wrote OPPOSE, and on the left of the lower left box you wrote ACCEPT.

These are two possible actions we can take in any situation. We can OPPOSE or we can ACCEPT.

In the first article we observed that when we oppose the facts we create resentment and when we accept what is we live in peace.

Now we are going to look at the squares in the box on the right side.

What do you imagine the consequences to your mood if you opposed possibilities? For example, you are a mother of three and you tell yourself you cannot go back to school for a degree. Or you have written a novel that you think is wonderful and you tell yourself you'll never get published. Or you have a recurrent argument with your spouse and you tell yourself things will never change between you. What mood might you create?

Have you ever done this, wanted something but then talked yourself out of it. Making an assessment that something cannot be changed, despite evidence indicating the opposite. There are many people who go back to school for a degree while raising children. There have been lots of novels published, and many marriages have grown happier over time.

Yet in spit of the evidence to the contrary we convince ourselves we are being realistic and settle into the mood of RESIGNATION.

The past cannot be changed, but the future can be influenced. It can be different because of the actions we take. If we do not hold onto a vision of possibility we will not take the actions necessary to translate our dreams into reality. Instead we live in resignation.

If we ACCEPT the POSSIBILITIES we create a mood of AMBITION. Ambition on the other hand has to do with our capacity to identify that which is possible in the future, and the willingness to take action to make it happen. When we are living in ambition we are filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and passion for life.

Which would you prefer? To live in resignation, or create the mood of ambition for yourself? Again it is your choice. And the transformative choice begins with the power of acceptance.

Click Here to see the diagram

QUOTES

"Action translates dreams into reality." 
   ~ Anthony Robbins ~

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." 
   ~ Albus Dumbledore ~

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." 
   ~ Reinhold Niebuhr ~

PRACTICALLY SPEAKING

When you notice you are feeling despairing or resigned, ask yourself, is there a possibility I have given up on? Is there an outcome I am telling myself is out of my reach?

Give yourself a moment to ACCEPT that you have given up on a possibility.

Now ask yourself, "Is this true?" Explore if it is indeed true that what you want is not a possibility in your life. Take time to thoroughly check it out.

You may find that what you want is possible, but you are not willing to do what it takes to make it happen. That's okay. Accept that as well. There are lots of things I may want that I am not willing to devote the resources to attaining. I am much more empowered to tell myself I want it but am choosing not to create it, rather than it's not possible.

If you find that what you want is attainable, and you are willing to do what it takes to make it happen, ask yourself "Now what?" See if you can uncover actions that will support a preferred future, and read my Living by Design Series of newsletters,  or call me for a coaching session

WONDER QUESTIONS:

Are you willing to be a true creative force in your life?

QUICK LINKS:

COPYRIGHT/CONTACT INFO/REPRINT PERMISSION

Copyright 2006 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com

Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:

Copyright 2006 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design.All rights reserved. 
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com