Heads or Tails?

How many times have you tossed a coin to solve a dilemma?

And how much faith have you had in the outcome?

Tossing a coin is often misinterpreted, people take the meaning literally, “if it lands on heads I must do this, if it land on tails I must to that”.  This is not the best way to use the exercise.

The object of the exercise is to discover your true feelings about the two choices.  When the coin is tossed many will instinctively know how they want it to land, in this case how the coin lands is irrelevant, the choice is made before.

If there is no clear choice while the coin is in the air think about where it has landed, how so you feel about the choice it has made?  If you’re happy then go with it, but what if you’re disappointed?  What if you feel that the wrong choice has been made?  Under these circumstances you should go with your feelings and make the other choice.

Patience is a Virtue, true or false?

This is an old adage which has been quoted by many people, the earliest origin being the Fifth Century.  But is it true?

This week I am battling with technology, setting up new things and battling with complicated telephone answering systems, when I come across a stumbling block I am becoming frustrated, I want it all to happen now.  At the end of the day I know that the issues I have had will have meant that I have learned more and will be stronger for it.

But what if I am too patient?  What if I sit quietly and wait for something to happen without taking that initial step?

This is where pace steps in, push yourself forward and spring into action, but remember, to stop when you hit a stumbling block, stand back and look at your bigger picture, work out what is your best next step.

A. True, patience is a virtue, you just have to know when to use it.

What will your canvas look like tonight?

Think of your life like a gallery, every morning you start with a blank canvas, during the day you add colour and texture, you can use anything to paint with and stick momentos on.  When you go to bed you will have a unique and individual account of your day.  No two pictures will be the same, some may be similar and can be grouped together to depict periods of your life.

When you remember the  you tend to think of the big things, by looking at the picture you can recall the little things as well.  It is always good to stand back and see the full picture, sometimes the big things can mingle or get lost.

So, what will your canvas look like tonight?

“Expose yourself to your deepest Fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes…

…You are free.”

Jim Morrison

As well as deciding what is in your best interest the mind will also decide what is potentially harmful to you, again it will do this by your past experiences.

If you have been physically hurt it will stop you entering the same situation again, hence the phrase ‘once bitten, twice shy.

There may be several reasons why something is deemed bad for you, in this case the mind will make you afraid of it, in doing this it will keep you away form the danger and you won’t get hurt.

In very extreme cases you will develop a phobia, a deep irrational fear against whatever it thinks is that is bad for you, in order to protect yourself.

“A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes.” Mahatma Gandhi

Sometimes a series of nondescript memories can create an intensified feeling when your mind associates them together.  All the tags add up and create a unique emotion.  That train journey will feel different to each and every passenger, because they all have their own individual memories and experiences.

What would your journey be like?

“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue…

… no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.“   Eleanor Roosevelt

Sometimes words and phrases have more than one meaning, this can be amusing in everyday day life but the mind thinks logically and literally, when it takes a memory it will store it and tag it.  An event that involved a train journey and happy news could evoke happy thoughts on the next trip, but what if you’ve had a bad experience?

“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.” Oscar Wilde

When the mind stores memories it thinks logically and literally, in doing so it may start to associate things, which are totally unrelated, with each other.

For instance, in the early stages of a relationship a couple may give each other gifts for no reason other than “I saw this and thought you’d like it”.  The mind then sees these gifts as a mark of affection and will associate ‘gift’ with ‘affection’.  So what happens when the gifts stop?  Does this mean that the affection is no longer there?