Stopping Nightmares

Good Morning!

I actually slept in this morning...a rare treat!

I had a busy week...and bet that you did too!

as I thought though this, I realized that our work can take 3 shapes...

1 - We can be catching up on things remiss...
2 - We can be working on things of present need...
3 - We can be working on setting the stage for tomorrow...

It is important to assess where you are spending most of your time and shift your work efforts according to your plans and goals...

Some people are clean-up people and spending the majority of their time in category 1 is OK for them...

Some people are good soldiers and they spend time on the current battles...

Some people are leaders and are ahead of the work...ensuring that the stage is set when it becomes today!

Remember that all processes begin with inputs...

The future is simply an input for today...

What work you do for the future will make today more controllable!

Think about that...

Decide where you should be spending the majority of your work-life...and shift it accordingly...

Are you a janitor?  That is OK...

Are you a soldier?  That is OK...

Are you a leader?  That is OK...

What matters is that you are happy with who you are and what you are doing...

Who? and What?  Not one...but both...

Enough Said...

I was thinking about a pivotal lesson that my mother taught me...

She probably will not remember it...but it has made a significant difference in my life...and I actually have shared this with each of my children...so this lesson lives!

When I was young...I had terrible nightmares...especially when I was sick...which seemed to be "always!"

My fears lived in my dreamworld!

There were monsters and vicious dinosaurs...

Killer glaciers...(weird!)

Volcanoes...(another weird one!)

You can tell that they were vivid and memorable...because I can still recall them after nearly 50 years!

One night...I refused to go to sleep...and she asked me what was wrong...and I told her...

She told me that the dreams sounded really scary...but what I needed to remember was that I was in control...

I did not understand...

So she explained that it was my choice to be asleep or awake!

If a dream didn't suit me...wake up and it will go away!

I felt an ease come over me...

I was given an entirely new mode of control...and with my fears quelled...I quickly went to sleep!

And quickly began having nightmares!

And this time...even in my dream world...I assessed whether the dream was worth having...and continued in it or woke up...!

It was amazing!

But it didn't stop there...

A few days later...I got strep!  and the related fever...

And the REAL BAD nightmares started...

Mom told me to tell the monsters that if they didn't "act nice" I would wake up...and they would cease to exist...

I did just that...and found that these monsters...and glaciers and volcanoes were rational!

They stopped hurting me and took on different shapes...and became my playmates and playgrounds!

They were no longer ugly...and scary...but became beautiful...and the threatening places...enjoyable!

This continued until the nightmares went away...

Sometimes now...I still have terrible nightmares...

But you know what is strange?  I have practiced the "be nice...or I'll wake up..." so often...I still do it and the nightmares go away...before I wake up...and I consciously remember doing that...and even in my dreams...I thank my mom for teaching me this!

OK...enough of that!

I realize that we live in a duality!

We have dreams and we have nightmares...

Sometimes the dream world is our real world...

Sometimes it is the world of nightmares that is real one...

What matters is which one you want to wake up in...

I choose to live the dreams...not the nightmares...

and if the nightmares refuse to conform to my wishes...I'll simply wake up...!

Sounds simple...but this requires extreme discipline...

The real (conscious world) is actually no different...

It is filled with monsters...

"Uncontrolled" situation

Killer glaciers...

VOLCANOES!

But it is our decision and within our control to see them as friends of enemies...and whether the world we live in is a battleground...or a playground!

You can make the nightmares go away with the simple decision to stay asleep...or waking up...whether you are sleeping or awake!

Except...the metaphorical meaning of asleep or awake,,,in the conscious world calls for significantly more discipline...

What this means for us is that the "dreamworld" is our testing ground for the "conscious world"

Use it...

Are you living in a nightmare?

Wake up...either literally or figuratively...

Take the necessery steps...and refuse to allow the world to be in control...

If you stay disciplined...the monsters will begin to conform...and become your playmates...

The fact of the matter is...

The monsters are simply your playmates..with masks...

They are the things that your success can be built upon...

Do you run from them...or play with them?

FROM?

WITH?

Enough Said...

OH YEAH!  One more thing!

THANKS MOM!

There has always been a real focus on positive mental attitude...

This is all well and good...BUT...

This is one of the problems that I have with the "Law of Attraction"

A attitude is nothing more than an attitude and a dream...without...

ACTION

All of the good thoughts in the world are valueless without action...

In fact good thought and positive mental attitudes can become monsters...vicious dinosaurs...killer glaciers or volcanoes without action!

It is important to keep dreams...dreams and put nightmares in their place through action...

The "Secret" only works for those who act...the rest of the world that muddles in just thinking...sits around with happy thoughts...waiting for the monsters to go away...and the playmates to come...and neither situation will ever arise for them...

Well...I have rambled enough for today!

I think that I will go back to dreaming...and turning my nightmares into parties!

What about you?

Take my mom's advice...

If you are living in a nightmare...

WAKE UP!

Enough said!

Pura Vida!