Changing Your Mental and Emotional Address

Where do you live? Of course, you’re probably going to think of your postal address, aren’t you? The place you know as your home. But where do you really live? Where do you spend most of your time? It’s an intriguing question and the answer might not be entirely obvious.

?Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future.

Concentrate all of your mind on the present moment.

-?????? Buddha

Beyond your physical address, you probably spend most of your time in the world of your thoughts and feelings. Does that surprise you? Take a moment to think about it. Most people live their lives within the bubble of their perceptions and see the world through the lens of their emotional filters. That’s pretty much true for everyone. It’s how our perceptions are wired to interpret the world around us.

The problem with this particular facet of the human condition is that we slip so easily and unintentionally into the realm of the past. We re-live our personal interpretation of past events and build a picture of what happened by adding our unique emotional bias to every frame of every experience. That’s why our memories are not very reliable sources of evidence for past events. We all tend to remember things in surprisingly different ways.

If a problem can't be solved within the frame it was conceived,

the solution lies in reframing the problem.

― Brian McGreevy

This tendency to dwell in the past is an artefact from our earlier development as a species.? We learned to benefit from an accumulation of experiences that lent us valuable lessons in the quest for survival. It’s obviously more efficient if you don’t have to think about every single action, decision or judgement that arises. But in a complex world where our senses are bombarded with data, we tend to rely on our familiar pattern of responses to help us make sense of what’s going on. The problem is that a fixed framework of references is often slow to adapt to changing conditions. We see the world in a particular way and then we end up resisting or ignoring any evidence that might contradict or challenge our viewpoint.

The language we use is extremely powerful. It is the frame through which we perceive and describe ourselves and our personalised picture of the world.

― Iben Dissing Sandahl

The point of this discussion is to take a moment to ask ourselves how our view of the world - and the way that our past informs the present - are getting in the way of our progress.

The problem with living in the past is that we so easily become trapped in the emotional web that we weave to describe what happened. The account is rarely objective and often coloured with deep layers of emotional shading. The negative experiences that we all encounter as part of life’s daily unfolding seem to exert a stronger influence than the happier, more positive events. How rare is it to encounter someone with a radiant countenance and a heart full of joy? Take a look around you. Not too many happy faces?

And this emotional attachment to the more painful aspects of life easily intrudes into the present. It can be incredibly disabling, damaging and disempowering. We look for situations that match our expectations. We interpret the world in terms of what we expect to see. When our hearts retain the shadows of disappointment, failure, betrayal, anger, fear and a lack of belief in ourselves, our lives will inevitably seek out situations where those disappointments can be played out again and again.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

– Wayne Dyer

So, how can we change our emotional address and learn to live in a happier, stronger, more confident and fully empowered environment?

The answer is to learn to let go.

It involves learning how to release the accumulated tension in your body. It’s about relaxing your shoulders and breathing more deeply, unclenching your jaw muscles and learning how to stretch with comfort, gentleness and complete ease.

It’s also a question of choosing to free yourself from the countless stories you’ve been telling yourself about the way your life has run. We lend significance to certain events whilst completely forgetting others. It’s time to leave the past where it belongs – behind you.

Once you begin to release the cords that bind you to the past, you’ll discover fresh, new energy levels and a fresh canvas on which you can design your bright new future.

Take a moment right now to make a clear commitment to let go of the past. Free yourself from the haunted old stories that are no longer relevant to your future. Turn your focus and your energy towards your goals and take the appropriate steps to make them a reality.

These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

– Najwa Zebian

If you found these suggestions helpful, please feel free to share this post. Encourage all of your family, your friends, colleagues and acquaintances to harness their deeper potential for a better and more successful way of experiencing and enjoying the gift of this life to the max.

It’s our intention to be a positive force for change in the world. Let’s help everyone to rise above their limitations and enjoy greater levels of freedom, happiness, inner calm and success in all areas of their lives.

Together, we really can make the world a better place.

If you enjoy these blogs, you can imagine how much fun it is to have Greg in the room as an inspirational and highly perceptive speaker. If you’d like to invite Greg to talk to your company or organisation or event, either in person or via a live link on the Internet, feel free to get in touch.

You can contact Greg and his Team at:

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