HOW TO STOP NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Happy Halloween! Why We Love To Be Scared

The Mind Loops Blog – October

Yaay It’s Halloween!

That means you get to (re)watch movies of freakishly silent psychopaths wearing hockey masks, and bloody little girl twins at the end of long hallways!

You get to visit decommissioned insane asylums that are filled with god-only-knows what horrifying tricks and terrifying surprises!

You even get to be that weirdo who scares little kids so much that they pee in their pants and you’re not thrown in jail! (My friends and I accidentally did that once. Poor little 5-year-old boy came to the wrong house for candy). 😦 

Unless we’re adrenaline junkies, most of us avoid REAL fear like the plague. And yet we LOVE to be scared on Halloween. Why?

Halloween… The Other 364 Days of the Year

You wake up, brush your teeth, clean up your dog’s poop on the morning walk, eat something, get stuck in a commute, get irritated by your boss at work, get stuck in your commute again… Eat something, watch TV, clean your dog’s poop on the evening walk, brush your teeth, and go to bed.

Life is one big YIPPPEEE sometimes, right?

Without even knowing it, our life can become a deadly routine. ‘Deadly’ in the sense that the last time you had an actual THRILL was years ago when you drank too much beer and jumped off the public high dive on the lake at midnight. (Umm… unless that was last week…?)

We can all get stuck in routines. But sometimes they’re more deadly than the hockey-masked psychos. Because while “Jason” is verbally silent, routines are silent in a more sinister way: They creep up so slowly, we don’t even know they’re destroying us. They wear the disguise of “This is just what life’s like when you’re over 30.” 

Scared To Life!

When we’re scared on the other hand, we feel alive. Our hearts beat faster, crazy adrenaline chemicals rush through our bodies… And we’re finally, fully PRESENT. Everything becomes crystal clear, all of our senses are vibrant and turned on.

 When you think back to the stories you love to tell at parties, aren’t they a little like scary Halloween tales? Like the time you got lost while hiking… Night was upon you and it became oh so cold and dark… and suddenly a GIANT black bear appeared in your way and wouldn’t let you pass!!

Or omg, the time you got mugged by a midget carrying a broken whiskey bottle in New York City?!

Or what about the time you fell asleep on your African safari and woke up being covered in a blanket of army ants smothering the very life from you, and tearing at your flesh?!

We love telling (and hearing) these stories because they’re the moments we were totally alive, turned on… And we survived.

‘Army Ants’ In the Office When we get stuck in psychological fear (or something that hasn’t even happened yet!), we don’t think we can survive. It doesn’t matter that you survived the army ant attack; this damn presentation in front of your company feels like it’s going to kill you! That’s when a Mind Loop has snagged hold of you… And it’s leading you towards a real-life Halloween story: One where it’s scary to take a step out of your comfort zone… Even though that’s the very place where such extraordinary life juice exists.

But What If…

Every day this week, you choose to take just ONE STEP out of your usual routine and comfort zone. Your “step out” can be anything from saying YES to having coffee with someone you don’t know very well… To signing up for an improv acting class.

Yeah, it’ll feel scary. Yeah, every cell in your body may be screaming, Noooo! I don’t wanna! It’s too scary!

And when you hear and feel that, don’t give in! On the other side of that fear is a stunning feeling of your senses being extra alert, your heart rate speeding up just a bit… of being fully present and alive. 

I’d love to hear at least one story from you of how you stepped out of your comfort zone this week. I’ll be doing the same. Share ‘em on the Mind Loops Facebook page so we can all cheer each other on!

Here’s to the kind of fear that = the Juice of Life.

Barbara

————————————–

PS: If ARMY ANTS are crawling all over you… Well..  you’ll have to call an exterminator for that!

But if MIND LOOPS are crawling all over your life and causing routine-itis, and it’s feeling just a bit too Halloween-y to step out of your comfort zone… I’m here to help. Check out my book, How To Stop Negative Thoughts for steps on de-looping fear, self doubt, and worry.

For one-on-one coaching, email me at: barbara@themindloopgroup.com . xo!