Strange Bedfellows: Willpower & Passivity - #73

Last week we investigated willpower and how focusing on why we want what we want can help us get what we want. 

What can get in the way of focusing on why we want what we want? 

Passivity. 

Passivity is an offense of omission.  Not focusing on why you want  what you want is passive. 

To have willpower is not passive.

But here's the thing - it's taking willpower to not knock down the icicles you see in the image above. But I feel passive because I'm not knocking them down. Willpower is passive?  

CLUE: Pull a book off your shelf and open at random. Use what you discover to create something. You can create a joke, a pun, a wise saying, or just enjoy reading or rereading a random sentence. I'd love to hear what you create! I pulled John Lee's book, The half-lived life, on overcoming passivity to create this post.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall






 

When Do You Use Your Willpower? - # 72

Everybody is talking about willpower. With high hopes, I purchased a book that promised me the newest scientific research on the subject. After page 3,  boredom. I don't even know where the book is now.

I know where Scott Forrester's, The Aware Athlete, is! The last time I opened it, I found an intriguing way of thinking about willpower. 

Scott says we think willpower is forcing ourselves to do things. I express my agreement by gritting my teeth.

He writes: "The real use of willpower comes not through forcing ourselves but by eliminating the influence of competing thoughts through persistent, focused attention." That's a complex sentence but I can follow it if I slow down. So let's apply it to my situation.

"Eliminating the influence of competing thoughts."  If my goal is to  work on my memoir, what are the competing thoughts? 

A big one: Everybody is writing a memoir so why bother.  

This line of thinking may influence me to stop writing if I don't have concrete reasons like the ones below to place my attention on:  
#1. I want to show how valuable psychoanalysis can be, 
#2. I want others to know how the unconscious plays a role in life,
#3. Writing the memoir is my self analysis, 
#4. I want to know it is possible to complete the memoir.  

Keeping my focus on those reasons. Paying attention to those reasons will engage my willpower. At least it has so far! I'm working on Chapter 10!

What do you think about willpower? Is Scott's way of thinking too cerebral for you? Where in your life do you wish you had more willpower? Do you think knowing your goal and having clear reasons for it would work for you? Please let me know!

CLUE: For no reason in particular, eat popcorn. If you don't like popcorn, eat chocolate. If you want to pick something else to treat yourself to, go right ahead. I'd love to know what you decide!

Image: Please look closely at the Guardian's hat. It was too cold to get a better shot - but it was amazing!

An Epistolary Post For Your Edification! - #71

  

Nicola, Thanks so much for your continued interest in The Aware Athlete. Its encouraging to know that it has given people something to think about. I like the idea of mindlessly flipping through a magazine as that idea plays out in many ways. I recently let my mind lead me into an integration of ideas while I slept. I think this kind of "mindlessness" is actually allowing the brain freedom a freedom to explore and integrate.  

Scott Forrester

⇰
Scott - you are most welcome - thank you for a great book!

Could you tell us more about how to let our minds lead us into integration while sleeping? I would really like to know!

Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.

Warmly,

Nicky

⇨

Nicola, that is a great question! We know the saying that we should "sleep on it".  It think we have all benefited from insights of all kinds after a nights sleep. But sometimes I think things come together in a special way during or after sleep if we have really been immersed in the details of a particular thing and another factor is a deadline or a matter of personal urgency or importance that provides a point of focus before sleep. What do you think?

⇰

Scott - Last night as I crawled into bed wondering how to begin Chapter 7 of my memoir, I thought of you and your challenge to me of what do I think? So I decided to ask for some ideas to appear as I slept. I woke up at 3 AM and wrote several notes on index cards which I had strategically placed on bedside table. I haven't looked at them yet so I can't report how helpful they will be but when I wrote them down, they seemed creative, original, innovative, insightful, and perceptive. I'll let you know!

Dear Readers! 

I hope you enjoyed hearing directly from Scott and learning a new word or two. I did! I had to use Google to remember the name for books containing letters. If you already knew both of the E words in the title, consider yourself a winner! 

As far as the notes I captured at 3 AM, I could barely decipher some of them because of their preschool scrawl aesthetic. Overall, I was pleased that several of the ideas proved helpful though waking up did interrupt my precious sleep. Let me know if you try using your sleep this way.

CLUE: Enjoy being safe in your warm  home and know the meat locker effect won't last forever. On that note, I want to welcome new readers from Australia and New Zealand! I hear from them that they are experiencing the opposite extreme weather as we are in the United States. It's difficult for me, when we are below zero and the wind is howling, to remember that it is also uncomfortable to be too hot but you help us. So in the spirit of helping,choose ONE thing you can do for someone you love that will help them cope with life's challenges. 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

An Image To Change Your Brain - #70

It's not news, at least if you are awake in the twenty-first century: Our brain has plasticity. I am old enough to remember when scientists believed that once you were an adult, you were stuck with the brain you had. Even if you were lucky enough to have a good brain, there was not much to look forward to as you got older except for watching it deteriorate. 

Scott Forrester definitely is awake and in the twenty-first century. Every time I open his book The Aware Athlete, I find something to support my growth. While it is one thing to know that scientists have changed their minds about our brains, it is another to actually feel the possibilities this opens for us.

In Chapter 9, Scott shares the story of how Mark Allen finally claimed six Ironman world titles after losing six. The story is too detailed to describe here but I wanted to share the part that impressed me, as it really did impress me. I keep thinking of it.

Here's what happened: When Mark began to focus on gratitude and not on negative thinking, he had a vision of a shaman. The expression he saw on the shaman's face was not of busyness, uncertainty, and stress as we often see on faces in the modern world. 

The face he saw radiated great peace yet great strength. The interesting thing is that it was no one Mark had ever met, it was merely an image he had seen while mindlessly flipping through a magazine.   

It may be because I've just been to a retreat with shamans that this had such an affect on me. I don't know. But it has me thinking about so many things. Like how important it is where we put our attention. And how much we influence others  - even by our facial expressions. 

Do you think you can change your brain? My brain is tired because I've been working all week on a chapter for my memoir so I will sign off for now. As always, I would love to hear from you!

CLUE: Flip through a magazine or book of your choice and see what images capture your attention. This doesn't have to take very long. Have fun with it. You are exercising your brain and may possibly find an image to inspire you.

Thank you for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Image: The Guardian is barely peeking out of her snow palace.