I had the absolute best week since I last wrote here.
I took an amazing road trip through Colorado and was amazed at how beautiful the areas are that I drove through and realized how close they are to me and I had never been there.
I drove through Grand Junction, Palisade, Ouray, Silverton, Durango, Telluride and some incredible mountain and high alpine lake scenery.
Some of these areas are ski resorts in the winter time and there are ghost towns and plenty of abandoned mine shafts and history.
It was all beautiful, informative, and the food and drink very delicious.
I was definitely overreacting to the situation, but I was truly enjoying every second of it.
My zen is enjoying new experiences, places, and food.
It was like a non-stop sensory pleasure overload for 3 days.
Now, an event yesterday provided a striking contrast to my weekend.
I went to donate blood and the phlebotomist was having trouble getting the needle in the perfect spot in my vein so he just kept moving it around in my arm to find that “sweet spot”.
Now in all honesty, it was painful but not beyond a tolerable level.
However, it was just mentally wrecking me watching and feeling this happen.
It’s hard to explain, but the experience was worse in my mind than what was actually happening as far as pain and discomfort were concerned.
I became aware of this at some point while it was happening and was in awe at the power of my mind to over exaggerate this experience.
So, I looked away and started to focus on my breathing for a bit.
I can tell you that in a few seconds I felt almost no pain and I was calm and relaxed.
I was suddenly acutely aware that the actual feeling was not really that bad at all, but my reaction was making it hell.
It was over soon after and I’m not going to pretend here that it didn’t take a toll.
I felt nauseous and a little woozy after (I don’t deny I was being a big baby).
On my way home, I was thinking through all the times in my life, where my mind was my biggest enemy to enjoying myself, being grateful, or even just being ok with whatever was going on in my life.
How many things that I had no control over did I make worse by stewing on them, worrying about what was going to happen, or just remain upset about because I felt justified in doing so?
I have watched others and participated in screaming at someone in traffic for doing something stupid or inconsiderate and then stayed mad for an hour after when most likely, that person didn’t give it another thought.
That is probably the bigger insult is how long I let it affect me after I have been long forgotten.
Every experience is whatever I make of it.
I can go on a road trip and be elated for 80+ hours of mostly just driving, walking, and eating and then right after just completely lose my shit because of a little pain in my arm.
The brain is an amazing tool that can truly influence every one of our experiences.
I find that the times I am using my brain for the most benefit are when I am just in the moment and taking in what is happening.
This could be appreciating what is happening to my 5 senses and/or enjoying conversation and time with people that I love and care about.
And the hard yet awesome truth is that I can do this all the time if I choose.
Even moments that I have perceived as “bad” could have been so much more enjoyable if I had just taken them in and looked for the beauty, or learning experience, or realize perhaps that I am just looking at things in the wrong way.
The times that I struggle are typically when I am worrying about something that hasn’t even happened yet (and actually may never happen).
Or I’m stuck on something that already passed and I’m stewing on how it made me feel or feeling guilt or something.
The only purpose the past can really serve is to learn so that, if you desire, you can change the outcome.
What is the point of experiencing the pain of a situation more than once?
Stop looking forward or backward and just enjoy what is happening in front of you right now.
Make today great and set yourself up for a win tomorrow if you can do it today.
Thinking emotionally about the past or future has no benefit and cannot be changed other than what you can do right now.
It’s mental masturbation or torture depending on how you are perceiving it.
Nothing real comes from it.
Thank you for reading.
Phillip Adams
Hi there, You have done an incredible job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this site.
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this brilliant blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will share this site with my Facebook group. Talk soon!