Chipping away at hardened thought habits

Last night, something occurred to me. This might make sense to you guys, because we are all crazy together here.

During the day, I had been defrosting my mini-fridge. It was an overdue chore, as the ice had taken up most of the little freezer portion on top with not much room to use it really, and the ice layer that had formed just beneath the freezer portion (under that thin shelf) was also thick and getting into space that could be used for actual stuff.

I turned off the fridge, removed anything that was in there and left the door open with a towel underneath to catch drips. I left it that way for hours, and there wasn't much difference. The ice was rock solid and I thought I'd give it a go with the knife like last time. Using a big knife, I started to carefully chip away at the outer layers of ice that would give way a bit. That didn't go too well. Way too frozen.

Sooooo (yes there is a point lolll) I started splashing hot tap water in there in intervals and kept chipping away. After some elbow grease, I pulled out huge chunks of solid ice. The water had created cracks that eventually allowed the entire thing to budge from the walls of the fridge.

It felt good, but yeah nothing "LoA" came to mind. Then when I was going to sleep, I realized that our fears seem solidified like that ice. They seem so stuck and so impossible to remove, and feels as though it will take forever. My fears that I have been working to loosen lately were just like that big block of ice clinging tightly wedged into crevices of the "freezer" of my mind. And I couldn't use the space because it was all blocked up with ice that I allowed to accumulate there because it was just easier to let that happen than to take care of it along the way.

Sometimes we refer to it as "a wall" that is in our way- that we need to break or overcome. I really like to see it as ice now. It is so solid that you can knock someone out with that kind of big block of ice, but if you add some warmth and approach it calmly and with a tiny bit of persistence, it's just water and it flows right out. The rest falls apart and melts away in the sink.

I guess I was just so in awe at how symbolic that was. This super super hard thing was no longer blocking anything, and all the space was freed up. It's a great metaphor for me and it has helped me already. Like Bashar says, you must be malleable.

You don't have to change much, just change the "state" of that which you exist as. Solid to water, for example. So flowing can happen.

Great analogy!

Thanks guys, and nice clip! Be like watahhh.

Wonderful way to see things!

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Armine is probably the last one here I never came any close to whose most beautiful posts and threads. But she understands why and I'm grateful for her understanding. Today is her turn in my long list , but as I read again what she wrote, here for example, it really needs no comment. Only my Thank You and appreciation. So let me instead today "read" her avatar and briefly tell you how these photos and icons we choose for ourselves, those we call "avatars" here, really reveal all about us and perfectly express our "vibrational signature." This is one thing we can never fake or lie about.




First: of all options available, she chose the "simplest." Just two dots and a curve and you got a face. This is the face Armine chose for herself. Simplicity.

Second: It's a smiley, and she's smiling. She's always smiling. Not to mention all shades of meanings a smiley has in our culture especially on the web—friendliness, cheerfulness, fun, etc.

Third and perhaps most important: of all smiling smileys, she chose this one. Look closely: she's not only simple and smiling, but also leaning, as if over you, with care and love. She's truly caring and genuinely loving, compassionate and helpful.

That's why, of all, it was particularly this one that "resonated" with her. I'm sure she never consciously thought about any of that. But her unconscious whispered, "I like that," and she just picked it up, only because this is her true vibrational ID, and only to confirm what every word of hers really say here to us beyond the direct and apparent meaning.

So yes: simple, smiling, loving and caring. Ladies and gentlemen: Armine Chitjian.

Hahahahahaha

Thank you, Lotus. That was a lovely "fifteen minutes of fame".

You're right that I didn't consciously think those things when picking an icon, or even tie it to the name I went with. I do love the interpretation though, and I'd like to be seen that way. I think we're either smiling or we're not, and that determines the reflection which we observe around us. Not that we have to always have a smile on because our faces would get tired. A mental smile works just as well!!

I think I know why I was inspired to select this name. The thoughts I share here will likely be incredibly simple and meant to look at the simple things rather than to understand deeply woven philosophies. I will leave that to you guys who do it so well and just enjoy reading along learning all that good stuff. I am sometimes amazed at how much knowledge comes together here. There is always something new to absorb.

Be like watahhhh. And then let's examine existence and what it is.

i think thats a great representation of Armine... i do always thinking of you all happy and smiling and lovely

Thanks, Night!

This is a great thread. In fact, I love it. Specially the original post, what an awesome analogy. I think there is so much for discussion here. I've long been interested in how to chip away at these hardened thought habits. Is it as simple as defrosting a fridge? How do I defrost my brain fridge?

(I said I'd bump it, and a man must keep his word, I wouldn't ever do this if I didn't have to looooool)

Lolll. Thanks Phantasm. My input would be to add warmth. It's like when our shoulder muscles are tense, and when we're cold, we again tense up. But massaging it creates warmth, or walking into a warmer room loosens it all up, too. If I'm not mistaken, warmth is at a higher frequency than cold, so thinking warmer thoughts and allowing yourself to feel warmer emotions will do the trick, with minimal effort.

Sometimes we roll up our sleeves and think alright I'm going g to change this habit, so we think we can will it to change... with a lot of effort. We are thinking we have to "overcome it". But that's like climbing the empire state building when there's an elevator that takes you there. Now, if you like climbing (it gratifies you to fight a hard battle and win with some bruises), then there's nothing wrong with that of course. But it's usually more practical to let the old melt away. Visualizing this and feeling into being will alone do much of the progress. Instead of getting tense when we think about the habit that doesn't serve us (bc were so good at beating ourselves up for it maybe), we can purposely bring the habit to mind, and purposefully loosen up those muscles (you'll notice them there easily, just pay attention), and we've now introduced to our body and to the universe that we prefer to associate this topic with ease. And other things related to that "problem" will follow suit, including aligning to and attracting easy solutions that may have even been there all along but either weren't visible to you, or for some reason, didn't work then.

I can go on and on like this, but a specific example would help if you've got one you'd like to share

That's really beautifully put Simplifier. I'm trying to think of a specific example. One problemo I have so many.

Say a habit of procrastination or a habit of self-hate, the latter I guess being something I should really follow up on the Conditions of Worth thread as well. How do I melt the habit away?

Let's start with the procrastination. This only means that you're intending in some way to do something, but are not lined up with it in some way. Luckily, as usual, using knowledge of the LoA to dissolve a perceived problem means we never have to understand exactly why the problem exists. We can, but it's not necessary in order to move through it. Some here may disagree with me on this, but I'm confident in it.

Since procrastination is a sticky habit you've come to form (harden), it makes all the difference to know that the hardness is caused by being hard on yourself for having it. The first few times in your life that you procrastinated, which you may or not remember, you were probably like "Oh man this is shit. I don't want to do it. Then, oh man this is shit, why didn't I do it yet?"

As soon as your response to a procrastination-related moment is tense and you hate it and you feel guilt or blame (either on yourself or others), it begins to solidify and become a habit that sets up camp in your life experiences, with a handcuff attached to your joy. When you want to enjoy something, that habit lingers in your mind, preventing you from the ease of full enjoyment because you know you're procrastinating on something... a project, an errand, a task, a favor for someone, something you have been avoiding- even if you know that just doing it will probably get you much closer to an awesome goal.

But why wouldn't you do this thing? Why can't you get yourself to do it? It could have been done 5, 10, 20, 100 times by now.

It's the pressure on yourself. It's the sucky feeling you get when you remember I'm procrastinating.
Had that word meant nothing to you, for you or society, then it wouldn't exist. You'd be late on something once, you'd be like hey its ok this doesn't define me, and that would be the end of your procrastination experiences.

But nooo, you get tense about it, you let it define you, and by now it is like a layer of tar that has become part of your hardened "I am"... "I am likely to procrastinate when it comes to ______". The thought of falling into a habit made you tense bc that's not what you want for yourself.... so it had to be part of who you were. That's what resistance does.

And saying "It's cool, this isn't really who I am" while still feeling the fear of it becoming a problematic habit... is one way to make sure it becomes a habit.

In conclusion, nip it in the bud. It got to the point that you see this procrastination as a problem. So what. The hardening of the habit is an illusion just with very real results in experience.

Convince yourself the opposite. Introduce the feeling of the opposite. Can you think of one time in any topic that you didn't procrastinate and how naturally good it felt? Practice that feeling. Re-introduce it to your consciousness. Get those connections firing in your brain. Repeat it. Intensify it. And pretend that's a common and normal occurrence for you. Then go along with your day.

Next time you think about procrastination, consciously bring up that feeling of ease that you've now practiced, and choose that outlook instead - even if it doesn't make sense and someone is in your face to get something done. Look at them doing that, encase them in a glass enclosure in your vision, imagine they are in the glass or acrylic closure yelling all tense or disappointed and you can't hear them though. It looks silly, right? Plus, now you've already made conscious contact with the you who has no anxiety about procrastination so it looks even more off and strange that this person is so upset. You realize that the person is only a reflection of your past, because you are now a person who feels good getting things accomplished in a time when it works for you in the best way possible.

Lastly, the person in that enclosure who is tense and disappointed is the past you, too. Release the identifying with that silly state of being, and it has no reason to stay. You will notice one by one, then all the time that your butt gets off the chair (literally or figuratively) as soon as you have an assignment, and errand, an idea. It will really feel like some force is picking you up and you are getting things done... boom, bam boom. And that force is the allowing nature that comes with identifying yourself with productivity and the naturalness of it. You don't have to force yourself to will against procrastination. Release the guilt and blame that comes with it and it will feel like you naturally get things done.

Do you feel up to applying this and sharing your results afterwards? I dare you. Wait, wrong thread.

Thank you so much for this Simplifier, I can't express how helpful - and perfectly put - and wonderful this is.

I will try to complete my dare......

Thanks for the beautiful post Armine.

This flower reminds me of you:

Thank you Selina

So yeah, i just spent the evening in College chipping away at some hardened thoughts about getting a job, it wasnt even an exercise on limiting beliefs or anything, we were just looking into the fully functioning person, but the self reflection i gained into why i'm struggling, and what i could do about it had a really positive impact.

anyways the end result was ... Trust myself, no matter how scared i am, ask myself whats the worse that could happen then just Trust my own decisions

Nice, Night!!!!

Recently posted 2 answers on PLOA regarding this topic.
They are, mostly,related to "detachment" but I still think they're applicable for the topic at hand.

http://www.powerlawofattraction.com/forum/index.php?topic=22017.msg188218#msg188218

http://www.powerlawofattraction.com/forum/index.php?topic=22041.msg188211#msg188211

Hope that helps!

Thanks Adi, some good reminders in those posts

Always remember - where the attention goes, the energy flows


Love that sentence

I was torn between posting this under Bashar thread or here, but since I've been procrastinating (how ironic lol) on saying how great I thought Armine's advice on negative beliefs about procrastinating were, I figured it would fit here better

I find everything in this video sooo true. Whenever I start to figure out my negative beliefs, I suddenly become extremely tired out of a blue, or there are suddenly million other things to do, anything to avoid the subject.

Awwe shucks thanks lunar. My phone won't play the video for some reason, but will check it out tomorrow. Also...

lunareclipse wrote:
Whenever I start to figure out my negative beliefs, I suddenly become extremely tired out of a blue, or there are suddenly million other things to do, anything to avoid the subject.

This is just evidence that you're not yet aligned with where you're trying to go vibrationally, so your subconscious mind simply doesn't bring it together. But, it's possible by doing it in super baby intervals. For example, introduce one new thought that's in the direction of more positive belief, then let it go. It will sort pave the way for easier focus on that the next time.

So crazy, I was all distracted just trying to watch that video. (I need help!) but it definitely makes sooo much sense and completely fits in with what I already know about how the subconscious mind tries to deal with our attempts to change it. I just never made the connection between that and my procrastination and being so easily distracted.

An aside, it might be a good idea to post any Bashar videos that we share on the Bashar thread as well with just a short description so that thread can serve as our Bashar "library". (And am I the only one who thought Bashar decorating for Christmas was funny!? Lol. That might be a discussion for the Bashar thread too.)

I'm still working on my procrastination habit lol. Though I do believe some things can melt really quickly, in a moment, if you *believe* you can change that quickly. Maybe I should challenge myself on something and then post a success story...

What about chipping away at limiting beliefs? Anyone have any tips?

The best techniques i've used for Limiting beliefs are the Dickens Model, or the timeline one