Keep it simple . . .

This is the most basic suggestion. Keep it simple. When it comes to change or when it comes to work, life or anything that we encounter; keep it simple.
But how?
Life is happening. They underpaid me this week and bills are due. There are feuds between family members. There’s a virus going around that has literally stopped the world, changed our life and the virus keeps mutating. We have life problems. We have emotional difficulties. We have physical concerns and everywhere we look, life is going on. 

If we think about it, everyone knows the basic rules to live a good life. We know how to eat and sleep. We know that our body has needs. The mind has needs too.
Everybody knows the dignity of a handshake. We know that a person’s word is a person’s word, which ties to the old question or saying, “If you don’t have your word, then what do you have?”
It’s a good question.
If you’re not being you, then who are you being?
And why?

How long can a machine run at full throttle without rest? I’ve seen a movie where they talk about being placed in a blender that never stops and the thought was argued because the machine can only run for so long. Come to think of it, in our last discussion about the thought machine I mentioned my time as a stationary engineer in a central plant. We ran large chilled water systems here. And we had more than one. Why? Because in case one shuts down. But also, it’s better to alternate machines to keep the run-times down. It’s also better to run two machines at 50% than one machine at 100%.
So, the question remains. How long can an engine move at its fastest speed? How long can the gas pedal be pushed to the pins until the engine blows? Or better yet, how long can a person last without backing off the throttle? 

The idea of the thought machine has been with me for years. I came up with this idea when I was a stationary engineer in a commercial office building. I view the thought machine as a little control room with switches and lights. I see this the same as the control room I worked in. Outside of the room is the plant with large machines that run the comfort cooling system of almost 1 million sq. ft. of office space. Inside the control room is a person who works the control boards and checks the systems.
This is the main control room. There are printouts and readings and lights flashing and charts. There is everything here that one would imagine a control room would look like. However, rather than switching machines and adjusting temperatures, the thought machine has different volume switches and faders that select what we hear and what we choose to listen to. 

Now that we have started our talks about motivation, I think this would be a good place to talk about our fears and our distractions. Our thought machine stores these things and keeps them in different compartments. Perhaps now is a good time to empty these bins and let go of the unwanted materials that keep us from reaching a better level of awareness.
It’s time to put everything into perspective, why people shine and why people fade. I think this is the right place for this chapter. This is where we talk about fear and our doubts, what holds us back, what sets us apart and what distracts us from being our best.

And what is it anyway? What is motivation?
What does this mean?
Where does this come from and how do you find it? Better yet, what do you do if you find it? How do you keep it?

I have seen people on their first day of employment. I have seen them show up an hour early. They created a route for themselves. They narrowed down the best possible commute. They woke up extra early, set their pace, then like a shot from a starter’s pistol they were off.
“This is me,” they say and off they go.

Stop for a minute. Turn it off.
Turn off the noise around you. Shut down, just for a second. I’d like to take you someplace with me. I want to show you a quick glimpse from my point of view, which I hope translates clearly to you. I want to share this now, right here, because this is a good time to check in with our hopes and dreams. This is a good time to see where we stand and why. What keeps us stuck and what sets us free.

Worst are the assumptions. The irrational ones. Worst are the ideas and the thoughts that something is about to go wrong or that someone is against you. This keeps us from the moment. But more, this keeps us from being our best. We have our guard up. We don’t want to be sucker punched by fate so we prepare for the pain.
Worst are the ideas that trigger the dominos and next are the assumptions and the judgments. Meanwhile, none of this is real. It’s only real in our mind. 

It is morning, mid-week and the temperature outside is in the single digits.  As I write to you, the sky is mainly clear. The wind is mostly calm with a mild gust. It is cold and peaceful. I went out to start my car so it will be warm when I make my morning drive.
The white snow on the ground absorbs the moonlight. I love this. This somehow brightens the land around me. I am in the mountains and approximately 30 miles north of New York City.
Behind my home are a string of mountains that weave together. They are snow covered as well and the empty trees stick out from the snowy ground like hairs from an old man’s arm. I am no stranger to this scene and by now, I suppose neither are you.

I think it is only fair to be honest and clear. . .
I was never much for daily affirmations. I never liked much of the wellness routines that I saw. As for mindfulness, the only thing that I was mindful of is that my life was not working out. I was unhappy and easily triggered. My thoughts were pre-wired to anxious or depressive thinking. I was quick to fight and quick to give up. Meanwhile, I was following a blueprint for a life that I had outgrown. Or, maybe the life I had was never the right plan.
Of course, this is where I struggled the most. I was always trying to adapt. I always looked to adjust myself so that I could fit. At the same time, I never knew why. I only knew that I needed this to change.

We were talking the other day about the weight of our emotions. I was telling two friends about my ideas of something I call our self-destructive response disorder. Some could say this is a model of self-harm. Some could say this is what happens with alcohol or substance abuse disorders. And me, I like to explain that this is what happens when the emotions get too thick. This is a reaction. This is what happens when life turns in ways that we struggle to understand. Thus, we respond.