Urban Thought Collective

Hello Everyone… I’m in Washington this week and headed to Oregon next. While in Washington, I had the opportunity drive along the I-5 and take note of the scenery. As I was driving I began to think how nice it would be to have dinner along the coast. I hear Washington is known for its clam chowder.

As my drive continued I started contemplating what I would write for this month. Yes that’s right monthly… I changed my schedule from weekly to monthly. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I thought it would not only assist me in lessening my work load, but also continue to keep the integrity of the blog and provide you with the quality that you are accustomed to.

I’ve talked about negative self talk before, and you wouldn’t believe some of things I’ve said to myself in regards to my writing. Its true, people still deal with negative self talk and self doubt. I’m not sure if self doubt ever ceases, but I do know that you can lessen the effect that it has on your life through practice.

As I continued driving my frustration grew. On top of that, I was also hungry. In a strange place not knowing where I was and frustrated about what I was going to write for the month, I found my discomfort and hunger increasing as my negative self talk increased. In the past I found myself making costly decisions in an effort to avoid struggle or pain. I soon realized that most of the discomfort and pain came from trying to avoid it in the first place, not accepting the reality of my current situation and being down on myself. I noticed that once I accepted the reality of the situation, almost magically my discomfort begin to lessen.

This works with physical pain as well. Find an area of tension in your body. Once you focus on that area notice how the tension starts to resolve itself and that area of your body begins to relax. When we feel pain or discomfort, our negative thoughts intensify the pain by feeding it. Acknowledging the discomfort without fixating on it through negative thinking you will find that the pain decreases and your thoughts focus on something else. It is the negative thinking that adds to our suffering.

When you acknowledge the pain, it will subside because it has fulfilled its task in alerting you to an issue. When you feel the pain you are allowing it to complete its course. You will find that the body as well as the universe will assist in bringing you back to a state a homeostasis.

Please do not take this to mean you should do nothing while experiencing pain. If you need help seek it out immediately. The point of this article is decreasing the amount of suffering you experience, thus allowing you to make more efficient choices during difficult circumstances. Sometimes we miss out on opportunity, because we are distracted by our wallowing or our need to suffer.

Which is what I was doing starved trying to find something eat while driving on I-5 in Washington State looking for some clam chowder and only getting hungrier by the minute. Finally, I submitted to the hunger and stopped at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered my meal and breathed a sigh of relief. Before I ate, I stated to the universe how grateful I was for this meal and my life in general. I looked to my left and out the window as the sun set on the marina. I then realized that the universe had given me exactly what I desired; a scenic view of the marina while having dinner. I also realized that I would be in Washington for a whole week, I had no doubt I would get my bowl of clam chowder. I just had to have a little patience and acknowledge where I was at that present moment. Later on that evening I sat at a desk with my computer and started to write…

Roderick Watkins is a Certified Hypnotherapist and doctoral student in Metaphysics. His mission is to aid you in finding resolutions for conflicted parts of your being using spiritual resources to guide you on the path towards a unified self.