We Are Our Mindset.
As I go through my stuff to clear out any “sick” energy in my condo I’m finding all kinds of things like this photo of me sitting in one of Mario Andrettis race cars while working on a documentary for Connecticut Public Television. Apologies for the poor quality — we weren’t carrying any spectacular camera phones back in the ‘80s. In fact, we weren’t carrying phones, we had to be home to get a call.
We also didn’t have Facebook, Instagram or any of those other social media sites where people now document every moment and share it with the world. I figure if people can post pictures of their lunch I can share this — a moment in time I might’ve forgotten if it hadn’t been for someone who handed me this polaroid.
I’m an experiential learner. Experiences teach me things I can’t learn in books. I collect them like some people collect expensive objects. This Ferrari, for example, was in the den of one such collector, squeezed in and around the furniture. That big black thing in the lower left is the cars right front wheel.
But what you can’t really appreciate (cause it’s difficult to see) is the powerful engine behind my head. As I sat there imagining what it was like to drive that car over 100 mph I wondered what the driver was thinking. Was it all about torque, speed and engine parts? Was he thinking just about winning? Or did he ever think this is crazy and I might die? It’s all in the mindset.
It takes a lot of courage to step into a powerful car and compete with a dozen other cars just as powerful. But isn’t life one courageous experience after another? Whenever we’re challenged it’s the courage that we bring to any situation that helps us survive and thrive. It takes courage to move to a country where you don’t speak the language, it takes courage to have children, it takes courage to stand up for our ideas and it takes courage to go forward after being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Yet millions people do it everyday — rely on their courage.
Sometimes life is like being in a race car, we decide how fast or slow we go. But once we step on the gas there’s no going backwards, there’s no stopping. There’s only forward. And, like the race car that needs a support team of professionals to manage its moving parts, we need others to help us stay grounded through life’s transitions.
It’s always been this way, so what can do to help ourselves when things get particularly dark? My experience has taught me that it’s all about managing our mindset. When we examine our fears, we can unblock any thoughts and emotions that are no longer serving us. When we “keep the faith” we diminish our self-doubt. And when we bond with our courage we go forward no matter what. This is what healers do — they help us get unstuck so we can give the thumbs-up sign for, “Don’t worry, I got this!”
- Pat McGrath