Relief is a nice feeling state in the body.
If you have a moment to intentionally access a sense or feeling state of relief, it could level up your experience of this post.
Ready? Let’s do it together.
Imagination and body attunement turned on.
You have a special morning ritual. It may or may not include an item such as, let’s say….coffee beans. You awake in an indifferent state and have yet to bring intention to how you desire to feel as you begin the day. As if on autopilot, you go to grab the preferred item, knowing that once you have the sip ready to go you will then bring some intentionality to ‘day’.
No coffee beans.
Tightness in belly shows up. In best scenario, the beginnings of mild irritation begin to activate. And just then you see the fresh bag behind the empty jar.
If you were a color and mild irritation was gray, the relief of the fresh bag sighting just wiped you clear as the joyful colors of relief filled you up again.
The feeling state of relief sets one up for gratitude and appreciation. An open energetic state experienced in the body.
Pro Tip: The coffee beans did not hold the sensation of relief. The open, expansive state of goodness or wellbeing (insert word bank that includes relief as just one choice) exists.
Expansive: clear, open, free, flow.
There are endless circumstances, situations, and events that cue relief, yet the experience of relief is generally an open state in the body as opposed to a closed state. The open state is one’s wellbeing, or energy source. The word bank also includes the sense of possibility. The closed state shuts off the valve to the flow of goodness, and cues a level of survival mode: fight (have you ever lost your shit as a result of the unexpected missing item? – uh, yeah, you know you have…), flight (door slam moment), freeze (don’t want to be here), faint (back to bed, today is not happening).
Best life.
Do you desire a best life?
Here’s the catch: best life is available. Best life is orienting to circumstances, situations, and events from an open state of possibility. Intentionally aligning with the open state of wellbeing, ‘and then’. And then…making choices that feel good – sustainably good, moving toward discomfort with a problem solving mindset, curious about ‘self/other’ as opposed to criticizing/blaming/judging self or other, wondering about new outcomes, open to forgiveness, etc.
What if we humans interested in abetterway of living in day, began to notice the experience of an open state of possibility, as well as noticing the experience of a *closed state of survival mentality.
I learned from students that in Minecraft, two of the main modes of play are creative or survival. I also learned from students that the name of the videogame is not Mind Craft. 😉
Living day in survival mode must include an enemy. Enemies can be real or imagined. In this mode, resources are scarce and it feels necessary to acquire as much as one can for safety and protection.
Living day in creative mode allows for continuous growth, as well as what feels like an abundance of choice and opportunity for new, more desirable outcomes. In this mode, one is tapped into inner resources. Inner resources are naturally abundant as they exist in the nonphysical state of energy flow – wellbeing.
Notice the shifts in and out of survival and creative mode as you do day.
Do you have a preference?
Why? (your answer here can be a reflection of your belief system – a belief that you are enough…nothing to prove, nothing to acquire)
And then what (?)
You may very well have substantive evidence to support survival mode. But. What now are your options? Where do you go from here?
Consider removing the word ‘deserve’ from your self-care vocabulary. Best life exists. The energetic state of wellbeing.
Tap Tap Tap in…
*if you can notice the closed state of survival mode then you are the noticer, not the puppet on a string of reactivity
day. 