The Book Club posts this week (Thursday – something more, Sunday – a better way) were dated one year apart, both posts on August 1. Ironically, the latter post is titled: same.

Hm.

‘…stuck and spinning in same…’

Let’s define ‘same’ in regard to content (mine and yours) and sustainable growth outcomes.

The infinite source of pure potential is unchanging. Same.

Would the definition as read: the infinite source of pure potential, be a bad thing? a harmful thing?

If what lies beneath and beyond what can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted is an infinite source of pure potential, then the intentions for outcomes must be good?

If one’s outcomes are consistently not good (same), could one change the story one tells about the infinite source of pure potential? Should one be curious about their own power and possibility?

In preparing today’s post, this (italics below) appeared in my google doc. I wrote it this summer, but can’t remember if it ever landed in a post*.

As a new school year approaches, being curious about the young people and the what/why behind expected outcomes, is a consideration for one’s Quiet Time. Do you have a Quiet Time? Do that first. Get to know your own full expression…

In Yoga, some facilitators will put you in a pose and then say, ‘full expression’. Put simply, this means to lengthen something, soften something, expand something. In the storyitell workbook, I describe the cues (lengthen, soften, expand) as superhero pose and connect it to Amy Cuddy’s interpretation of presence. In Amy’s popular body language TED talk from 2012, she inspires: ‘fake it til you become it’, as it relates to using body positioning to inspire a shift in energy that can contribute to an integrated sense of balance and connectedness.  

Would you agree that for any tool or strategy to be effective, one must first believe in its possibility? Or, have an authentic desire for better outcomes? 

When one works with young people, there is a strange dynamic that occurs. It seems as though there is an agreed upon construct as to how a young person should think, feel, and behave. If the young person does not think, feel, and behave within the expected range (keep in mind, the adult can only see and hear what is happening, and often conclude based on external markers), then an intervention must take place in order to uphold expected norms. Otherwise, bad things are certain to happen.

If you are in a position to implement the interventions, you have a few things working against you: in most cases, the young person is not in on the external vision for how they are to show up and express themselves. The young person has no interest or motivation to change in order to make adults more comfortable in their presence. The young person has a reality that is unique to who they are born to be, and to continually become. 

To be effective with young people who have their own sense of desired outcomes (which are probably related to connection, belonging, comfort, play, enjoyment), a reasonable target would be to validate the child’s autonomy and sense of self, and then continually return to the ‘why’ behind the intervention. If the ‘why’ is substantial, one must then be open to different ways of attaining the reasonable outcome. One of the quickest, no cost strategies to improve outcomes is to think differently about what is happening.

If one is focused on different outcomes for another, there is a great chance one has stepped onto a treadmill of disappointment. Reference back to the second statement above: Would you agree that for any tool or strategy to be effective, one must first believe in its possibility? Or, have an authentic desire for better outcomes? 

The treadmill of disappointment is an indicator that one must slow down and consider what is happening. Or, consider how one is thinking about what is happening. Thoughts and feelings are interconnected. Does being consumed with disappointment that spotlights an-other’s choices and way of being in the world, lend itself to feeling any sense of power over outcomes? 

When one slows down to consider the story they tell about what is happening, one can notice if the story they tell (as indicated by thoughts and feelings) is one of possibility (what CAN happen – good), or one of fear (what can happen – bad). 

What story do you want to tell? Which one feels better?

Thoughts and feelings ripple…and take up space.

*it was originally posted on May 5, 2024

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And now for the excerpt. The man in the picture just celebrated #87 🥰

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I would love to share this incredible documentary https://sourcethefilm.org/

“Evidence is the loudest voice”
-Dr Joe Dispenza