Asking yourself this question works well when you’re feeling what I’ll call “downward momentum” feelings… like irritability, sadness, moodiness, depression, being discontent, feeling not good enough, and so on. Or maybe your thinking has taken you on a deep dive (it happens to all of us) and your thoughts have brought you to a low point, or to a place that doesn’t feel very good.
When you find yourself in a moment that doesn’t feel good, ask yourself:
Can I do anything about this?
Vary rarely, if ever, would the answer be no. I can do absolutely nothing about this. (It almost sounds funny writing it, but this is often how we think).
We often think we must succumb to our experiences. What someone said to us, an event that took place, our own thinking…if it left us feeling not so good then that’s the way we’ve got to feel right?
The truth is that at any given moment we have the ability to make a new choice. To choose differently.
We can choose to dwell in that negative feeling or thinking…that’s our choice. Or we can choose not to. Whichever path we choose, it’s always our choice.
At any given moment we can do something to rewire our thinking or alter our mood, to bring ourselves into a state that feels better than we did in the previous moment.
It could be something as simple as taking a few deep breaths and focusing on something that makes us feel good, feeling the sensation of rubbing our hands together to create a new focus, or listening to a song that feels good for just a moment (our options are as endless as our imagination).
We all have this ability; we are this powerful.