What are the things that you really enjoy and the things that you would most like to spend time on... in the proverbial ideal world? Jot down your answers on a piece of paper. We're not talking about a "bucket list" - just answer the question as asked! And that's it... there's nothing like a leading question to get the juices flowing... all the way towards flow.

A client recently reminded me of Thich Nhat Hanh's definition of fear: "Fear is mis-diagnosed excitement"... an insightful observation of how convoluted our normal mental processes can be or, actually, simply and automatically are. We are wired to see a glass half empty or the cloud that every silver lining comes with! We are wired to draw on the negative in our subconscious rather than the positive - predisposed to think the worst, believe the worst and wish for the worst... yes, that's what worry is, wishing for the worst - because, by pouring your energy into what you don't happen you enhance the chances of it actually visiting you.

Guilt, fear, anxiety, worry, frustration, self-loathing, even mild irritation... all words that I should really not waste my energy writing - because they are not. All these apparent negatives are just that - apparent. They appear to you and me because we actually let our minds present us with them as a fact. As an aside, you can add stress to that list - it should, in fact, be top of the list alongside depression (wonder what reaction I'll get to that statement!). All these things we do to ourselves with the result that we and those around us suffer untold consequences... wasted hours and days, damaged relationships, undone work, unachieved goals and all the related pyshical health problems that an unhealthy mind spawns.

It is no excuse for either you or I to say that these thoughts are automated. That may be a scientific fact - driven, as we are, by our subconscious autopilot... driven to distraction! If we offer that excuse - that just because I'm wired that way I'm gonna have to stay that way - we might as well lie down and die. Just like the so-called adults who blame their parents for how they are, we may well be the product of our formative years but that does not mean that we have to simply stay that way - particularly when life could be so much more wonderful and expansive.

If you are playing host to any of the aforementioned imaginary perspectives, stop. Stop doing it to yourself. Stop beating yourself up. It's funny, when you stop playing host to these thoughts, the pain stops! In fact, it would be better to stop thinking all together... all our problems are born of thought. What we need to do is think less and see, feel, hear, smell and taste more... come to your senses!