There was once a man who was on a path leading to the top of a high mountain. The man could see the mountaintop far away on the horizon. The path went through several villages. And at each village a curious thing happened. Several citizens would gather and throw ropes at him. In the beginning he would take hold of the ropes, trying to be friendly. But as soon as he did they would attempt to pull him off his path.
The traveler soon learned not to grab hold of the ropes. He saw through the tricks of the villagers. They wanted nothing to do with the path he was on. Furthermore, they wanted him to stop his journey and settle down with them.
From then on the ropes would flop right on the ground in front of him. Occasionally he would see himself almost forgetting as he started to reach down and pick up the rope. But he stopped himself in time. He refused to pick it up! And he learned to bear the wrath of those who threw them. They most certainly didn’t like it that he was independent.
The traveler made it all the way to the top of the majestic mountain. The view was vast and the air was pure. Eagles and other rare birds flew around the mountaintop. There was a mountain lake with refreshing water. There was everything his heart had longed for. And it all was his because he refused to catch the ropes!
The Power of Self-Talk
Spiritual self-talk is a tremendous tool for developing your power of choice. It helps you expand the brief moment of decision between stimulus and response.
And here’s where the following 18 super-thoughts come into practice. They activate your power of choice! They keep you aware in those brief seconds of time just before you reach for the rope. They are enormously powerful. But they have to be applied! That is the thing about SuperWisdom, it has to be placed into practice in your daily life.
Here are the 18 most powerful things you can say to yourself:
1. All too often we slip into silent mental arguments with people. These mental movies are a huge energy drain. When you see yourself starting to drift into a mental argument with someone say to yourself, “There are higher things to think about.”
2. The SuperWisdom Notebooks often refer to the enormous power of instant recovery. You don’t have to be caught by the past, either recent or distant. Now is new! You need not obey five minutes ago or five years ago. Say to yourself often, “I am new now!”
3. With the following declaration you can catch depression, anxiety or any negative emotion when it first appears. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill. At the top of the hill the snowball is small and can easily be stopped. Negativity is the same way. It is very weak when it first starts to form. At the first sign of negativity from others or your own thoughts say, “I need not let you enter my life and take over my mind.”
4. So much mental anguish is caused by defending ourselves when we make a mistake. If you are going to be a concert pianist or an airline pilot or a professional sales person, you most certainly will make mistakes. It is part of the learning process. People who are afraid to make mistakes never grow. Free yourself! Give yourself permission to make mistakes. And when you see you’ve made one be quick to say, “I am wrong.”
5. One of the interesting things about the spiritual journey is that just before a breakthrough to a new and higher level your inner world becomes shaky and confused. A part of you wants to go back and settle down with the stability you’ve been experiencing. But you can’t go back. New and greater things are just ahead for you. When you see this happening don’t try to hold things together. Say to yourself, “I wonder what will happen if I go a little further?”
6. Fear was once beautifully defined as “False Evidence Appearing Real.” Anytime you feel fear approaching there is only one way through it—DO IT ANYWAY! Say to yourself, “I’m going to call the bluff and see what happens.”
7. We really have only one problem—we don’t remember our spiritual lessons! If we could remember to apply what we already know, swift success would follow. It can be very difficult to remember in this nutty world, but with the following you’ll see yourself remembering more often. When you remember your lessons right in the middle of the challenge you take a giant step upwards. Say to yourself, “What do I need to remember?”
8. You can use the following statement whenever you see a rope tossed at you in an attempt to make you negative. You can use it with people, the media, your own thoughts, everything! With this statement you are free! Nothing can touch you. Why? Because you do not react! You do not grab hold. You simply say to yourself, “I have nothing to say to that.”
9. We need a super powerful technique to overcome the spin of the inner world. Like a hamster in a cage, the mind wants to spin around and around. This is a giant waste of energy. But how do we stop it? Often, throughout the day, you can use the following statement to remind yourself of the present moment. Notice the contrast between the spin state and the awareness state. Which feels better? Say to yourself often, “I am here.”
10. The few people pursuing genuine self-transformation are willing to contemplate a truth that is most unpopular. This truth is a giant spiritual bulldozer that destroys the old house of fear and anguish. Once the old house is knocked down the lot is cleared and construction begins on a new and modern high rise building. This very unpopular Truth will lead to swift growth. Say to yourself, “The pain is in me, not out there.”
11. The further we go on the spiritual journey the more a definite attitude begins to form — We see that challenging and demanding experiences are a good thing for our development. In the beginning we thought it was all about peace and comfort. But we come to see that we really don’t grow in comfort. We grow when things are rough. We learn the most when all our inner resources are challenged. This is a request to the Universe, to the power that is the author of self-transformation. Say, “More please of whatever I need.”
12. Sensitive gauges tell operators when their equipment reaches high pressure zones. Likewise, we too have super sensitive instruments inside of us. Like our ears and our eyes, they are organs already present. But they have to be developed. Their efficient operation will release abundant new energies. How do you bring them back to life? Ask yourself, “Am I in a negative state right now?”
13. If you could find a way to meet every challenge, a way that would guarantee success because it guarantees an inner victory, what would you do? There is such a method and it’s right here. It is based on the supreme law of life, The Law of Growth. Human beings are either regenerating or they are degenerating. There is no “staying the same.” When faced with any new challenge, any difficult person, any problem at all say to yourself, “Time to take the next step up.”
14. When you don’t pick up the ropes, what happens? Well, one thing is that the unaware person throwing them gets mad. “What gives you the right to refuse my demands?” they say by their brazen manner. Your freedom makes them very insecure. They will get angry, try to make you feel guilty, threaten you, and when that doesn’t work they will flip flop into the nicest, sweetest person you’ve ever seen. When that doesn’t work they will go back to anger again. Claim your freedom! You have a right to your own life. Let them get mad if they must. Say to yourself, “If you know what is best for me, why are you so miserable?”
15. The SuperWisdom Notebooks say, “Always leave a nut with his own nuttiness.” You don’t have to pick it up and carry it for him or her. What a relief to give up false sentimentality toward people! It is a sad but true fact that most people are stuck in the mud and want to stay there. But its lonely in the mud so they want to pull you in! Say to yourself, “That is your fear (or worry, problem, regret, etc) not mine.”
16. You can see how often in this article we’re given tools to apply toward other people. Other people are NOT our problem. Our problem is our own reaction and the fact that we grab the rope and yell GO! But since difficult people are this world’s most plentiful resource, it is imperative that we have several effective tools to deal with them. Here’s another one. Say to yourself, “No, I am not going to behave back to you the way you behaved to me.”
17. When doubts swirl around you, when hostility seeks to enter and maul your good feelings, when darts are thrown at you by vindictive people, when your own thoughts accuse you and tell you their favorite lie — “you’ll never make it,” when all this happens you can win every time by quietly and firmly telling the negativity, “You’ve got the wrong (man — woman).”
18. A great deal of wrong advice is given that centers around “self-esteem” and trying to see yourself with virtues you really don’t possess. Pretense is always painful. And pretense always blocks self-observation. You don’t have to pretend. You can know! The SuperWisdom Notebooks say to simply see yourself as a learner. This viewpoint of yourself is true and places enormous spiritual resources on your side. Say to yourself, “I want to understand what it’s all about—I want to learn!”
Conclusion
Seeing negativity (from any source) as a rope that you do not have to grab brings everything into clear focus. We begin to understand that we really do have the power of choice. We also begin to see how we’ve been careless with this power because we were afraid to displease negative people and our own negative thoughts. Yes, there may well be a protest, both from others and from our habitual nature. But so what! The lofty and delightful feelings you will begin to experience will reinforce the fact that you’re on the right path at last.
And the affect on your sales work will be enormous. Since sales pros must often deal with a hundred or more negative ropes a day, applying Wise Self Talk will place you in a commanding zone. Your Power of Choice will be reclaimed and placed at the center of your self-development efforts. From it will flow a thousand lively streams. You’ll know you’ve found the Master Key at last. And you’ll be delighted at how practical it all is.
— © 1998 by Tom Russell, reprinted with permission.