Review of The Thought Exchange

If you've ever had the feeling that there's something missing from your life, or that there's something stopping you from achieving your dreams, you would probably benefit from watching the film The Thought Exchange. The movie is based on the book by the same name, written by renowned Disney composer David Friedman. I would categorize it loosely in the Self Help or Self Improvement genre. Its kissing cousin would be The Secret, but don't let that turn you off. There is none of the hokey, repetitive, dramatic staging found in The Secret. The Thought Exchange is much more straight forward and tolerable. (Disclaimer: I have nothing against The Secret, with the exception of its cheese factor).

Throughout The Thought Exchange, Friedman describes his revelations in learning to live the life of his dreams. Realizing that what he was doing wasn't working, he set to work trying to figure out something that would put him on the right path. What he learned was essentially the importance of working through our uncomfortable sensations to get where we want to go. Friedman purports that feeling terribly uncomfortable is a sure sign that we are heading in the right direction toward the fulfillment of our greatest wishes. He challenges us to feel the panic, the chills, and the fear, and to not only put a new name on it, but to also use these unpleasant sensations to our advantage.

Friedman, along with the narrator and the other guests in The Thought Exchange, does a great job explaining the points and practices of his theory. The mirror and shopping analogies mentioned were particularly useful as far as clarifying and putting the movie's objective in perspective. This is the type of movie that needs to be watched more than once in order to glean everything possible from it. It is a thought-provoking learning experience, and I look forward to watching it again, and reading the book as well.

An Ode to Wayne Dyer

Wayne Dyer, I love you. I love you and your book, The Power of Intention,so much, in fact, that I almost (almost) don't mind that the library is charging me top dollar to replace this book for water damage, for which I'm pretty sure I'm not responsible, in order to retain my beloved library privileges. The reason I almost (I did say almost) don't mind is because they are letting me keep the book. Plus the book was in my house at the same time as my four Mega Mess Makers, so I suppose I have to accept the remote possibility that perhaps I could maybe be responsible for the damage. In any case, I've let it go and am happily welcoming the book to my collection..

Your inspiring words of wisdom, your quotable passages, your unsinkable positive attitude...I love it all. I admire your strongly-held beliefs, and I look forward to frequently re-reading and referencing my newly acquired Wayne Dyer masterpiece.

Thank you, Mr. Dyer, for your prolific writing career. And thanks to my ability to suck it up and pay up, I will soon be checking more of your books out of the library for my reading and self-improvement pleasure.

Possibilites

Picture a supermarket, let's call it Food Mart. As you look around, you are disappointed because there isn't much to choose from, and what you see doesn't look great. You are utterly underwhelmed. However, you're hungry, your family likes to eat, and your cupboards are getting pretty bare. You really need to shop, and this is the only place in town.


You head over to the produce department. There is a man standing behind a counter, the liaison between you and the fruits and veggies. He is there to help you, but first he requires your driver's license. For some reason, handing your identification to this man feels kind of shameful, as if he is a police officer pulling you over for a traffic violation. Although it doesn't feel quite right, you hand over the I.D. without question, automatically resigned that there is no other way. You start telling this man what you want. When you ask for bananas, he hands you a basket with three bananas in it. They're spotted and bruised; definitely not what you'd choose for yourself. And you have four kids for goodness sake - three bananas is not enough! Yet you say nothing; you simply accept the basket, which is really cute, and put it in your cart. The same thing happens with everything you want; the man consistently hands over poor quality produce, and he never gives you as much as you'd like. Somehow, the cute baskets make you feel a little better, which makes no sense! Who cares about the outer packaging when what's inside a)isn't enough, and b)is not quality? When you're done shopping in the produce department, you wait for the man to return your driver's license, but he doesn't. Though it feels strangely illicit, you reach back and retrieve it yourself.


By the time you get to the check-out, your basket is sort of full, but there really isn't enough and it's not really what you want. As you unload your cart, you feel dissatisfied, but you continue with the transaction. You're hungry and your family likes to eat, after all.


The lack of selection in the Food Mart is a metaphor for your perceived lack of options in your life. The man is an authority figure, your self-conscious, deciding for you what you deserve and what you are permitted to have. You hand yourself to him willingly when you give him your I.D. This is you telling him has permission to run your show. The cute little baskets represent your outer self and your physical surroundings. They don't look half bad, so perhaps it's best not to upset the status-quo, not to argue with the subconscious man. But you do manage to bravely reclaim yourself when you snatch your driver's license back from him - there is hope! Yet you continue with the transaction, thereby accepting your slim pickings and taking what you can get.


Now imagine instead that you are walking into a huge, gleaming clean supermarket, let's call it Super Food Emporium. There before you is aisle after aisle of every food you can imagine, and many you've never heard of. Everything looks so good, so fresh, so delectable! You start filling your cart, but there are so many lovely things you want, everything barely fits. In fact, you have to get a second cart. Everywhere you turn there are friendly, smiling store clerks standing by to help you, and encouraging you to try everything that looks good to you. You are filled with happiness and gratitude because shopping here is such fun!


If you had a choice between shopping at Food Mart or shopping at the Super Food Emporium, the best decision would be obvious, a total no-brainer. You do have a choice. Choose the better store, and bask in the endless array of options and opportunities available to you. Choose well, and accept guidance from positive influences along the way. This is your life. The only thing stopping you from having, doing, learning, and experiencing anything you can imagine is you. Step out of your own way.

Mission: Abort?

I hate to admit it, but the 21-day no complaining challenge sort of went out the window. At first, I think I was being too strict regarding what constitutes complaining. Maybe making a valid observation isn't the same as complaining. Also, sometimes complaining is a necessary evil. I need to think a little more about how I want to define complaining for these purposes, and start fresh. In the meantime, I have continued to wear the rubber band around my wrist as a reminder to shut my mouth when I feel the complaints about to escape my lips. The whole mission was not a total bust; I have become more conscious of my negativity, attitude, and crabbiness. Since I didn't start out being a big complainer in the first place, I think it would be more beneficial in my case to strive to be more positive and to not let bad moods transform me into a bitch.

The kids are on Spring Break. I'm so happy to have them home for the next week. I wonder how many times in a week the idea of homeschooling goes through my head. School is great and all, but sometimes I just think it would be awesome to have my kids with me and learning things in a more non-conventional way. I'm not sure I could ever be that organized or patient, but I digress.  A few friends and I thought we'd start the break out with a fun day at the zoo yesterday. Unfortunately, the gorgeous weather we've been having gave everyone else the same idea too. When we got off the freeway and started seeing signs about the zoo parking lot being full, we knew we were in trouble. So we met up at a nearby parking lot and ended up deciding not to torture ourselves. We agreed the experience would not be much fun while fighting crowds and trying to keep our large group together. Instead we headed for a park in the area and let the kids run around for a couple hours. It was not the day we had planned, but the kids got to be outside with their friends on an unseasonably warm April afternoon, and I'd call that a lovely day.

My kids are so lucky. That seems to be a recurrent theme in my blogging, but it is just something that has been on my mind lately. My childhood was so quiet and lonesome. I had friends and cousins, and I did get to do a lot of cool stuff, but for the most part I was responsible for entertaining myself. I don't think it is a good idea for parents to constantly entertain their kids, and I don't feel that Chris and I do that, but our kids are fortunate that they have each other, and that I am friends with many of their friends' parents. I know we are building lifelong memories for our kids when we all get together to dye Easter eggs (as we did on Thursday afternoon) or spend the afternoon at a park. They have this group that they spend so much time with, they really have the opportunity to get to know each other and be comfortable with each other. And of course there is the added benefit for me that I have a group of friends to hang out with, and we always have an excuse to get together. I am lucky too!

Connor had his first soccer practice Friday evening. Two girls from his class are on his team, as well as a boy Connor knows from one of the other first grade classes. I like his coach. Connor did pretty well too. I'm happy he decided he wants to play soccer again. We all went to watch him practice. On the way there, Lucy and Mathilda fell asleep in the van holding hands. I wish I had had my camera, it was so darn cute!

Bethany has been wanting to do nothing but somersaults (flips as she says) and cartwheels. Connor has been on a Lego kick. Mathilda has been pulling herself up to stand more and more. She has slept at least part of the night in the crib a few times this week. Tonight she is sleeping in the play pen, but that's okay, I'll take it. If she sleeps at least a few hours without me every night, I am a happy mama. Lucy says the funniest things all the time. The other day we were at Linda's and Linda was giving me some Easter decorations. Lucy was thinking decorations meant Christmas, so she asked me about when Christmas will be here. When I told her not for a long time she said, "wait, I'm so confused!". The funny thing about Lucy is that she says really big words and they are almost always used correctly.  She told Linda the other day, while looking at herself in the mirror, that she looked "totally awesome - like a teenager". But I am afraid she has some seasonal allergies, she has been sneezing and blowing her nose like crazy (as well as the other kids, but she seems particularly affected). I hope she feels better to enjoy some Easter treats.