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THE EMOTIONAL ATMOSPHERE

YOUR CREATE

The emotional atmosphere you create within yourself and for those around you is the result of the balance of positive and negative messages you send and receive. The balance of blessings and curses you throw and catch.

1. Shake your Rattle---shamanic power

2. Blessings and curses---you throw and catch.

3. Do you poison or nourish?---trash or nurture?

4. Don’t stuff your negative feelings---they grow and blow.

SHAKE YOUR RATTLE

Shamanic power

Each year at the time of the winter solstice, the shaman gathered the tribe. Sure enough, when he shook his rattle the days stopped getting shorter and started to get longer. He stopped the world from plunging into eternal darkness---a very powerful shaman.

Villagers assumed he was responsible for saving the world because they confused association with causality. The rattle-shaking shaman was associated with the sun starting to stay longer in the sky, but in no way caused the change. That was our planet slowly tilting on its axis.

People back then would have no way to know that, so I wonder what very brave, very foolhardy chief or shaman stopped the ritual.

On the other hand, his obvious ability to control the sun gave the shaman and his rattle great power to heal the sick. When he shook his rattle, the self-healing capacity of the human body was mobilized---a great example of a powerful, positive message.

Modern medicine men and women generally don’t use rattles---they have pills, surgery, and shiny, silver equipment and instruments.

BLESSINGS AND CURSES

You throw and catch

The shaman blessed the sick and cursed his enemies. The positive and negative messages worked great because they triggered powerful hope and fear in their targets.

We still have many, many medicine men:

The tests indicate that you have an excellent chance of recovery.

You need retinal implants or you will go blind in two years.

The odds are very high for another heart attack without this medication.

Your condition will quickly deteriorate if you do not follow my instructions.

We almost always have excellent results with this exercise.

Alexander Pope

Tis not enough your counsel still be true;

Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do.

A messy mix of blessings and curses is found in all governments, businesses, interests groups, and religions. And in you and me.

The Medical Industrial Complex is particularly vulnerable to perverse incentives which flow negative messages. I strongly suspect that if practitioners concentrated less on illness and treatment, and more on health and life style, they would have fewer patients. Those they have would need fewer drugs and surgeries.

Not so good for the bottom line.

Incentives influence behavior.

Wittingly and unwittingly.

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There is nothing more dangerous than a surgeon

with an open operating room and a mortgage to pay

Kevin B. Jones, MD

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During the next week watch for messages you throw and catch, send and receive. In the words of long ago some will be uppers, some downers, some good vibes, some bad. The nonverbal, like a frown, smile, tone of voice, posture, are often more powerful than the verbal. Pay special attention to those you throw at yourself.

You will easily be aware of the messages in your life, and easily see, hear and feel the difference between blessings and curses. Yes, that is a message and hopefully a blessing.

WHAT DID YOU FIND?

DO YOU POISON OR NOURISH?

Trash or nurture?

Watch out for the joy-stealers:

gossip, criticism, complaining, fault finding,

and a negative, judgmental attitude.

Joyce Meyer

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Some people do really find fault

like there's a reward for it.

Zig Ziglar

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The less you respond to negative people,

the more peaceful your life will become.

The Buddha

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…you should tell yourself frequently, I will only react to constructive suggestions, for this gives you some protection against your own negative thoughts and those of others.

Seth

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Constructive criticism is valuable and appreciated. Faultfinders do not criticize to be helpful. They criticize to put-down and self-glorify.

If you are honest and courageous open your eyes, ears and sensitivity to your effect on others, and especially on yourself. The emotional atmosphere you create within yourself and for those around you is the result of the balance of positive and negative messages you send and receive. The balance of blessings and curses you throw and catch.

If you don’t like what you find, awareness is usually all that is needed to shift the balance.

Curses are more powerful than blessings. If you want to keep your friendships warm, you better have 2 or 3 blessings ready after you throw a curse. Have 3 or 4 ready when you throw a curse at yourself.

Sandwich every bit of criticism

between two layers of praise.

Mary Kay Ash

Early on, I dreaded going to parties---smacked myself repeatedly with negative messages. Sure enough, when I got to the party I had a dreadful time.

Then I was lucky or smart enough to shift the negatives to positives. I changed the dread to excitement and fun---smacked myself some more. Sure enough, my

party experience changed to excitement and fun.

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Most importantly---when you are thrown a negative message, stop and evaluate it to find if there might be something you need to acknowledge and correct.

Attend to those that provide an opportunity for growth.

CANCEL! CANCEL! Those that do not.

WHAT DID YOU FIND?

Paul

Sure I throw them all the time. But only good ones. Make people happy. Give em a boost no matter how much you have to lie. And I’m lying now. I throw plenty of curses. Watched. And they throw them right back. Maybe I really will throw more blessings and fewer curses. But curses are more fun. Ya, I caught myself throwing some curses at myself. I undid them with a blessing. What would happen if somebody threw me a curse, and I threw them a blessing?

Jennifer

I watched. Funny ways to throw curses. Very low key. More subtle than those examples. More subtle cues like a frown or tone of my voice. Even the way I sit or stand. Now can choose better. Maybe I need to throw more curses. Too much of a goody, goody. I put myself down with curses all the time. No wonder I feel like a little mouse. Gotta start throwing some wild woman messages at myself.

DON’T STUFF YOUR NEGATIVE FEELINGS

They grow and blow

That does not mean you should never throw negative messages at yourself and others. They can be useful signals that you or they did something that was inappropriate or harmful.

Honest and constructive criticism is a healthy and necessary part of normal human interaction. When you stuff your negative feelings they build up, bursting out in unexpected and inappropriate ways.

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As The Buddha put it:

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal

with the intent of throwing it at someone else;

you are the one who gets burned.

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Discrimination and balance are needed, again.

Who said it was easy to be human.

If you fear you throw too many curses put them in Fritz’ Magic Chair and ask why.

WHAT DID YOU FIND?