Another parental Croan that should be a bumper sticker.

Similar to the more civilized “definition of insanity”, a bastard child to the “Law of Attraction” of Secret fame, “keep doing what you done, you’ll keep getting what you got”, is a phrase that implies both fatalism and stupidity.

Without going too Oprah, I am trying to figure out how to be open to a different future by stepping into the present. Unfortunately, some days are so influenced by the past that they don’t even deserve to be called the present.

It’s not just a matter of identifying false beliefs or unraveling negative self-talk, although that is a significant chunk of behavior/mod work right there. Old beliefs start out as threads, then twist themselves into cords and then braid themselves into a sturdy rope. A Gordian Knot of complication

Cutting the knot may be quicker than figuring out how to untie it, but it still leaves a pile of the ties that bind. Thats where I am right now. Trying to figure out if unraveling the frayed pile of my habitual thinking is a way to create something new, or if I should frugally chuck it all in the closet for some unspecified future need. Is there a future if the past isn’t even past? How much of this crap am I obligated to keep?

Part of my spectacularly circular thinking is the fact that “what I done” has worked pretty well for me so far and “getting something new” could be awful. The warm safety of knowing you can’t win and never will.

In the interest of potentially generating scads of new blog-fodder, I am willing to experiment, try a little something new. Ghandi said ‘You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist’ so that may be the place to start. My clenched fist always feels like power but it clenches the past and uses it as a weapon to bludgeon the present.

I will never be known for my “willow” qualities, but I think I can open my hand and see what happens. For a little while at least.