I don’t like it! I really really really don’t like it. I don’t like injustice. I don’t like hatred. I don’t like racism. I don’t like violence. I don’t like guns. I don’t like intolerance. There are many things in this world that I don’t like. And you know what I probably don’t like the most? When I give all my energy and attention to what I don’t like. When I let fear be my guide rather than LOVE, even though I’ve made being guided by LOVE a daily practice for years, sometimes fear gets my attention more than I would like it to.
I have learned over the years of the back and forth between LOVE and fear that LOVE is there even with fear, AND fear can be a friend rather than a foe. Let me explain.
When I am focused on what I don’t like in my life, I can find my fear within the don’t like with a little digging. I ask myself why I don’t like it, and I see what’s there for me to see. It doesn’t mean I now like it, but I don’t give it power over me as I did in the past. I still don’t like everything I mentioned above (and other things too), yet I choose to remind myself to turn my attention to what I do like. If I don’t like injustice, then how can I help create more justice? If I don’t like hatred, how can I be more LOVING? If I don’t like racism, how can I be a solution provider? I can certainly choose to focus and complain about what I don’t like, or I can redirect my energy into finding solutions that help me return to LOVE.
So, when you find yourself focused on all the things you don’t like about your current situation, I invite you to use it as a springboard to focus on what you DO want in your life. While it might be harder to make that shift in perception when things are hard, it’s still possible. Take a step today towards living life rather than allowing life to live you.
Moving forward, I invite you to step further into like by:
Knowing what you don’t like. By knowing what you don’t like, you can redirect your energy to the opposite of it. When you are aware that you are headed down the ‘don’t want’ mode, you can shift the momentum by appreciating you are aware of how you feel, so you can now redirect your attention back to feeling better. I invite you to make a list of all the things you don’t like. Get it out of your body and onto paper. Once you’ve gotten it out, take each statement and turn it around into a DO like list. I encourage you to burn or shred the don’t likes, and keep the list of likes.
Paying attention to your self-talk. When you catch yourself saying negative thinks about what you don’t like about yourself, see it as an opportunity to shift it into saying something you DO like.
Being gentle with yourself. I’ve made LOVE, kindness, compassion, and peace as my daily focus for several years. While it is my focus, it doesn’t mean I am in that space 24/7. What I don’t like still can grab my attention (and energy) and take me into complain mode rather than solutions mode. Feel your feeling, and then regroup, refocus, and return to gentleness.
Stepping into appreciation. What you appreciate – appreciates. Start your morning off by thinking about, or writing down, people and experiences that you appreciate in you day. As you go through your day and you see something you like, take note… yes please, more of this. From the smallest reason to find appreciation, to the largest, the more you focus on what you appreciate, the less room you will have to focus on what you don’t like.
Mostly, I want you to realize just how fragile life is and spend your precious moments focused on LOVE, kindness, compassion, and peace. You are worthy of living a life that you not only like, but that you LOVE.
Until next time, I like you, and I hope you like YOU too.
Affirmation:
I like having options to see life through the lens of LOVE in all experiences.
Words to LOVE by:
“It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Sounds for YOUR Soul:
