Pain to Love: A Mindset Shift
How one mindset shift changed my whole perspective.
Creating a mindset shift is powerful. There are many practices that can allow a mindset shift to happen such as meditation or exercise. Dr. Wayne Dyer has an abundance of practices in his teachings. In his book, “Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life,” he talks about the benefits of early morning walks.
In it he says to walk sometime between 3 and 6 am in the forest or the streets without fear. Know that you are not alone and that you walk with “god.” I prefer the word “universe” or “nature,” but know that the term “god” is simply another word for this thing, this power that allows us to live, breathe, and create.
Dr. Wayne Dyer says that we get pinged and wake up at 3, 4, 5 am and then our ego says, “hey it’s too early to get up, go back to sleep” and we listen. He says we miss out on this special morning time. Of course, the next day, I woke up at 5 am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I figured I would try to walk the streets and have no fear.
As I walked, I noticed the quiet neighborhood and felt comfortable walking in the middle of the street. There was a beautiful peace in the air and a light pink sky greeted by the sun’s first rays. I walked and actually felt myself without fear. There were no cars or humans out, so there was no evidence of fear.
During this quiet time, some negative thoughts slipped into my awareness. I remembered how hurt I was when Laura yelled at me on the phone the other night and how hurt I felt when Kaitlin criticized me for not working traditionally. I started to think, I need to avoid these people. These memories were causing pain and I don’t want pain in my life. I realized that in general, my mind associated people with pain.
When I think of people, I think of ways they don’t like me or how we don’t jive together. I constantly think that I need new friends. In that moment, I realized my focus has been that people = pain. And I said to myself, well what if people = love? I need people to equal love, otherwise I will hide from people and the pain I associate with them. I was then able to remember when Laura was kind to me. I remembered all the great conversations I had with Kaitlin. I couldn’t allow one negative instance to take over my whole experience of a person. At that moment I decided to embrace the fact that people could equal love. I had evidence of it but wasn’t focusing on it.
I remembered when Cathy reached out to check on me and all the times Mike had been there for me. I remembered when Martha and I got along and had a great conversation. I even remembered having a fun adventure with Mitch, which doesn’t happen often. I could remember and focus on the good experiences with people, on the kindness of people. I could believe that people = love.
And as I walked, I remembered one more thing. The day before, while talking to Mike, I said “I don’t want to write for people.” In my mind, it would be a chore and I didn’t want to be dictated by someone else. And then I realized that I spoke from a place of people = pain. In my early morning walk, I could re-frame my mind to think I can write for people. I have words and lessons to offer to people. They might learn something new. It’s a gift I can give to people and I want to give because people = love.