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How many times have you made a decision to change something in your life and then found yourself slipping off the path you had chosen? Have you found yourself repeating past behavior even though the higher side of your consciousness knew better than to be caught in that same old trap? Is it that you were insincere in your choice or rather that you stumbled on old programming?

The mind and the subconscious have alternately been considered as master or enemy. They are neither — they are wonderful tools available to us to create the life we choose. Unfortunately, some people have yet to realize that they themselves 'run the show'. They have let the mind and subconscious run on automatic without verifying that the operating program is truly what they now desire.

In dealing with 'undesirable' patterns, be aware that the motivation for habitual actions resides in our subconscious. Those patterns are a response to our previous programming. Maybe we felt, in the past, that the safest way to react to anger was to hold our breath and suppress our feelings deep inside. Or possibly our habitual reaction to new situations was to figuratively crawl into the deepest part of ourselves and hide. These response patterns may have become entrenched in our subconscious as part of our self-defense mechanism — they form a set of rules that dictate our automatic behavior.

You may have made a mental decision to change some thought pattern or behavior, but neglected to inform your "manager" (subconscious) that you had changed the ground rules. Thus, it still was operating according to the old rules thinking that it was serving you. Once it becomes aware that a new behavior (i.e. expressing yourself) is what you now desire, it will happily assist you in manifesting that new reality.

You may need to remind your mental computer (subconscious) more than once of the new direction you desire to take. It was told many times, in the past, of the "proper" or "other" way to behave and you now need to reassure it that you truly do want it to behave in a new fashion. You need to inform it that you are now playing the game of life differently. Tell it that you now choose to "play" life joyfully, lightly, and with harmlessness and harmony as your methods of operation.

A powerful tool which helps re-program the 'management' of the subconscious is to inform it that you now give it permission to operate differently. Remember you are the one, either through direct communication or through agreement with others, that set the rules for your subconscious' behavior. You now need to pull out the old policy and replace it with a new one.

This can be done by simply telling your subconscious, while you are in a reflective or meditative state of mind, that you now give yourself permission to live life the way you desire (i.e. to take risks and express your emotions to the people in your life). You could phrase it as "I now give myself complete permission to.....(be happy, healthy, etc.)". You then proceed to affirm, "I now release the fear of.....(expressing my emotions, etc.)" It helps to let out a huge sigh at this point to physically release the stored emotions.

If you find yourself thinking something like "I'm always late", release all the guilt by affirming: "I now release all guilt for being late in the past, present, and future. I now give myself permission to be on time." Remember, your sub-conscious has taken your thought of "I'm always late" as a command and has dutifully assisted you in creating that reality. You might want to thank it for its assistance and make it clear that you now want its help in being on time (or healthy, happy, wealthy, etc.).

Life is what you make it! You can clean out the cobwebs in the old programming and revamp the guidelines to reflect your new vision of yourself and of the life you choose to have surrounding you. Be aware of your present thoughts. In a sense, you need to be "watching" your thoughts at all times to spot the ones that sabotage your goals. Once you detect the thoughts that are 'against' your highest good, you can proceed to change them.

Take a good look at the scripts you have accumulated for the future and see if there are any editorial changes and major rewriting that you need to do. Change the script! Give yourself permission to have a great and fantastic life.

Recommended book on this topic:

You'll See It When You Believe It
by Wayne Dyer.

Info/Order book

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

More articles by Marie T. Russell.

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