When soldiers are injured on the battlefield…
When their fresh wounds are not life-threatening,
but still serious enough
that they’ll be sent home to recover,
and their tour of duty is most likely over…
The levels of pain they report experiencing are…
minimal… manageable.
When civilians are injured, however…
When their fresh wounds are not life-threatening,
but still serious enough
that they’ll need time to recover,
and their way of life is most likely (temporarily) over…
The levels of pain THEY report experiencing are…
extreme… almost unbearable.
What is the reason for such a drastic discrepancy?
It’s all… in your mind.
For the soldier, the war is over.
For the civilian, it’s just beginning.
The soldier will be cared for
without expense.
The stress, anxiety, and dangers
of the battlefield,
have come to an end.
The civilian will be cared for
at great expense.
Work will be missed, money lost.
Life as they know it will be upended
For who knows how long.
The same injuries.
Dramatically different internal projections.
Your expectations of what’s to come…
Your perspective on the future…
The story you tell yourself about
what… this… means…
Affects every aspect of your life.
Affects even the degree to which you
Experience… physical pain.
You’re… point of view… can be…
a wonder drug…
far beyond any pharmaceutical company’s
wildest dreams.
This is no placebo effect.
As any good medical researcher will tell you,
a placebo’s potency wanes over time…
its power diminishes with each sugar pill you swallow.
However, as with a sugar pill,
there are no negative side effects
to placing your thumb on the scale in your mind…
tipping the balance of your perception in favor of…
Hope… and pleasant possibilities.
There is no better opiate in the world.
Internally sourced.
And with a required dosage that decreases over time.
For although it may feel foreign and difficult at first…
and your ego may whisper accusations of fraud…
as you repeat this deliberate activity
of fostering, within yourself,
“a rosy frame of mind”
As it becomes… a habit…
it will require less and less effort
to manifest within your consciousness.
Joyful… is just… what you will be.
Your identity is formed…
one fraction of a second at time
based on the stories you tell yourself
in each moment.
Your character is the incremental unfolding of…
an ongoing, self-directed narrative.
Adopt, therefore, a mode of positive anticipation.
Take it for granted that, no matter the circumstances,
your highest good is always being served.
Expect everything to turn out for the best.
You need not engage in prophecy, or denial…
nor overhaul your entire personality
Hang a sign that reads
“Home, Sweet Home,”
above the entrance to your Doomsday bunker…
Hm… if that’s what you’re into.
Either way, this framing (or reframing) of your mind,
Whether you believe it or not.
Whether it feels silly or not,
WILL become familiar emotional territory…
And well-trodden pathways in your brain.
This does not mean that anger or sadness
will not come into your life…
but when they do,
and you find yourself lost in a field of discontent…
the path to peace
will be all the more visible
and easier to return to.
Be ever sunny, therefore, in your disposition.
For this will not only uplift your spirit,
and lessen the sting of the ordinary…
“slings and arrows” of life,
but it will radiate to others in your sphere.
Spreading joy, like a wildfire.
