The fear that I am experiencing right now is trying to keep me safe…It’s trying to keep me healthy…It wants me to avoid danger…It wants me to avoid struggle…I appreciate that it wants me to be safe…But the problem is when I experience fear…I also experienced fight, flight, freeze, or fog…Which makes taking the next action very difficult…In some cases it makes taking the next action impossible…I recognize the fact that my system is doing this to keep me safe…My system also doesn’t want to lose the fear…My system is worried that if I lose my fear, I will become careless…I will become reckless…I will do something dangerous…Letting go of fear does not mean that I’m careless…Letting go of fear does not mean I’m going to do something unsafe…Letting go of fear does not mean I have stopped caring…Instead it is possible for me to move from distress to beneficial stress…It is possible for me to leave fear and move to urgency…When I act with a sense of urgency, I become focused…When I act with a sense of urgency, I gain clarity…When I ask for the sense of urgency, I move with purpose…I am safe…I am on guard…I am aware…Most importantly I am taking action…I appreciate that my system wants me to be safe…Fear is a consequence of my system wanting me to be safe…I choose to move from fear to urgency…Because when I work with urgency, I am safe and effective…I am safe and productive. 

There is a part of me that is really disappointed in myself…That I looked at another human being and I judge them…Every fiber of my being judged them…I judged their life…I judged their choices…I change them for not trying hard enough…I judge them for giving up…That’s not who I want to be…I don’t want to be a judgmental person…I truly want to see the best in others…Not as some platitude…Not because it’s the right thing to do…I just want to look at others and recognize that they are amazing…And there’s a part of me that intellectually sees that…There is a part of me that really wants to believe that…There’s a part of me that is just scared…Scared inside of my own skin…Scared in the world…That part lashes out in judgment…it lashes out in judgment because it makes me feel better…Better about my choices…Better about who I am…If I can see people who are making bad choices and know that I’m not bad like them then I must be good…Intellectually I know that’s wrong emotionally that brings a lot of Shame…There’s a part of me that knows that I should forgive myself…and there’s a part of me that wants to stay stuck in the shame…Shame is no fun…Is a part of me that thinks I need to be punished because I thought such horrible thoughts…That I should suffer now…I shouldn’t suffer …I recognize that if I offer myself any forgiveness I feel like I’m letting myself off the hook…Did I did someone wrong…Even though I didn’t say anything even though they didn’t know what I thought…Even though they didn’t know what I felt…Call for myself forgiveness feels like I’m just letting it go…If I entertain the sense of forgiving myself…I’m not saying it was a good choice…If I entertain the thought of forgiving myself I’m not saying I should do it again…If I entertain forgiving myself…I’m not saying I should take responsibility…I give myself permission to entertain forgiving myself…Even though there’s a part of me that is a long way from forgiving myself…I’m really sorry…in any way that I damaged or hurt others…Just being near them thinking those thoughts…It’s so unfair…And is so hurtful…And they didn’t deserve that…To be honest I’ve no idea how they ended up how they are…I’m sure they don’t want to be in the bodies in that state they like me have a part of them that wants health and well-being…And is worthy of health and well-being…And I hope it is not more than just the physical burden that they carry…They deserve better…They were made for so much better…I’m sorry for contributing to whatever they’re experiencing…I’m sorry for judging…I’m sorry for recoiling…I’m sorry for not seeing them is amazing…I’m sorry…I hope they experience no more pain…from my thoughts…From my emotions…For my negativity…They’re worthy of more…And they’re worthy of better from me. 

I really want what’s best for my loved ones…I want them to be happy…I want them to be healthy…I want them to find joy in this world…But there are times when I think I see a better path than the one they are on…There are times in which I think I see a better way…There are times in which I can see the pain that they are in and I want better for them…I’m glad there’s a part of me that wants better for my loved ones…I’m glad there’s a part of me that wants to share good things with my loved ones…At the exact same time I can’t be responsible for them…I can’t be responsible for their emotional state…I can’t be responsible for their choices…I can’t make their choices for them…Even if they wanted me to be responsible for them…And I wanted to be responsible for them…It would be impossible for me to be responsible for them…Because they have free will…They have control…It is their life…I can want better for them without running them over…I can want better for them without telling them what to do…I can want better for them even in the face of them making choices that I don’t think are healthy…I want what is better for them and at the same time I acknowledge it is their life…I want what is better for them but it is their choice…I want what is better for them…I appreciate that there’s a part of me that wants to fight for them…But it is their life and they are making their own choices…Recognizing this is sometimes hard for me…And I acknowledge that recognizing this is best for them…And it is best for me

I’m glad there are good things in my life…It is good for me to be appreciative…It is good for me to give thanks…When I give thanks I am more present in this moment…When I give thanks I’m able to experience everything more richly…When I give thanks I’m healthier…And at the same time I recognize that my life isn’t perfect…At the same time I want some things to change…There’s a part of me that believes that if I am striving for better, then I’m not appreciating what I already have…If I strive for better, it means that I’m being ungrateful…But this is simply not true…Because I can do both things…I can appreciate what I have and strive for more…I can be thankful in this moment and continue to improve my life…Wanting better is not dismissing what I have…Wanting better is recognizing that the past is a platform from which I can create better…Wanting better is growing those parts of my life I am already grateful for…They are not mutually exclusive…They are connected…Being appreciative helps me to grow…Being appreciative helps me to move forward…It is healthy and natural to feel both emotions at the exact same time…I give myself permission to be grateful and I give myself permission to strive for more…And as I achieve more, I will have even more opportunities to be grateful. 

There’s a part of me that is afraid that I’m going to make the wrong choice…I’m going to go the wrong way…That I’m going to waste time and energy…Or that I’m going to head in the wrong direction…Making it impossible for me to get where I want to go…But the truth is that as long as I don’t take action…I am missing opportunity…I am missing chances…When I don’t take action and make a choice…

What I’m really doing is making a choice…Choosing to say no to the opportunity in front of me…I’m choosing to say the opportunity in front of me isn’t right for me…I’m choosing to do nothing…And that is also a choice…It is good that part of me is trying to keep me safe…It is good that part of me is trying to keep me on the right path…But it is working too hard…And it is keeping me from the things I need to be doing…So I give myself permission to make choices…

To take action…Knowing that I can choose again…Knowing I can learn from my choice…Knowing that my choices don’t have to be perfect for me to end up where I need to be…I give myself permission to make choices and to make the choices that I am in control of…Because when I make no choice…I’m choosing to let opportunities pass me by… I now choose to be in control by consciously taking action

I appreciate that I get to make conscious choices today…I get to make choices about who I am…About how I act…I even get to choose the tools that keep me safe and healthy…When I was very young I wasn’t consciously creating new tools…I was simply trying to survive…And I did survive…I was creative…I was thoughtful…I came up with ways to get through very difficult times…If I knew back then what I know now…I might have created different tools…I might have created different tactics…But I was young and inexperienced…I did the best I could…And what I did was pretty amazing…Without guidance I found ways of surviving…Without guidance I made it through and I am here today…But now that I’m older…Now that I’m more experienced…Now that I have more agency…I can make very different choices…I can consciously create new tools…As I consciously create these new tools…I am letting go of the tools and tactics from my youth…When I’m doing this I’m not saying those tools are wrong…I’m not saying I made a mistake by acting that way in the past…Instead what I’m doing is honoring the choices I made in the past and recognizing I can make new choices today…I so appreciate the younger me…Who was creative enough to help me to survive difficult times…Choosing new ways to respond is not disrespecting the younger me…It is taking care of the younger me…In new and powerful ways…I give myself permission to honor my past…I give myself permission to celebrate the new choices I’m making in the future…Because the new and thoughtful choices I’m making today are only possible because of the choices I made back then…I am healthier today because of the choices my younger self made…I appreciate and love my younger self…Because it has created the ability for me to make better choices today.

I give thanks for the fact that I have this amazing power to heal…I give thanks for the time I have had to do this important work…I give thanks for the desire to continue this work…The work I have done today is not a healing moment…But part of a healing process…This healing process is going to continue throughout the day…There will be times when I notice the continuation of this healing process…And I will just smile at the amazing power of my system…While other times the healing will continue in the background…And I know that I do not need to be conscious of the healing for it to continue…This healing will cascade through my body from cell to cell…I know this healing is one more step along the way…Not only is this healing in the moment…But it is also a building block for the next piece of transformation my system is ready for…Knowing that as I continue this healing process bit by bit…My system will heal in a natural way and will ensure that this is not a quick fix…But lasting change…Tonight as I sleep it will be as if I am rebooting the system’s software after an upgrade…The changes I have made in this session will work their way to every part of my system…So that when I awake tomorrow…I will be rested…Refreshed…Looking at the world through new eyes because of the healing I have integrated into my system.

I recognize that there are people who are in pain…I recognize the fact that people are struggling…I want what is best for them…I want healing for them…I want transformation for them…Insight for them…I recognize the fact that I can’t necessarily change what is happening…I can’t take responsibility for their lives…I can’t take responsibility for their suffering…I can’t take responsibility for their struggle…I can’t be there…But I can be present…I can be loving…I can be thoughtful…I can walk with them…I can want what’s best for them…That might not solve the issue…But it is also not a small thing…Love from others is important…Care for others is important…Wanting good for them in their lives is important…In this moment I send healing thoughts…I send love…I send care…Knowing that’s not going to transform everything…But knowing it is useful…Knowing it will make a difference…I give myself permission to be easy with myself…I give myself permission to be gentle with myself…When I feel hopeless in the face of the suffering of others…It is possible for me to be present…To be useful…And to make a difference…Without trying to take responsibility…I send loving thoughts…I send inspiring thoughts…I send transformational thoughts…And I send healing thoughts…I only want what is best for my loved ones. 

It is sad to lose someone I care about…It is heartbreaking to know I will never talk to them again…That I will never see them again…That I will never hug them again…That I will never laugh with them again…It hurts to feel sad…It hurts to feel grief…Even though I know death is a fact of life, it doesn’t make it any easier…It doesn’t make it any less painful…I give myself permission to appreciate my loved one…I give myself permission to appreciate the time that we had together…To appreciate the relationship that we had…To appreciate everything that I learned from them…I give myself permission just to be present to feeling that appreciation…Simply to take a moment to feel deeply appreciative…Even though I will never see this person again…They are a part of me…Even though I will never see them again…They are woven into the fabric of who I am…And I give myself permission to celebrate that…To know how lucky I am to have had them in my life in that way…It doesn’t feel like it is enough…It feels like I have been cheated…Wishing I could have had more time with them…No matter how much time I had spent with them…I would still feel that way…And I give myself permission to grieve…I give myself permission to feel sad…It is human to feel that way…It is natural to feel that way…This experience is more than just sadness…With sadness I also feel appreciation…With sadness I can still celebrate their life…I give myself permission to know that they will always be a part of me. 

I give myself permission to recognize the fear that I am feeling is rooted in the number of ideas…First, it is rooted in the reality that things are changing…That there truly is a climate crisis…This crisis is impacting all of our lives…And this crisis will continue to impact the generations to come…That is a scary proposition…Second, it is hard because it is so big…I can make thoughtful choices about how I impact the environment…But my thoughtful choices aren’t enough…My thoughtful choices alone aren’t going to change the world…Because the problem is so big…Since I can’t do this on my own…It is easy to feel helpless…It is easy to feel overwhelmed…Because the problem is so big…At the same time I recognize that I can make a difference…My thoughtful choices are important…I can lead by example…Encouraging the people around me to make better choices is important…Because when each of us make thoughtful choices…The sum total of those choices makes a difference…I can’t change the past…The current situation is what it is…I give myself permission to have hope…I give myself permission to trust humanity…I give myself permission to take responsibility for the choices that I can make…And the advocacy that I can do…It is worthwhile fighting a difficult problem…It is worthwhile putting in the effort…I believe my actions are important…I believe my actions can make a difference…In my actions I can find hope…In the community around me I can find encouragement…I’m not alone in this concern…I can connect with others who have the same concern…Collectively we can make a difference.