Frame of reference

It’s Not Too Late

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Life goals

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Although, it is nearing the end of the year, it’s never too late to start turning our dreams into something real.  In a way if we start now, we can have a head start before the New Year begins. If we reframe it that way, then we have given ourselves another opportunity to make up for the lost time and not fret over what we haven’t done in the past 11 months. So let us start planning what we need to do to get things started and set goals on what we can do specially to make it happen. It’s better late than never.

Giving Thanks

Published on by Eugene Morgan

steaming turkey

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Today is Thanksgiving. Every year in November we gather together to take part in a tradition we hold dear. We gather together with family to reflect on the things that we’re thankful for. We’re thankful for our families. We’re thankful for our health. We’re thankful for our life. Traditions help to create an atmosphere. It helps us get our minds into the frame that makes the events meaningful in our lives. Today is the day we celebrate by eating prepared cooked meals with those we care about.

Do The Things You Think You Cannot Do

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Optical Illusion
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

The things we think we cannot do, is fear based. We allow our fears to keep us from doing the things we dream about doing.

Fear is created when we use our old frames of reference (old perspectives) to try to understand something new. Instead we need to widen our minds so we can learn a new perspective to free us from the old so we can see clearly what steps to make.

Fear will continue to grow unless we turn around and face it. When we face our fears directly, then we can wonder if we need them or not.

Most of our fears reside in the way we think. They’re just an illusion, not real, just falsehoods, hollow claims that don’t exist.

Knowledge is Power When it Reduces Fear

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Contrail - Beautiful blue sky
By Eugene Morgan

Anxiety can simply be induce by the unknown. Taking a test, speaking in front of an audience, and flying on a plane for the first time can easily induce anxiety.

If one simply prepares for a test by studying way before the day of the test, then one’s anxiety is greatly reduced, instead of waiting to the last minutes to cram information the night before the test

Regarding public speaking, one can reduce anxiety simply by planning ahead of time by writing an outline, learning the outline and practice speaking in front of people you know, then increase the audience from one to two and so on.

Flying is about changing one’s frame of reference. Someone who fears flying lacks an understanding and knowledge about flying.  One’s frame has no reference of the aerodynamic and aviation information; therefore, fear is induced. Unfortunately, avoidance only increases one’s anxiety.

However, when one learns about aircrafts and one is slowly exposed to more airplane trips, one’s anxiety can be reduced. It’s okay to feel fear.

Bringing Down Rigidity and Uplifting Possibilities

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Keep your mind open to new possibilities...
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

When we bring down rigidity, we can see clearly the direction we want to go in our lives. Sometimes we frame things in a way we can’t see the alternatives.

When we exercise our minds to look for alternatives, our scope of the event enlarges.  When we enlarge our scope, then we see possibilities.

We see possibilities that we didn’t see before because of our rigid frames of reference. Possibilities were always there, we just weren’t looking for them.

Once we see what’s possible, we can never resort back to the rigid frames. Let us open our minds for new possibilities to our lives and rekindle and stimulate motivation to do what we’re meant to be.

 

Put A Positive Spin on A Difficult Situation

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Spinning Ride
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

When things aren’t working the way we want, we can put a positive spin on it. We can find something positive about what we’re doing.

It’s easy to look at it in a negative light.  Looking at things negative just enforces the negative attitude about the situation.

But when we put a positive spin on a difficult situation, we can begin to feel less stressful and our attitude becomes positive.

As we become positive, we can better handle the difficult situation and others around us can have an opportunity to change their attitude as well. Attitude and emotions is not a vacuum, everyone around positive and negative emotions are affected.

How do we Define a Problem

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Math
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

What is a problem?  What criteria do we use to define a problem? Our criteria are a set of values we place on our external and inner world that’s in some way affecting us.

What one person may think it’s a problem may not be a problem for another.  A problem is some kind of internal or external events we define by our criteria. It also depends on how much value one places on an event that’s being affected is how much one defines it as a problem.

We all experienced our ups and downs, but it’s the way we respond to events that determines whether we see them as a problem. If we do define an event that’s affecting us as problem, then we can ask ourselves how can we learn from this event, or how can we turn it around into something positive.

 

Better Decisions and Better Choices

Published on by Eugene Morgan

1967 - Penny
Written By Eugene Morgan

The decisions and choices we have made in the past are the direct correlation of what we are doing today.  If we want to change the course of our lives we must make a series of decisions and choices. It’s all right to question our decisions we’ve made in the past. Those decisions were made a long time ago from an old frame of reference of what we we’re thinking at the time.  As we grow older and hopefully matured in our wisdom of life, we can make better decisions and better choices for our lives.  We no longer have to be tethered by old decisions.  We can make new decisions and create more choices based on a new frame of reference.

Pain means we’re still Alive

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Do I love you, or is this feeling just a little pain?
Written By Eugene Morgan

We all tried to avoid pain as much as possible, but it would be terrible if we couldn’t feel anything. Our bodies communicate to our brains when we stubbed a toe or accidentally touched a hot burner.  If we didn’t have these experiences, it would be dangerous.

It would be a terrible experience if we no longer could speak, could walk, could hear, and could see.   Someone with a handicap who can’t move or walk, because of paralysis, would do anything to move, or to walk again.

Sometimes we take for granted all the things that we can do that we lose sight (no pun intended) of what is important in our lives.

Getting Back to Riddles & Puzzles

Published on by Eugene Morgan

The Riddle of the Sphinx
Written by Eugene Morgan

Riddles and puzzles’ function are to stretch our minds.  Riddles and puzzles are a good exercise for the mind.  Riddles and puzzles are not designed to give up answers easily.  We have to work for them.  Sometimes, we give up too soon and get upset with ourselves, only to kick ourselves after looking at the answer in the answer section of the book.

However when we do work for the answer to a puzzle, we’re rewarded with “aha moment” —a feeling of satisfaction, a glimpse of enlightenment and understanding, and with a gold nugget of new perspectives.  Milton Erickson enjoys using riddles and puzzles to help the subjects to expand their minds.

Seeds of Ideas

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Flowers
Written by Eugene Morgan

“There is nothing more delightful than planting flower seeds and not knowing what kind of flowers are going to come up.” Milton Erickson

Erickson enjoyed planting seeds of ideas to his patients, students and subjects to get them into another training of thought.  When we get stuck into certain train of thought, it is hard to get out.   Like this quote, “The way out is through the  door.  Why is it that no one will use this exit?” Confucius.  What seem obvious to one person, isn’t alway obvious to another who’s thinking a certain way that’s not useful. We all have experienced someone pointing something out to us that seems obvious to them; and then it dawns on us what’s so obvious about it. After it dawn on us, we feel silly and ask ourselves why didn’t we think of that before. It’s also like an “aha” moment when we get after looking for solution. Then when we see things in hindsight , it seems so clear to us now.