233. The efforter and the comfort bubble

This week we’re looking at the tendency to identify with “The Efforter” as it relates to practical daily life. Unsurprisingly, identifying as The One Who Has To Make It All Happen can be a not-so-fun experience when we’re being pushed from our comfort zone by life’s twists and turns, especially when they’re to do with a job/work situation that affects our day-to-day experience. Tom walks us through an insightful share-turned-group-inquiry in this episode that leads to some powerful awareness and freedom when we’re willing to see the truth.

This week’s episode took a turn from an exploration about money to the concept, “I need a reason to…” (fill in the blank). It took that turn for no apparent reason, although we think it did make for a pretty sweet episode. Tune in now to inquire into the assumption that everything we do needs a good reason behind it. A good reason to have the goals we have, a good reason to follow through on them, a good reason to say no, a good reason to say yes… Is any of that true? (You get to ask YOU.)

This week’s episode centers around the feeling many of us experience as the worst possible fate: getting in trouble. Have you ever, as a kid or a grown-up, experienced someone being upset with you? Can you find the drop in the pit of your stomach when you believe that their anger means you’ve gotten ‘in trouble?’ Some people’s response to this thought is to yell back, some run away at the first chance, while others go numb and end up feeling like they abandoned themselves. Can you relate to these? What other reactions do you notice to the thought? And what might you notice if you didn’t believe it? Pick a moment where you feel like you got in trouble and follow along in this real-world situation inquiry.

This week’s episode is on trusting. Whether it’s distrust in ourselves or in life, how do we react when we believe either one can’t be trusted? Could it be that one belief is not so different from the other? As Tom puts it, at some point we got convinced that we can’t trust ourselves and that we need threats of negative consequences in order to live intelligently. Is that true? Follow along with your own experience or simply listen and soak in the fresh-air feeling of inquiry.

Welcome back and happy new year! This week we’re looking at the ups and downs (mostly downs) of believing the thought “I could lose support.” This might be something you’ll relate to if your holidays consisted of either: A) relaxation and a sense of permission to just be that you now feel slipping away as the world spins back into its usual belief in “the grind” or B) a rushed, overwhelming time of feeling like everyone’s enjoyment depended on you. Both experiences can be the results of believing it’s true that you could lose support, so together let’s dp the work and find out if you ever truly can.

This week we’re looking at the concept of “me time.” The coveted, elusive space that exists just for us, without obligations, roles, and responsibilities weighing us down. But could it be that “me time” is actually just a thought? A thought that, when we believe it, gives us a strong sense of being misused, undervalued, underappreciated and overworked? As Tom points out, it’s a world of poverty we live in when we believe we have to carve out and protect our personal time. What if it’s all my time? Would that make it easier to give an honest “Yes” and “No” to invitations? We invite you to follow along in this inquiry if it’s an honest yes for you.

This week’s episode is exploring the two halves of holding on. Specifically, holding onto opposing what we would not like to experience in life, and also holding onto what we would. What kind of creation do we live in when that’s the belief we’re operating from? Life becomes a tug-of-war of grasping and clutching at what we want, and resisting everything we want to avoid. Enjoy this week’s group meditation as we notice what it’s like to live these thoughts, and what possibilities lie beyond them.

This week Tom posed the question, “Can you absolutely know it’s true that you are undeserving of a happy, wonderful life?” In the ensuing meditation, he also points out the possibility that our current individual lives and their events (whether we happen to be enjoying them or not) are exactly within our comfort zone, which is dictated by our sense of worthiness. It’s when the vast majority of people believed the Earth is flat. It didn’t make it true, but it did make the entire world feel limited and scary. It did make those who believed it live as if it were true. Perhaps we do the same thing when we think we know what we’re worthy of – we give ourselves false limitations. Do you notice this in your own life? Follow along as we inquire into the concept of worthiness.

Love Is The Power listeners, join us this week for a powerful inquiry of a fearful mind. Tom guides a brave, beautiful share through The Work on the thought, “I can’t trust life with the outcome of this situation.” If you can relate to ever feeling afraid (of loss of time, money, agency, freedom, or anything else), this week’s episode is for you!

This week we’re looking at the thought, “I have to survive.” To the mind, this is a concept that would be unthinkable to question. Of course we have to survive! But we’re meeting that seeming certainty with an “Is it true?” As Katie says, everything is questionable. Even things that feel so obvious, like needing to stay alive. How do you react? What happens when you believe that?