Pink Elephant - Guest Blog by Julie Davis

It's not that bad.

I'm busy.

S/he'll handle it.

It'll go away.

It's not my problem.

I can't do anything about it.

 

What's that thing in the middle of your life that you keep tripping over but refuse to deal with?

 

This week, I invite you to face it...

 

...from afar: Observe and collect data.  What is the pink elephant? When/where/how does it get in the way? What is your contribution for it being there? What would today be like if it disappeared? How do you get rid of it? Do you want to?

 

...up close: Bring it up to others who are tripping over it, too (whether they know it or not). "Hey, I think there is a pink elephant in the room that I/we keep tripping over and I'd like to talk about that, is this a good time?" If met with defensiveness, avoidance or confusion, you are talking to a pink elephant (not useful) and might need to move to the next step.

 

...head on: "I respect your interest in living with a pink elephant in the room. I'm not interested in that, however, and will be [over there]. If you are interested in having a collaborative discussion on how to remove and live without this pink elephant let me know. Otherwise, I'll be [over there].

 

Julie

 

Ps. If you are buried up to the eyeballs in pink dung, please call for help to get shoveled out FIRST.

Julie Davis, LMFT
Licensed Marriage Family Therapist Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist 704-807-1101, appointments available in California, New York, & North Carolina eMail, Website, Subscribe to weekly article

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.

This Year - guest blog by Julie Davis, MFT

This week, I invite you to appreciate YOU - not from the ego ("Look at me! Look at how great I am!"), but from your heart: "I worked hard this year, at times when I didn't want to and in ways that were scary and confusing and painful."

Think about all the times you wanted to quit - on yourself, others, God - but didn't. Sure there were times you did quit, but take some time to reflect on how, when, where, why you hung in there and took the harder path this year - towards relationship rather than task accomplishment, towards faith rather than fear, towards acceptance rather than judgment.

Instead of focusing on what didn't/isn't working in your life, unwrap the gift of compassion for yourself and reflect on the courage it took to admit and work on your shortcomings this year. If this is hard for you, I invite you to put down the whip, pick up a colorful crayon and complete the following:

This year, I learned...

...I have courage to__________________________________________________ .

...I have strength to__________________________________________________ .

...I have wisdom to__________________________________________________ .

...I have faith to_____________________________________________________ .

...I have support to__________________________________________________ .

Julie Davis
704-807-1101
Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist
Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (CA & NC)
www.juliedavismft.com julie@juliedavismft.com 

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.

Animal Instincts - Guest Blog by Julie Davis, MFT

When a monkey sees another monkey messing with his monkey he gets angry, rushes forward, bites the other monkey and other monkey runs away. Two seconds later, both monkeys are eating a banana. When Suarez saw some guy messing with his soccer ball, his mind activated the same primitive system as a monkey to get him to do something to make the guy stop messing with his soccer ball: Anger. Blood rushed upward

Image from The Chive

into Suarez’s hands, feet and jaw setting him up to fight – which is what anger is designed to do - and he bit the guy. Two seconds later Suarez is calm and re-positioned for play.

Two hours later video of the bite was all over the internet. Protests were launched as players and fans alike expressed outrage at the aggressive behavior and Suarez has been temporarily banned from future tournaments.

We expect aggression in sports events yet are shocked when we see the results of primitive mind doing its job of removing a threat. What makes Suarez an expert soccer player is possibly the very thing that got him kicked out of soccer: his ability to access and operate out of primitive mind – and, sometimes, oops, bite people.

Julie Davis
704-807-1101
Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist
Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (CA & NC)
www.juliedavismft.com julie@juliedavismft.com

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.