Last Monday, was a perfect summer evening in Chicago. Not a cloud in the sky with warm temperatures and a light breeze blowing off the lake kept it tolerable and far from humid.
I had slept late that morning and was feeling well rested from a two-week travel assignment. I was scheduled to be away again in a few days and was intent on spending some downtime with my husband and daughter.
There's a lot of activity in Chicago in the summer. It's the summers that make up for the at times harsh and relentless winters and one of the reasons that I still call Chicago home.
What better place to experience the city this evening than the 'Taste of Chicago'.
We arrived at the downtown venue at about 6.45 PM just ahead of the evening rush. We could hear the musicals from the 'Broadway in Chicago' performance on the main stage.
My husband and I had done a 4-mile run that morning and so I was primed and hungry. After we purchased our food tickets, I made a beeline for the Nigerian Kiosk serving coconut rice, stewed goat meat and fried plantains. There is nothing like good cooked 'soul food'.
Wiping off my hands after finishing off we wove in and out of the crowds 'window shopping' for dessert. There were low flying sea gulls all around us.
'I wish these birds would stop flying over me. I don't want them to poop on me!' exclaimed my daughter in disgust.
'Mind what you say, they could just poop on you', I replied absentmindedly as I peered into the closely packed stalls looking for a unique twist on dessert.
My husband decided to grab a can of beer. We had run out of tickets. I was still in search of the 'once in a lifetime' dessert. So we sauntered over to a ticket booth to purchase some more.
We were just about to stand on line when my daughter let out a blood-curdling scream. Alarmed we both whipped around to see what had happened to her.
There on the left side of her neck was a neat white dribble of bird poop!
I could not control my laughter! There she was irate - now trying to swat at the errant birds with her purse. I had one piece of tissue left over from my dinner. I deftly cleaned her neck amidst my snickers of laughter.
'I told you to be careful of what you say,' I admonished her playfully as I explained to my husband the earlier exchange I had with her over just the same topic.
You see what my daughter had just experienced first hand was an example of the power of the spoken word.
To me it was exciting that she could see first hand that she had the power to manifest what she put her mind to intentionally or unintentionally.
This was a great teaching moment for us as a family.
'Think of the power that you have to create anything you want in your life!' I exclaimed excitedly. Being the teenager that she is she simply rolled her eyes.
Yes we all have the power to create the anything that we want to create in our lives.
That power lies in a part of our mind called the subconscious mind. And just as my daughter found out in our 'life's laboratory' experiment, the subconscious mind does not have a great sense of humor!
Whatever you suggest to the subconscious mind it sets out to make your reality.
And it can get bogged down by constant negative mental chatter and clutter.
Do you pay attention to what you feed your mind?
Just as I shared in an earlier article on
mental poisoning what you focus on you bring more into your awareness.It's always intriguing to me when I hear patients say things like 'I just knew I was going to get sick after that person sneezed on me!'
And guess what? The subconscious mind is just like the 'genie in the bottle' When you consciously or unconsciously declare you are going to get sick-well your wish is it's command you get sick!
Some people find it intriguing that despite my work as a locum tenens physician with travel to different hospitals, and staying in hotels for weeks, I don't get sick. At times I work up to an 80-hour week.
I'm not saying this to impress you, but to impress upon you that I prime my subconscious mind with thoughts of health, vibrancy and vitality.
We all have the power to do the same things with our subconscious mind. We just need to make a conscious choice to. It is not my intention to make this sound so simple, as I know some readers may think I'm just saying 'just say it and it's going to happen the way you say it will'.
The power of the spoken word on the subconscious mind is a sum of how you have trained your mind to interpret past experiences.
Using my daughter as an example. This is how our beliefs get primed in us at a young age:
If as her parent, my belief were that bad things are always bound to happen, then the bird pooping on her was just another self-fulfilling prophecy. And I probably would have reacted differently to reflect my belief. I would have validated what has been my experience, fed into her disgust. That would have left her with the innate message that bad things will always happen as we should expect.
Instead of that I chose to see the possibility and potential!
Possibility because she has declared that she wants to do great things in the world as a singer and a songwriter. If she says that she is going to be one who is anyone even me to say that can't happen?
Needless to say neither the bird nor my daughter were harmed in anyway. I trust that she will look back on this lesson and realize that she has the innate power to create a bright and wonderful future just because she said so.
Here are some things to consider and also practice this week:
If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?
Practice declaration with small things all week. For instance that you'll find a parking space when you need one, a friend will be available to talk when you need them. Just practice!
Next week become bolder and practice declaring bigger things- like you'll have a certain amount of money to meet a financial obligation, or you'll get a job promotion.
Do not become attached to the results of these exercises.
Just as you build muscle while working out with weights, these exercises are just a way to start working out your mind and to explore what's possible if you change your mindset to expect positive outcomes.
I look forward to your comments. Until next time,
To your health and wellbeing,
Dr Eno