Really?

When you hear a voice within telling you not to do or that you can’t do something, what is your response or reaction? Do you believe the voice, ignore it, challenge it, or do the opposite of what it’s telling you? Interestingly our brains process information through images and pictures. What is the image or picture the brain hears in the quote “you cannot paint”? Yes, paint. So what would you do? Paint. The voice becomes silent because the message has been sent and the act has been accomplished. Really?

Have you noticed over the years what the “news” media and “entertainment” industry keeps feeding us? Problems, problems, problems. They take on every possible shape and description from violent weather to ongoing war and terrorism. How do you think our brains process this information? Yes, with fear and anxiety. What do all these problems produce? Right again, more problems. When I tell you not to look at the spot on my shirt what do you look at? Hey, you’re getting good at this. What am I saying?

We get more of what we focus on. This is what I want you to know. When you complain and focus on scarcity you’ll keep getting it. When you give thanks and focus on abundance you’ll get more of it. Life is really about our beliefs, our attitudes, and the images we produce without knowing. What do think would happen if we all started becoming solution creators rather than problem solvers? What if the impossible would be seen as possible? Didn’t JFK do that with the space program in the 60’s?

How does the word Really fit into this equation? In my taped up, underlined, 1975 Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, Really is defined as: Actually. Truly. Unquestionably. In reality. Indeed. Each of these words sound so definitive. Now let’s put a question mark behind each of them: Really? Actually? Truly? Unquestionably? In reality? Indeed? What’s the difference in your mind when the question mark appears?

When I first read the above quote I had a very different interpretation than the one I discussed above. The shift happened when I changed the period to a question mark. I became curious at the inner flip so I did a little research to find another perspective. Really? Yes, and what I learned was that statements create fixed mindsets while questions create more fluid, open, and flexible mindsets which allow for greater collaboration, reciprocity, and prosperity. Imagine that . . . Take it in. . . Ponder it ? ? ?

What I’m advising today is for you to be more curious about curiosity with every thought and conversation. Curiosity means asking more questions, inquiring deeper into what’s really being said. It asks for greater attention and clarity. It looks for clues that show up everywhere. It questions victimhood and authorship within and without. It searches for the possibilities, the images, the artistry, the new solutions. Really. Hmm?