When you face an issue that makes you anxious, trust your creativity and your internal compass.  There are solutions to issues when you are open to exploration. Try prayer, meditation, daydreaming, journaling and even plain, old-fashioned brainstorming. If none of those approaches work, try this: Ask yourself the question you are facing at night before you go to sleep.  Do that every day  for a week.  Don’t force it or think about it, just state the question in your mind and settle down for the night.  See what happens.

If there is still no answer, be patient. Maybe it’s not yet time to know. Sometimes it takes a long while to find an answer to a question, and that’s okay.

Author Melody Beattie says this, “The process of moving from what we don’t know to what we are to learn is a process that can be trusted.  It’s how we grow and change. It’s okay not to know.  It’s okay to let ourselves move into knowing.  The lesson is trusting that we’ll know when it’s time.”

Peace be with you.  You will find your way.

“Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. “  Malachy McCourt

Sometimes bad things happen to you.  People hurt your feelings, they take advantage of you, or they treat you badly. Most of the time, an apology or an honest exchange can clear the air, and you feel better. But once in awhile, that little black cloud of anger and resentment takes up occupancy in your head and heart.  Sadly, while the smoke of anger and resentment is renting that space, it leaves little room for the cohabitation of joy and creativity.

So, for your own sake, you need to evict the resentment.  But how?  I recommend a two-step process:

1) Take all the inspired action you can to clear up the problem; and of that doesn’t solve it,

2) Apply the “Is it helpful?” rule.

For inspired action, (understanding that you can’t control what others do, say or think) you can still state your peace, express yourself, ask for an apology, or whatever it takes to drive the resentment out of your inner space.  I find that this works only if there is no intention of hurting the other person, or for getting revenge… (which is like trying to take your smoke and blow it into the other person’s head).  Inspired action is really about getting your feelings heard and on the table so you can release negativity.

If inspired action still leaves you with residual resentment lurking around, then it’s time to work the “Is it helpful?” rule.

Ask yourself, in this moment, is feeling angry and resentful helpful to me? If the event has already happened, and inspired action has been taken, what is the payoff to holding onto resentment?  Does it make you happier, smarter or more fun?  If the answer is no, why not let it go? Don’t you owe it to yourself to rent your head and heart to creativity, joy and love?  Why cram it full with dark, gloomy resentment?  Who is it hurting besides you?

So do yourself a favor, if it’s not helpful, let it go.

Brain Scans from the UBC Study

I love to jump on my bike and ride a very familiar 20-mile loop near my home. What I’ve noticed on these solitary rides is that it’s as if my mind breaks free of its normal barriers and I find creative solutions to nagging problems. So when I’ve gotten off my bike in the last several months, I’ve literally stumbled upon a new name for a business, a book idea, a terrific resolution to a disagreement, and other very cool answers to problems that were on my mind.

Then I found out why this happens. It’s not just me! You can tap this source of inspiration and creativity too.  How? Why?  According a press release from the University of British Columbia, a study published in 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that activity in numerous brain regions actually increases when our minds wander. The study identified that brain areas associated with complex problem solving, previously thought to go dormant when we daydream, are actually highly active during that time.

“Mind wandering is typically associated with negative things like laziness or inattentiveness,” said lead author of the study, Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. “But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks.”

 For the study, subjects performed a simple routine task (pushing a button when numbers appeared on a screen) while researchers tracked the subjects’ moment-to-moment attentiveness using brain scans, self-reported data and performance tracking.

 The findings suggest that daydreaming – which can occupy as much as one third of our waking lives – is an important cognitive state that allows us to unconsciously turn our attention away from immediate tasks so we can sort through important problems in our lives. Apparently, when we daydream, two brain networks activate in parallel. Until this study, scientists thought that when one network activated during daydreaming, the other one went dormant. In fact, the less aware the subjects were that they were daydreaming, the more active both brain networks became.

 The quantity and quality of brain activity found by this research suggests that people struggling to solve complicated problems might do better to let go of the struggle and instead, let their mind wander while doing a simple task.

 ”When you daydream, you may not be achieving your immediate goal – say reading a book or paying attention in class – but your mind may be taking that time to address more important questions in your life, such as advancing your career or personal relationships,” commented Christoff.

So there it is. Next time you’re struggling with an issue, feel free to wander about the cabin of your mind!

Do you ever wake up and say to yourself, “What the hell am I doing?”  You feel the anxiety wrap its gnarly fingers around your gut and squeeze.  And then it reaches up through your chest making it  difficult to breathe.  Some nasty little demon is pushing down on your diaphragm with one hand and choking you with the other.  That demon is you.  

What was I thinking?  I thought that this would be the best thing I could ever do.

So what changed?  What is causing the fear and doubt today?  To find out, I begin to coach myself.  I start to breathe more deeply and I open the corners of my mind to allow the random, negative self-talk to surface. I journal the thoughts:

This isn’t going fast enough. I should be a conglomerate by now.   I suck at Face Book and Linked In and I wish I could reach my virtual assistant who is MIA and that I have to finish my bookkeeping and the dog just puked and the basement needs to be finished and on and on and on and on…..the voices scream inside my head and my stomach churns.  I focus again on breathing deeply ….because if I let these thoughts control me, I won’t get anything finished today. My creativity and my joy will be consumed by the nasty little meat grinder in my belly.  And I can’t let that happen. My life depends on it.

So next step.  I question each negative thought….is it true?  How fast is fast enough?  Do I really need to be a conglomerate?  Do I really suck at Face Book, or am I just in learning mode?  Of course the basement will get finished! One by one, I tear the nagging thoughts apart until I can see them for what they are: lies I tell myself when I feel overwhelmed.  I re-frame each thought, because when I look more closely, I see that all is well; there is progress.  I have much to be grateful for.   I have wonderful clients, I love to write, I’m making money doing what I love.  What more could I need? 

As the saying goes, life is a journey, not a destination. My breathing relaxes.  I make plans.  I prioritize.  I get perspective. I feel gratitude.  All is well.   I just need to do the next thing, whatever it is in this moment. I let go of the outcome.

So I ask again, what the hell am I doing?  Turns out, I’m doing exactly what I want to do, and I hope you are too.  Just remember to keep an eye on that little inner demon – he’ll sneak up on you when you least expect it!

Okay, how many people say “I’m not creative!”  That is so not true.  Maybe we are not all artistically creative, but every day, each one of us applies creative thinking to our lives to make things better.   Such as, did you set an awe-inspiring table?  Outsmart a fish?  Solve what seemed to be an insurmountable problem? Create an amazing Halloween costume?

This is all creativity my book:  applying new patterns or different ways of thinking or reacting to a situation that allows you to create a satisfactory or even awesome outcome! 

So if you are young, old, unemployed, underemployed, overwhelmed or blocked, how can you use your creativity to make it better? Can you step outside of your routine? Shake it up and get a new perspective?

And guess what?  Your creativity will improve with practice. Many years ago, I had the privilege of meeting a fascinating creativity consultant named Roger von Oech, author of A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative.

 Here are just three ideas I adapted from von Oech’s Creative Whack Pack that demonstrate how flexing your creativity muscles can help you build your best life:

1)    Change an Assumption:  For example:  if you think, ‘I am too old, too young, too fat, too inexperienced to do ______’; what if you could let that “assumption” go?  What would you do differently? Maybe your assumption really isn’t valid.  Is it just an excuse?

2)    Combine Ideas: So you want to be a writer, but you need to make a living?  You are also a runner.  Could you combine your skills and interests to make a start?  What about writing articles or stories about running while you hold down your 9 to 5 job?  Sell them, blog them – you know, start being a writer!

3)    Imagine How Someone Else Would Do It – How would someone you respect and admire handle your situation?  What could you learn from their perspective that is different from yours? What then could you do differently?

Creativity is available to all of us as a natural resource – every single day. For more ideas and exercises, visit Roger von Oech’s blog http://blog.creativethink.com/ and work your creativity muscle: your ticket to your best life!