In the teachings, it has been brought out that most of us arise in the morning and ask (internally) \u201chow do I feel?\u201d\u00a0 If we come up with a certain picture of miserable, sad, tired, anxious, and many other lower states, then we proceed to act that way.\u00a0 The result comes down to drawing a conclusion that the day as been ruined and will\u00a0 continue that way for who knows how long\u2014perhaps until somebody else comes along and changes it for us.\u00a0 When we do this, we tend to actualize that attitude in everything we do that day.\u00a0 So in viewing the larger picture we woke up \u201cfeeling\u201d and then began to \u201cact\u201d and the \u201cfeeling\u201d then became our unconscious motivation for the day.<\/p>\n
If you take the first letter of each word of \u201cfeel\u201d, \u201cact\u201d and \u201cthink\u201d, it spells \u201cfat\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was suggested that when we find ourselves in a less advantageous state, we can reverse that acronym to \u201cTAF\u201d.\u00a0 That means:\u00a0 1. think how I would like to feel, 2. begin to act that way (for at least 30 minutes) and then see what happens.<\/p>\n
Check this link “Think – Act – Feel – An Idea to Work On”<\/a>.<\/p>\n In using this exercise I discovered it works.<\/p>\n After practicing piano intensely for hours and days, I realized on the day of the concert that I was overwhelmed.\u00a0 I had practiced so much that the tunes were running together, and I couldn\u2019t remember all the designated intros and endings.\u00a0 I decided that I didn\u2019t want to take those trepidations with me to the job, so I proceeded to use the \u201cTAF\u201d exercise.\u00a0 When previously trying the exercise, I\u2019ve always had trouble coming up with enough feeling words and consequently dropped the experiment.<\/p>\n So I began with:<\/p>\n \u201cThink\u201d- how would I like to feel?<\/p>\n Accomplished came to mind and a picture began to form.<\/p>\n \u2013I could see that even though it was new and different, I still have had a lot of experience.<\/p>\n Adventurous then came to mind \u2013 since it was jazz, I wanted to risk improvising on the melodies even if they weren\u2019t to my ideal.<\/p>\n Confidence \u2013 Well, I wasn\u2019t feeling confident, but how had I acted when I had felt confident in the past.\u00a0 A picture of a walk and attitude came to mind and I sure could fake that for a bit.<\/p>\n Next came \u201cFree\u201d\u00a0 Ah, I thought, I could be free to experience being ignored, rejected, disapproved of and feelings of inferiority for just one night.<\/p>\n I decided that I would also be free to not use disclaimers as to why I might not do well\u2014after all, if I did that, I was only setting myself up for failure.\u00a0 People don\u2019t\u2019 want to hear all that \u201cdrivel\u201d anyway.<\/p>\n Next came \u201clight hearted\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I have watched people be light hearted when things seemed important and serious; and they always made those situations easier to handle and sometimes they even turned into funny\u2014I wanted to see the \u00a0see the fun and humor in the game.<\/p>\n I then remembered that I was \u201cprivileged\u201d to get to play with a wonderful horn player and an exciting drummer.<\/p>\n I also saw the I was listening to the \u201cideal makers\u201d I was trying to fit an imaginary picture in the mind of playing everything perfect without a miss\u2014impossible\u2014why not just let it be\u2014let happen what would happen.\u00a0 Every gig I ever played had always turned out fine up to this one, why should it be any different?\u00a0 Listening to the \u201cideal makers\u201d or those that make every little detail \u201cimportant\u201d can be like a disease\u2014I get \u201cill at ease\u201d if I buy into the suggestion of \u201cimportance\u201d and the anxiety it creates in me has no value as I never play well when I\u2019m anxious.<\/p>\n By the time I was through the trepidations disappeared.\u00a0 I walked through the house as I was getting ready with a walk of confidence and acted like the picture I had been thinking of.\u00a0 What was the result?\u00a0 It was a delightful and memorable experience with freedom to play, an enthusiastic audience, an impressed employer and a potential for future gigs.\u00a0 I expressed joy and an appreciation for all Life.<\/p>\n Yes, I now remember that it isn\u2019t the \u201cthinking\u201d of the teachings that transforms\u2014it also needs the \u201caction\u201d which creates the form and the result has a lot better chance of being to my advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the teachings, it has been brought out that most of us arise in the morning and ask (internally) \u201chow do I feel?\u201d\u00a0 If we come up with a certain picture of miserable, sad, tired, anxious, and many other lower … Continue reading