Warning: This post mentions flies -
and LP records - if you're old enough to remember them!
LPs are 12 inch circles of black vinyl that produce the smoothest most sublime sounds when rotated on a turntable and amplified through a stereo.
Back to the flies …
A long time ago when I had roommates, we lived in a charming California style bungalow.
It had an outside laundry room where we kept the washer and dryer - on the right of this pic.
This was probably quite the luxury when it was built a hundred years ago, but today we are used to washing our delicates inside and out of the cold and the rain.
But sometimes I used to go out there and although the laundry door was open, a bunch of flies would be stuck flying around in circles in the middle of the room!
Remember that.
Back to LP's ...
The wonderful thing about LP's is the warmth of their sound.
The bad thing is they can get scratched, and sometimes get into a loop where they play the same part over and over again.
If you've ever heard that, it's enough to drive you nuts!
And just like a needle stuck in the groove of an LP, sometimes our mind gets stuck.
We can’t stop thinking and our mind goes round and round obsessively over and over the same thing.
This is called rumination.
Back to the laundry room ...
Remember the flies flying in circles in the middle of the laundry room when the door was open?
The interesting thing was that when I walked into the middle of the room and broke up their pattern, they would find the door and fly away.
I've heard that this is because flies have a memory of just a few seconds.
This means they can get stuck in a pattern they can’t get out of.
So what stuck flies need, is someone to walk into the middle of them and break up their pattern, then they will fly away.
NLP therapists say that what we need when our mind is stuck in an unhelpful groove, is a "pattern interrupt" to "snap us out of it."
You've Just Had An Argument With Your Darling …
You end up on the sofa munching your way through chocolate bars, regretting all the things you should not have done, and all the things you could have done.
This can go on for hours, days and weeks …
Just like the flies stuck in circles, or a needle stuck in the groove of a record, you're ruminating.
But you can give yourself a "pattern interrupt" by doing something different.
You could get your sad butt up off the sofa and into the sunshine, or visit your best buddy, or start a Facebook page for people in crappy relationships, etc.
Then you might start thinking about your darling a bit differently.
You might realize you miss them, or …
you might realize you're better off without them!
The point is, you're doing something different.
You're thinking different thoughts.
You're getting new perspectives.
Powerful stuff.
And this is the power of Life Coach Tools!
When you're stuck in a rut, going round and round seeing same old things in the same old way, what you need is a fresh perspective.
Like a helicopter, a great life coaching tool invites you aboard, straps you in and lifts you up to get a whole new perspective on your situation!
Harley M Storey
“The Life Coach Toolman”
