Acting! Merely Acting!

Body language influences emotions.

In one well known experiment, actors were asked to portray anger and then were subjected to numerous physiological tests, including heart rate, blood pressure, core temperature, galvanic skin response, and hormone levels. Next, the actors were exposed to a situation that made them genuinely angry, and the same measurements were taken.

There were virtually no difference in the two profiles. Good acting produces precisely the same physiology that real emotions do.

Carry yourselves confidently and you will eventually start to feel confident, even in highly stressful situations. Consciously create the look on the outside that you want to feel on the inside.

You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not a singular act but a habit.

-Aristotle

The Answer is Within

Instead of trying to change circumstances or people, examine instead the emotions you are experiencing. Instead of being angry at an individual or circumstance--or depressed, jealous, or frightened--be grateful that they have brought particular emotions to your attention. These emotions come from INSIDE of you, not from outside, and they should be seen as old friends.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
When if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture,
Still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice
meet them at the door laughting,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

--Rumi
from "The Essential Rumi," (New York: HarperCollins, 1995)

Each emotion is a message from your soul. Instead of rearranging external circumstances in order to make yourself feel more safe, valuable, and loved, consider looking inside yourself to find the roots of your insecurities and pull them out. Real security comes by looking inward to find the causes of insecurity and healing them. This is the path to real peace and power. Many of the guided meditations at My Thought Coach are designed to help you get there.