by Justin Collinge
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We know we’re not at the mercy of how we feel and can choose our state. Just how much choice do we have? Below is a recount of a recent training event where I was faced with the chance to test this:
The night before
I’d gone to bed sore
My throat on fire and my nose red raw.
The cold had been stalking me
And now, like a grinning gargoyle,
I welcome them back to day three
With great expectations,
hope and elations,
and a few reservations
they sat and they waited
for me to share my wisdom.
But my strength soaked away
like rain on dry ground
I found
I was shaking.
With my head full of cloud
there was no mistaking
I should be in bed
not in front of this crowd.
Then I recalled
that I could change my state.
Though my energy was stalled
I could create
the strength I needed,
and could choose how to feel
it wasn’t just ‘fate’.
Physiology – my shoulders back, and I breathe deep,
Put a smile on my face which I keep
as I step onto the floor.
Focus – not on my tale of woe,
I transfer my attention where I need it to go
On the eager faces and their readiness to throw
themselves in and learn even more.
Language – As I started, I choose not to bore
with tales of sickness
and nasal ickiness
But spoke of health and happiness -
And suddenly it wasn’t a chore.
The day went well,
and the evaluations were as good as any I’d ever got
My ailing health I simply forgot
and the show went on.
It was about half way home I remembered again
how I wasn’t well and my aching brain,
and nose, and throat – and now chest as well
needed looking after.
I no longer needed to excel
so I struggled home and took to my bed
Aware somewhere inside it was,
at least partly,
all in my head!
