The Overwhelmed Brain

Is fate what we make or what we create? I talk about a quote from Carl Jung on this very topic. Today's listener email has to do with being caught in a lie with family, and what to do in the aftermath. News and you is about how we can spot fake or forced laughter, and what we can do with this skill. And finally, I talk a very dysfunctional family member who's trying to worm his way back into my family's lives, but his having a heck of a time getting any cooperation. Today's sponsor is Asha at getoutofthemess.com. For incredibly affordable legal insurance, I trust Asha to steer you right.

Divorce is no fun to begin with, but when it's dragged out for months or even years, it can be brutal. The stress and anxiety of the next thing and the next thing can feel neverending, and sometimes you have to take things on by yourself. Today I read an email from a listener going through a long, messy divorce with someone who cheated on her. She is depressed, defeated, and has no passion for life anymore. Where do you go? What do you do? Can you afford to defend yourself even if you can barely afford to live? Is there a way out? Let's find out.

When change happens, do you grow with it or suffer hoping it goes away? Growing through the changes helps you move out of stagnation and stop repeating old behaviors. Also, I talk about death and acceptance today too, and how accepting that death is a part of life, and letting the emotions come up, whatever they are, will help start the healing process.

Forgiveness is not about other people, it's about you. When you can learn to forgive yourself, even when you aren't the one to blame, you let go of the negative emotions so that you can take the learnings into your future. Also, I talk about John Gibson, the pastor who committed suicide after hackers revealed millions of user names and detailed information about the users from the Ashley Madison infidelity and cheating site. Proud member of the Healing Broadcast Network http://healingbroadcastnetwork.com/

If you find yourself overwhelmed, stressed, or completely out of control in your life, then these two episodes will have you examining what you might be doing to create the chaos. Most of the time, we overextend ourselves and actually have a choice if that's going to happen or not.

If you're overwhelmed or simply have no more time in your schedule, then you are probably a highly overextended person. Today I talk about the habits that highly overextended people have and how you can avoid being overextended yourself. This is part 1 of a 2 part episode. http://theoverwhelmedbrain.com/

When it comes to visiting family, who you are can sometimes regress into the child they remember you as instead of the fully capable adult that you are now. How do you know this is happening? When you're afraid to be yourself around them, it's happening.

When you were a child, whatever fear came up, you figured out a way to survive the moment. These survival skills were very handy in adolescence simply because they worked to keep us alive! Sure, we probably weren't going to die, but it felt like it! Then, years later we became adults (well, some of us did ;) ), and soon we were put into situations that caused similar fears and once again, that old survival mentality kicked back in. Our brains went, "Oh yeah, I know how to get through this! I learned it as a child, this is an easy one. I'll just... (fill in the blank)." We took the belief system we developed as children into our adult world and suddenly we feel stress and pain and hurt, and all kinds of things we didn't expect. That's because we stuck to the old system of beliefs we created as children. And these beliefs are deep, so it's no wonder we rarely question what we believe. But, isn't it time to do just that? Especially if the results you are getting in life simply aren't what you expected them to be? Sounds like a trip to the subconscious mind is in store today! Get a free month to 100s of guitar tutorial videos! Today's sponsor is offering this amazing deal: http://levelsforguitar.com/brain/

What's missing in your life? I honestly don't know, but I bet you do. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you've been asking the wrong question all this time. "What's missing?" isn't the question you should be asking. The real question is What's present in your life that's preventing you from getting what's missing in your life? Odd wording, right? But that's just it: The way we phrase our questions dictates how we think about everything. And if you can change the way you think, you can change your results. When you don't know what's missing, then you don't know what to focus on to get it anyway, so maybe it's time to change the questions you ask yourself. What's missing? No... What's in your life that, if it were missing, would help you get what you need to fulfill your life? Language changes your thought process. The question is weird, but in order to understand it, you need to reach a little deeper than you normally would. You know what happens when you do that? You access your innermost resources that will help you come up with a solution. Great episode on using language in a different way to change how you think. Support our sponsor! Get a month of free guitar lessons. http://levelsforguitar.com/brain

Resistance to your problems is very similar to denial. Both delay closure, and both create suffering. However, resistance creates denial, after all, you wouldn't want to suffer any more than you are so you resist facing your issue and coming to a hard decision. Regardless if the problem goes away or not, there is a way to end the suffering typically involved with problems. And that's what today's episode is all about.