Our bodies are the vehicles in which we move through life. Our thinking can be the fog that sometimes fills up the windshield we are looking through. Thankfully, we all have factory installed GPS to help guide our way.

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Hello, explorers, and welcome to episode 58 of Unbroken. I’m Alexandra Amor. I’m here today to talk about the windshield of life. I’ll get into that in just a moment. And it is really the one thing I think that when we see it about life, when we understand this idea, this metaphor, it really does change everything, including our ability to deal with things like anxiety, or depression, or unwanted habits like overeating. So we’ll get into that in just a second. 

I do want to mention again about the Unbroken Community that I’m starting up. So if you’re interested in joining a group of like minded people, having some one-on-one coaching from me, meeting regularly, twice a month to do that, and learning from the coaching that other people receive as well, go to alexandraamorcom/community. You can learn all about what I’m thinking of for this community. And learn more about the details, including the 10% off that you’ll receive for all my books and courses, and a library of videos that will be available, all that kind of stuff, Alexandraamor.com/community. And there, you can sign up to join the waiting list. 

The community hasn’t started yet, if you’re listening to this, as I’m recording in early April 2024. But I want to gauge the level of interest and just see if there’s enough interest in having a group like that. So that’s where you can go to learn more about that and sign up if you would like further information when the group comes together, and when it will be meeting and all that kind of stuff.

This came to me the other day, and I jotted it down, probably more than a week ago. And I’ve been sort of contemplating it ever since. I really like it, I think it really explains a lot about what we’re trying to get our heads around when we’re exploring this inside out understanding. So it looks like this. 

Picture a car, for me, any kind of car doesn’t matter what kind of car it is, could be your car could be your fantasy car, whatever it is. And that car is going to be a metaphor for us for the way that we move through life. And in every car nowadays, anyway, there’s always a windscreen protecting the driver and the passengers, the interior of the car from what’s on the outside. And so like I said, yeah, the car is a metaphor for you for your body. It’s the vehicle that you are using to move through life. 

It’s as clear as possible. We want it to be clean and clear so that we can see what’s happening outside of the vehicle, outside of the car. And then what happens? 

Have you ever gotten into your car and this happens here in the environment in the geographic area where I live in the fall and winter. And the atmospheric conditions are such that if the car has been sitting outside for a little while and I get in it, it has that thin film of fog on the inside of the windscreen. It’s not frost or anything on the outside, it’s on the inside. And that is going to be what we’re going to use for a metaphor for our thinking. So to a lesser or greater degree. 

As we’re moving through life in this vehicle, there’s always like I say to a lesser or greater degree, there’s always a layer of that thin fog or mist inside the vehicle. And in the old paradigm of psychology, and in the self help world that so many of us are so used to being a part of, the strategy that we had for dealing with that fog on the inside of the windscreen was first of all, we were kind of oblivious that it was on the inside. Seems to me, we almost treated it as though Well, I guess the best way to say it is we, we treated it as though it was something we could control. And that it wasn’t something that was created. Just by the very nature of being in this vehicle of having a vehicle to move through life. 

We treat that fog as though it’s a problem, like I say and and like something we can control. But the thing is that that fog is always there. And it’s not something we can control. And like I say it can be thinner or thicker at different times, depending on atmospheric conditions, nothing to do with us.

And the reason I say that this is such a powerful thing to see. And that once we see this, it really does change everything. That’s because in the past, in the old paradigm of psychology, what we would do is really wrestle with that fog that’s on the inside of the windscreen. And that wrestling is exhausting, because the fog is there. It is its own energy. It’s there of its own volition. And like I say it’s thicker. Sometimes it’s thinner at other times, at times, sometimes it seems like it can go away entirely. 

But other times, it seems like it’s just really thick. And we’ve got the defogger on, and we’re blowing air at it. And maybe we’ve got one of those little sponge things or a rag. And we’re trying to wipe on the inside of the windscreen to get the fog to go away. And maybe it does for a little while on one area. But then when we’re focused on another area, it comes back on the first area that we were working on. And that wrestling match that we’re having that energy that we’re expending trying to control the depth and the thickness of the fog on the inside of the windscreen really does take up a lot of our energy a lot of our time. 

In the case of a human being, it’s kind of with us all the time, our thinking. And it’s really not a problem. So let’s imagine that it’s a kind of fog that is on the inside of the windscreen, and it’s irritating. But it’s not preventing us from driving the vehicle, we can still drive, we can see the road, it’s safe to do so. And we can move forward in our lives. When we recognize that the fog for what it is, that it’s just there. It’s not something we need to control or maneuver or manage in any way that and that actually, and this is the one of the magic points about it. 

So it will almost disappear. And our view through the windscreen becomes as clear as it can ever possibly be. But like I said when we wrestle with it when we try to control it and manage it, that’s when it fights back in a way and gets thicker and heavier and makes it more difficult for us to move through life.

First of all, there’s a couple things going on. One is that we can see or understand that the vehicle that we’re in, is perfectly fine as it is, it works. It’s in great working order. And the fact that the fog is there is not a problem. It’s in this kind of magical metaphorical fog, it’s not impeding our view of the world. And our battle with it, in the past, was the thing that was causing us the most stress and discomfort, and believing that the fog is an impediment to us, living our lives and moving our vehicle through the world, is the thing that really got in our way the most. 

When we see the fog for what it is, for its ever presentness, it’s a gift, this is where the metaphor kind of breaks down a little bit. But, you know, our thinking is a gift, it’s a creative gift. And without it, we wouldn’t be able to have the experience of life that we have. So recognizing that, and recognizing that we don’t need to fight with the fog on the inside of the windscreen are two really big steps toward finding peace of mind. 

Recognizing that this experience of life is on the inside of us, just like the little fog is on the inside of the vehicle. So the world out there beyond the windscreen is simply being itself and doing itself, our experience of that world is affected by the thickness or thinness, the placement of the fog on the inside of the windscreen, and we can’t have an experience of life without that windscreen being there. It’s the thing that enables us to see the road to see where we’re traveling, and that kind of thing. So without it, we can’t have this experience of life.

All of this might sound fairly simple, this metaphor about the vehicle and the fog and the wind and the windshield. But it really is that simple. And the more and more that that we begin to see where our experience of life is coming from, that it’s coming from within us and that and that it’s always coloring what we see. Like I say that’s when we stop wrestling with the fog, that’s when it can. I guess we could say that things become lighter in the vehicle. There’s not so much stress and anxiety and a lack of peace of mind. Because we understand that we’re not having to wrestle with the outside world and make things different. 

That’s the operation of the vehicle. So this vehicle that we’re in, which is the thing that is taking us through life has a magic GPS, it has an inner compass that’s installed into the vehicle. For every single person, there isn’t anyone who is without that inner compass or GPS. And it can guide us on the road, when we stop thinking that our job is to wrestle with the fog, and make the fog go away, and be upset about the thickness of the fog. And the placement of the fog, when we relax and understand that this GPS is on board. And it’s always there. 

All we have to do is listen for it, it will guide us. That is the universal wisdom that is installed with every single person who’s ever been and whoever will be, that is our connection to two universal wisdom to the innate well being that is within us. I think that’s a really important part of this metaphor is to see that there’s an alternative to being upset about the fog that’s on the inside of the windscreen, that what we can do instead is turn our attention to the inner GPS that’s within us. And it will guide us along the road. 

So the way that you pay attention to your GPS is going to be unique to you as well. And I could give you some examples of the way that I pay attention to my GPS, and maybe I’ll give you one quick one just for fun. 

I think it was Jack Pransky who I first heard talking about the traffic light metaphor, about letting our innate wisdom guide us. So the metaphor is that within us, there’s this red, yellow, green light system kind of indicators, I guess would be a better word. And when we’re making decisions, and when we are trying to find our way in life, we can feel within us when our body reacts to something with either a red, yellow, or green light. 

In big ways, when we have really big decisions to make, it can be a little bit harder, especially at the beginning, to be able to discern what kind of a light am I getting? Is my body giving me a red light saying no, that I shouldn’t take this next step? Or is it giving me a green light? Or is it somewhere in the middle? 

What I do, or what I try to do in my day to day life, is really pay attention to that traffic light system, even when it comes to small things. Like if I’m out and about and I’m wanting to run an errand, and I’ll all wonder about, will a certain store, do they have the thing in stock that I’m looking for? Maybe they were out of it last week. And they said they were going to get it back in. And so as I’m walking along the street, I think oh, I could pop into that store and pick up that thing. And then I wonder is it there? Have they received it yet? 

I’ll just play with my inner compass, my inner traffic light and see what kind of a light I get; red, yellow or green. And then I’ll probably go into the store and just see what happens. See if it matches the feeling that I got about the traffic light. And what I’m finding is happening is the more that I play with that, the more that I rely on my inner GPS/Traffic Light and the more that I use it in small instances, as they can be as small as we want, the more I’m getting a real attunement for those the feelings in my body, the red, yellow and green feelings. 

Then what happens is, when I have bigger decisions to make, things that feel like there’s more at stake, and maybe there’s just more risk involved more, I’m a little more fraught, I’ve got more thinking about whatever the decision is, or the circumstance. Because I’ve practiced, I’m practicing, and I’m building up my connection to that inner GPS / traffic light, it’s easier to find that feeling when I have a bigger decision that’s going on. 

I wouldn’t necessarily start out practicing this on things like a decision about a house purchase, or a humongous job change. 

Practicing it on smaller things, really builds up that muscle, that connection that we have to this inner GPS that’s built in that factory installed in all of us in all of our vehicles.

In the past, when I had to make decisions about anything, the only place I had to go to was into my mind into my thinking. 

I would think about pros and cons. And if I make this decision, maybe this will happen. But if I make it, maybe that will happen. So that’s something to consider. And my thinking would just become more and more and more sped up, especially if the decision was large. I would find myself circling around and changing my mind, making a decision, and then my mind would get chatty, so then I would change it and do and decide the opposite thing, or something like that. 

Even if I get a red light, or perhaps I should say, especially if I get a red light, about something, and it’s something I really want to do, it’s a decision that mentally I would have agreed to. But then I get the feeling in my body of a red light. I’ve really learned to trust that to not second guess it. 

Of course, at the beginning, I did. I would second guess it. I had many instances where I did that. But that taught me as well. So I would make a decision going against the feeling I had in my body of a red light. And then down the road, I would realize, Oh, of course my inner GPS was right. I shouldn’t I shouldn’t have done this, or this was not quite the right choice. I should have chosen the other thing, whatever it was. So it’s all a learning experience. 

I really appreciate that, about this little traffic light metaphor. And as I’ve been recording this episode, I’ve realized that it really fit in nicely with the windscreen metaphor that I that I that came into my mind a week or so ago. So I hope that’s been helpful for you. 

If you have any questions, please let me know if anything hasn’t been clear. Alexandraamore.com/questions. You can fill out the form there and I will answer your question on a future episode you can be anonymous if you’d like that’s fine too.

I think that’s it for me right now. I hope you’re having a great day and I will talk to you again soon. Take care. Bye.

Featured image photo by Cole Freeman on Unsplash

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