Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Aug/Sept 2016 Aspire Mag Full Issue | Page 38
HERE’S THE NUMBERED
SCALE:
1. Joy/Knowledge/Empowered/
Freedom/Love/Appreciation
2. Passion
3. Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
4. Positive Expectation/Belief
5. Optimism
6. Hopefulness
7. Contentment [Here I would add a
“7.5” to this list, a feeling I would
describe as “Acceptance.”]
8. Boredom
9. Pessimism
10. Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
11. Overwhelm
12. Disappointment
13. Doubt
14. Worry
15. Blame
16. Discouragement
17. Anger
18. Revenge
19. Hatred/Rage
20. Jealousy
21. Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
22. Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/
Powerlessness
(You can download this list—arranged to make it
easier to imagine moving between emotions—as a
pretty PDF of the Emotional Guidance Scale, perfect
for printing up and keeping handy as a reference.
It’s available as my gift to you by clicking here.)
38
With this list in hand, all you have to do is
identify the emotion you’re currently feeling
and “reach for” the one that brings you one
step (or as many steps as you honestly think
you can move) closer to joy.
You can start to get better at moving your way
up the list today, simply by paying attention
to your emotions as you go through it.
I recommend that you set a timer on your
phone to go off every hour – or more or less
(whatever feels good to you). When that
alarm goes off, check in with how you feel.
If you don’t feel good, ask yourself what
thought is underlying the feeling.
It may be something like, “I’m frustrated that
I haven’t gotten anything done today.”
Or “I’m overwhelmed by everything I have
to do…I’m going to eat some more chips.”
Or “I’m so angry that she said that!” (Those
are just a few of the thoughts that caused
me to feel bad earlier today!)
Then choose better-feeling thoughts like, “I
may not have done the things at the top of
my to-do list, but I taped the voice over for
the fundraising video and it feels good to
have that done.” (I moved from frustration
to acceptance – which I think should be
7 ½ on the scale, between boredom and
contentment).
Or “Yes, I’m annoyed that I went overboard
with the chips, but I will do a 3-Minute
Miracle Meditation and get more grounded
now.” (I moved from overwhelm to irritation
to acceptance.)
Or “Yeah, I was initially angry that my boss
said I still have more work to do on this
www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2016