There are five (5) basic steps to resetting your Life Patterns using the acronym RESET.

• R – Recognize/Realize
• E – Examine/Exercise
• S – Seek/Search/Study/Step Back/Spell Out
• E – Explain/Elaborate/ECHO/Embrace
• T – Test/Taper/Tell

In this step, we turn off cruise control and start paying attention to ourselves.  During the day, we move as if on automatic pilot, and don’t scrutinize how our body feels or what emotions we are experiencing.  We are so used to responding to recurring situations with expected actions, we no longer have expend any energy on thinking about what to do. We become automatons, and that is bad.

Now, let me clarify something.  If you are expecting to be able to do this out of your own will-power or personal strength, you will be extremely disappointed in yourself.  If you could have fixed yourself by now, you would have.

That is why each of these steps can only be accomplished by asking for and drawing upon the power of the Holy Spirit. When we discuss what you need to do, each step must begin with prayer for God’s supernatural intervention in our life, otherwise you will fall right back into your comfortable, fleshly habits.  Pray throughout the day in the Spirit, and He will answer and reveal things to you that you never even imagined existed.

This is also where self-talk will help you.  When you go through my series on self-talk, you will learn that it is not a magical incantation, and it will not solve all your problems or make you happy.  What it will do (and this has been shown scientifically) is widen your view of your surroundings and circumstances, which helps you keep perspective.  It acts as a buffer against criticisms against you and diminishes the negative effects of unexpected and unwelcome life events.

Consider them to be scriptural prayers that you state out loud every day.  Make sure you address yourself by your name.  This has also proven to increase the effectiveness of positive affirmations.  Try statements like this:

“Penny, God loves you with a passion and wants to help you and heal you today.  The Holy Spirit wants to reveal things to you that you can’t otherwise see.  He is faithful to complete the work which He has started in Penny, and He is using the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.  Place your hope in Him today, in His loving-kindness and His Word, and He will never disappoint you. Eagerly expect Him to work miracles in Penny’s life today, and do for you the things which you cannot do for yourself.” ***

So our first intentional act is to ask the Lord every morning for the ability to pay attention to ourselves, our emotions and our bodies. We need Him to interrupt our day to show us what we are doing, feeling and thinking, especially during times of stress. How does my body feel?  Is it tense in any area? Is there pain or discomfort in any part of my body?  Am I clenching any muscles, grinding my teeth, clenching my jaws or my fists?  What is my physical state?

I often find myself tense throughout my workday.  My shoulders are raised, a sign that I am not relaxed, and I have to intentionally ask myself why, and if everything is ok, consciously lower them. I’m always on alert, waiting for the next task I can tackle.  But I spend a lot of time at a desk. I don’t quite think my body has any need to be on high alert as if I was going to deal with a tiger suddenly walking into my office.

I do it out of habit, and I am working on breaking that habit. But I can only break it and create a healthier habit if I pay attention to when and what I am doing and counter it with a more productive action.

This also includes examining my emotional responses.  When I get a text from someone, what emotion am I feeling?  Am I afraid, nervous, angry, frustrated, excited?   Knowing these things will provide the clues I need to figure out the event to which I am actually reacting, because a text message is a neutral event, unless I associate it with something or someone else that evokes my emotions.

Once I start paying attention to my physical and emotional states, I need to learn how to lower my stress level through breathing exercises.  Eight (8) long slow breaths can help my body relax enough to put me into maximum problem solving ability mode.

I also do the “happy place” exercise – I imagine the place where I feel relaxed and happy and at peace.  For me, it is on a hammock in my front yard under some trees, overlooking the lake with a beautiful blue sky above, 73 degrees, slight breeze, and my cuddliest dog sleeping against my side. This never fails to calm me down.

So I examine my body for stress related responses, and then use breathing and “happy place” exercises to calm myself enough to proceed with the next step, which is seeking the Spirit’s help in delving into my past to find any events that I may be associating with my current situation.

RESET ASSIGNMENT:

1. Do you pay attention to the state of your emotions and body during the day.  Try it every so often and write down what you discover.
2. Try implementing breathing exercises when you are stressed to increase your problem solving ability.  How did that affect your ability to think logically through the situation?

*** I use Jesus Text Me’s free private messaging service to send this and other messages to me throughout the day.  You can try it here.