Real Estate Information Archive

This book has endless examples of how we create the story in our head instead of loving what is. What is the story you are creating in your head? Are you allowing that story to affect your life? The world is whatever you believe it to be. Our mind is a powerful thing that will cling onto what we perceive to make it the truth. Walking every situation through The Work will help us get back to the actual truth not what we are creating. Filter through the emotions and focus on the truth.

The Work is meditation. If you are caught up in a thought Byron Katie challenges to put it out on paper. Question the situation then find the answers within the truth. This simple tool can turn everything around for you.

1. Is it true? (Yes or no. If no, move to 3.)

2. Can you absolutely know that it's true? (Yes or no.)

3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?

4. Who would you be without the thought?

Turn it around: To the self. To the other. To the opposite.

This book may be repetitive of endless examples walking through how The Work changes situations. That is the exact point. No matter the situation, good or bad, we create our own story in our head. The majority of the time when we are sad or disappointed with something it is only because of the story that we have created. Take ownership in your thoughts and in the outcome. Turn the situation around.

Life has its ups and downs. Focus on only the things you can control and allow yourself freedom from what you can not. There are some situations that are not fair and will hurt, but Byron Katie points focus in on the response to those situations. Are you going to allow the story to spiral into negativity or do you take what you can control and run with it? Life will be much more enjoyable if you stay in your own business and control how you respond to the cards you have been dealt.

Choose to find joy in every day. Choose to love what is.  

What are you afraid of and fear in life? Have you ever wondered why that makes you afraid? Could it be that your reaction would never be justified if you got down to the truth of the matter? Do “The Work” on your greatest fear. Ask the question, “Is it true?” Work step by step and use this process. Then turn it around. Are you fearful because the situation or are you fearful simply because that is how you react naturally?

We all make quick judgements of what we see and experience. Far too often our judgement is wrong. Far too often we jump to conclusions way too fast. Far too often we let the situation affect us before even knowing the truth. Perception is reality. One might be taking notes on their phone at a conference, but to everyone else, it looks as if they are checked out and texting the entire time. Isn’t it funny that we judge ourselves on our intentions, but we judge others by the outcome. Get to know the truth behind the situation. Learn the intentions of others before you make that judgement and react.

The reality is, you can not control or change reality. Don’t try either because you will lose when you argue with reality. It is what it is. Learn how to make the best of it. The only thing you can control is how you chose to respond and react to the situation. Bad situations are going to happen in life because we live in a broken world. The question is how do you learn to love what is. The exercise of “The Work” reveals the deepest beliefs and shows the point of misunderstandings. Set yourself free through digging deeper and questioning your judgement on the reality.

Even in the little things try to change your mentality from “I have to…” to “We get to…” Often times, when we become the victim of a situation and have stress, it is because we look at the situation selfishly and take everything personally. Take the opportunity to make every single event as just that, an opportunity. We get the opportunity to change our reality of the situation and our judgement.  

“There is no lemon so sour that you can’t make something representing lemonade.”

Your life is whatever image that you project it to be. You may not be able to control the situation but it is up to you to change your responses and judgment to that situation. How you see things and interpret situations is how you perceive problems. Have you ever thought about how the misperception of a situation affects your life? It is so easy to get caught up in all the feels and stressful situations. Some problems pull you to the bottom of the ocean and where you are left without any oxygen. It is fatal if you sit at the bottom with your problems for too long. Take a step back to find the truth of the situation. There is always something that can be done or another way to handle a situation. Make a habit of looking at yourself compared to blaming everyone else and the situation.

“The pain shows you what’s left to investigate.”

One of the examples Byron Katie uses is having lint on a projector’s lens. We often only look at the big issue on the screen and try to fix it when in reality it is just the tiniest piece of lint projected into something big. How long do you sit in the issues looking at the screen when we never look inwards at how we are projecting it. Change your own mind on the issue and clear your lens. The analogy also is great in the fact that the lint can be so tiny but if you let it stay on the lens then it projects into something way bigger than it ever was in the first place or ever will be. The noises of this world are loud. Do you let the noise be positive or negative? There is a beauty that can be found in every brokenness. Do you choose to search for it or do we ignore it? Look at how you are viewing every situation and do the work through it. Make sure your response is appropriate and true.  

“Self-realization is not complete until it lives in action.”

This concept of looking inwards is beneficial in every relationship. When you get down to the root of what is happening often perspectives are different and that is where the issue occurs not because of the action going on. Byron Katie asks an import question: Whose business are you in? There is your business, someone else’s business, and God’s business. The majority of stress comes from not living in your own business. When you get into someone else’s or God’s business there is nothing you can control. You can not control how someone else is going to act. You sure can’t control God’s plan. Realizing that you can only control your own business is the only place where you can actually make a difference and work. Why do we tend to waste our time on other people’s business? Along the same time, we need to accept others for who they are.

TURNING IT AROUND

The set of turning situations around after asking the four questions replace every negative emotion. This is looking forward to what life could be without any fear. We have to believe it before we can see it. Identify the truth.

The power of inquiry leads to a service mentality of how can I help. Attitude shifts from I wonder if they are mad at me... to I am listening to you. From confusion to I understand you. From questioning relationships... to I love our time together. From I don’t ever want to... to I am willing to. This experience helps define your personal identity.

With a recurring situation, after the four questions, it is now time to turn it around. Find specific examples of how each turnaround is true.

1. To the self.

2. To the other.

3. To the opposite.

Example: My kids don’t listen to me.

1. I don’t listen to myself.

2. I don’t listen to my kids.

3. My kids do listen to me.

Our team really found the worksheet beneficial to see this process work in action. Take the time to fill out the worksheet and meditate on the specific situation and that moment in time. Answer if it is true with a yes or no. Question the judgments on the worksheet and find the truth in every situation. That person has not changed but your identity and the judgment on the situation has changed. This system helps identify and question the judgment that creates all the suffering in your life.

Let go of what you can not control and don’t get caught up in what other people do or say. Only focus on what you can control. Your response is the big difference between the outcome of the situation. We typically want to change the outside environment and other people but we are not focusing on our own consciousness. It will also be how you are perceiving the situation. You always have a choice on how you will respond.

Don’t argue with reality… Embrace what is.

This book helps you refocus on issues from a different perspective. She shares personal experiences then shows the step-by-step process of working through these struggles to enjoy life. It is a process that makes every situation a little clearer. The typical issue is we focus only on the problem and then turn hopeless when filtered through the problem isn’t a problem at all. There comes a point when you become a victim to yourself. You can not control your situation or environment; what you can control is how you respond and think about it. The Problem begins and ends with you.

Here are the four questions:

1. Is it true? (Yes or no. If no, move to question 3.)

2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? (Yes or no.)

3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?

4. Who would you be without the thought?

This next week our team will be working through the worksheet and physically writing down situations and working through them to turn it around. Will you take the challenge and turn around your situations? Take ownership and focus on how you react!

View the pdf here: http://thework.com/sites/thework/downloads/Little%20Book.pdf