“From the Ancient Wisdoms to Quantum Physics,
It's All About the Energy!”
I DARE You!©
Dennis L. Dossett
(All Rights Reserved)
OK, just bear with me for a bit. Stop reading, close your eyes, and just FEEL for a moment. Are you feeling good? If so, that's great! Please stop reading this article and go on to a different one on this website. Come back to this point when you are not feeling good. I DARE You!
If you are not feeling emotionally good at the moment, please continue reading. I'm going to ask you to do one very simple little thing, and then stop, check how you are feeling at the moment, and then come back to this article. Is that OK with you? If not, then I DARE You!
Well then, here we go. Please close your eyes, check how you are feeling, and give it a number on a scale from 1 (feeling only a little good) to 10 (feeling very, very good). I'm willing to bet that you aren't very close to a 10 on this scale, so let's proceed a little further.
Now, slowly and gently begin to lift the corners of your mouth ever so slightly while observing how you are feeling. Go ahead, little by little lift the corners of your mouth. Feel them lifting—I DARE You! Notice what happens to your emotional state as your cheeks gently begin to tighten and you feel the corners of your mouth lift centimeter by centimeter. This is called a “SMILE”. Stop when you have reached the limit of your comfort zone or when it feels almost too fake to be genuine. Then, check how you are feeling and give it a number on the same scale from 1 to 10. Did your number go up—even a little bit? If not, try repeating this step until you remember what a smile feels like. It doesn't matter how big or broad your smile is, or even whether your teeth show. The only thing that matters is how you feel. Now relax your face.
I'm willing to bet that most of you made at least some progress in raising your feeling
index a little bit. If not, stop right here and come back later after you have read another article or two on this website—if you DARE!
If you did experience feeling a little better, good for you! But that's the simple part, the easy part. Now comes the hard stuff. Are you ready for the next step?
I DARE You!
For this next step, you'll need a mirror. Any mirror will do—a cosmetic mirror from your purse, your bathroom mirror, your reflection in a bowl of water—just a long as you can clearly see your face. Now, feel yourself slowly and gently begin to lift the corners of your mouth ever so slightly while observing how you are feeling. Give it a number between 1 and 10. Did your feeling index stay about the same, or did watching that face in the mirror smiling back at you raise it? What do you think that face in the mirror is feeling? And does your feeling index change as you are watching that face in the mirror? Does it change even more when you break into a broad, toothy grin? Try it—if you DARE.
Now that wasn't so bad was it? What makes it hard is the nagging feeling that this is just silly—just playing games—but that is the Self trying to reassert control over your emotional responses. If you really did experience an improvement in your feeling index, rest assured that you are more in alignment with your Higher Self:
• “The way you feel is only ever about your alignment, or misalignment, with the Source within you. It is only your relationship with the Source within you (with your own Inner Being) that is the reason for the emotions that you feel.” ~ Abraham (Collective consciousness of Spirit as channeled by Esther Hicks; Getting into the Vortex Guided Meditation CD and User Guide)
OK, now it's time to go public. It's one thing to grin at yourself in your bathroom mirror (you should do this at least twice every day from now on) and quite another to do it where other people can see you. I suggest a shopping trip where you can see your reflection in the store windows. Something about the “forbidden” behavior of doing this on the street is actually a little exciting but, oh, so worth it. You don't have to make a big production out of it, just look in the glass window, smile, and monitor how you are feeling. Give it a number between 1 and 10. I DARE You!
The purpose of smiling at your own image (especially in public) is to learn not to feel self-conscious, not to feel ashamed or embarrassed by smiling. That sounds a little silly, but why else do people avoid smiling (especially in public)? The purpose is also to prepare you for your next assignment (drum roll . . . . . .), purposely smiling at a stranger as you approach them on the street. Don't think you can do that? C'mon, I
DARE You!
This should be “old hat” to you by now. You should be feeling like a pro at this point! So just do it. You don't know them, and they don't know you, so what's to lose? Moreover, what's to gain? Try it and find out. I DARE You!
There. How did it feel? Kind'a nice, wasn't it? I'll bet that the other person either smiled back or looked somewhat shocked and kept walking. If they smiled back, how did it feel (1-10)? If they looked shocked, it was kind of funny, wasn't it? How did that make you feel?
• “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-; Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist)
• “Life is supposed to be fun—it is supposed to feel good! . . . Nothing is more important than that you feel good. Just practice that and watch what happens.” ~ Abraham (Collective consciousness of Spirit as channeled by Esther Hicks; Excerpted from the workshop in
Funny thing about smiling—it can get to be a habit, a very good feeling habit. And when you can find a way to feel good, you are coming closer to aligning your conscious energy with that of your Higher Self, and that's a good feeling!
And it's all a matter of choice. You can choose to feel good or you can choose to feel bad. And if you aren't ready to feel good, you can choose to feel better.
• “Being happy is the cornerstone of all that you are! Nothing is more important than that you feel good! And you have absolute and utter control about that because you can choose the thought that makes you worry or the thought that makes you happy; the things that thrill you, or the things that worry you. You have the choice in every moment.” ~ Abraham (Collective consciousness of Spirit as channeled by Esther Hicks; Excerpted from the workshop in
Feeling good is your birthright, so take it. I DARE You! Or leave it; it is your choice.
• “You were born to experience a life with happiness, joy, success, and abundance.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #69, March 15,2003)
• “Face your fears and take the happiness and joy you deserve and which is yours by right.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #161, September 3, 2005)
And if you are still stuck back at the stage of looking in a mirror, try this:
• “If you feel that you can't smile, stand before a mirror and with your fingers pull your mouth into a smile. It is that important!” ~ Paramhansa Yogananda (1893-1952; Indian yogi and guru; author of Autobiography of a Yogi, 1946)
I DARE You!
Have a great month!
Dennis