Mind of Snaps - Positivity Podcast | Ep. 37 - "Why So Serious?"

Welcome to "Why So Serious?" - the 37th Episode of the Mind of Snaps Positivity Podcast!

This is a special podcast series that is separate from the regular Mind of Snaps Podcast, with a new release (typically) posted every Monday for Patreon supporters!

It is my goal to create as much positive & encouraging content as I can during these intense, uncertain times we're faced with. 2020 was so much more than anyone expected it to be, and nobody should have to take it on alone. The only way I can continue to do so, is with your help.

To help, you can: become a patron, subscribe to me on Twitch, you can send a tip which I'll turn into an investment... or you can simply share my content on social media. Every little bit helps me be able to continue to create the podcasts and other mindfulness & positivity based content in the future.

The format of these podcasts are forever evolving to reflect current events from personal to global, so I hope you are enjoying them. Please reach out to me if you have any suggestions!

Hang in there, friends... we're all in this together.

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Make sure to become a patron on Patreon to support future content!

You can find new Positivity Podcasts on Patreon every Monday; Patreon archive positivity podcast episodes are available free for the community every Thursday at 4pm on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, & Stitcher!

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Jessy (Mind Of Snaps / SheSnaps)

www.MindofSnaps.com

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Transcript

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Hello, my friends, Happy Monday. It is April 13 2020. And I'm just so grateful to be sitting here working on recording this message for all of you. Lovely, lovely Patreon supporters.

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Thank you

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again, for all of the continued support and for telling some of your friends and even family members about this Patreon. That means so, so much. We are growing slowly but surely. And it has been making things a little easier on me to be able to put out more content to be able to do more. I promise behind the scenes. I'm thinking so hard of all the different ways that I can try and give back. We also did just have our second video chat on Saturday, and it was awesome. Thank you to everyone who joined in for that. And if you are considering joining for the next one, it's going to be on April 25 at 1pm Central Time Yet again, we have been setting aside around three hours for these. I think that seems to be kind of the right number. So we'll try that again. This time, we will not be doing a full book review of the book Who Moved My Cheese again.

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But I do

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still recommend that you all read it, because it gives us some very helpful context for checking in with ourselves. We can kind of reference I think you're maybe being a ham right now or a hall or a sniff or a scurry, scratch, but that's not a part of it. But you get if you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you will soon, very quick book, highly recommend that you read it. And you can also watch the video now, from the last discussion if you'd like a better understanding of the admittedly still evolving format before you decide if you'd like to attend the next one. I'm going to post the link to that playlist which is unpublished. So it's not fully private. It's just not showing on my YouTube but with the link you can get to it easily. So if you want to watch The last live sessions you certainly can, I'll drop that in the Patreon and I already dropped the link in the discord channel for the Patreon for the patrons. So if you're not if you can't see the Patreon supporter channel at the top of our discord, it's like pretty close to the top, tagged me in discord so I can add that role to you. Oh, and remember, if you're still listening to this podcast, that actually means that you are already in the $10 tier two minute minimum. So that means all of those video chats are included in your rate. So if you weren't aware of that, everything underneath the $10 tier is open up to you. So the video chats, all of that anything else that comes in the future. If you're in the coaching sessions, then obviously you get everything. If the video chats don't seem like they're quite your vibe, I do still offer one on one coaching sessions and I added a 30 minute option. If you just want to check in and talk for a little bit, you can get that here on the Patreon but yeah, you can get anywhere From a half an hour to four hours of discussion per month up to you. Otherwise, dams are still open Of course. Um, as I said, I am still working on adding more things to the Patreon. And as I've said before, I'm incredibly incredibly interested in your thoughts or suggestions. So DM me please or tag me somewhere if you have any thoughts on other ways that I can help to serve this amazing community. Moving right along today, this one might be a little bit longer as I'm looking at the amount of words I've typed out here, so bear with me, I hope that I can bring this idea full circle for you and make make enough sense because I've been pondering it for the weekend. Today I wanted to talk to you about bringing more humor into your life. One of the things that I noticed as I got further into the habit of self development, self actualization, whenever you want to consider it. Self Help, is I recognize that I had a tendency to take myself and my practices as well as my shortcomings. So fucking seriously, not in a super severe way. But in a, I must stay focused on the task at hand kind of way. Everything outside of my goals and efforts suddenly started seeming useless, unnecessary, like if it wasn't leading towards something, why bother, right? And every bit of change that I noticed only furthered my beliefs that I must stay super focused on what I'm doing,

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or else I guess I don't know.

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I'm grateful that I take as much time as I can to reflect on my practices and how I'm feeling. And one of the things that stood out to me somewhat recently was like I'm saying how seriously I take everything or have in the past continue to in little ways. I wrote in my journal after a particularly eye opening meditation at the beginning of this year. You are the tension. You are the games, you're afraid you'll fall victim. To You are the tension You are the games you're afraid you'll fall victim to. These lines still hit me pretty hard today. This this realization brought with it a great deal of relief. Suddenly I was looking at things and remembering them from the point of view of my consciousness,

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not of my ego,

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of my soul, not of my body and brain. I was looking again, at a world that I believed was separate from myself, when in reality, we are all one with each other and the universe that created us and is us. If all of this is me, if all of this is the universe, that is

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me and you,

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why must I be so grim?

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Why so serious? I believe a large purpose or large part of our purpose here in this universe, is to learn and grow together as a community as a collective consciousness. This collective consciousness, we can help others through helping ourselves. Remember the mantra we've discussed before, my happiness is a service to all. That doesn't mean that your goal posts should be happiness. But rather our goal should be to open ourselves up to the fullness of each moment we experience to allow ourselves to laugh and be joyful, about how blessed we truly are, even in the midst of what feels like a chaotic existence, by recognizing that we are not our thoughts, that we are not our bodies or our brains. This brings us to the doorstep of the ultimate goal in my mind, not to be happy, but rather to be free, free from the exhaustion over believing we are these roles we morph into over the course of our daily lives, free from the pains of believing that there is some darkness within

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us,

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because the content of our thoughts can be so unkind freedom from the shame we carry from behavioral patterns we did not create deliberately, but now suffer from regardless. Freedom from the belief that somehow something outside of us will stabilize the point where we can finally catch our breath and feel less overwhelmed. The freedom that I'm referencing isn't the freedom that many chase the freedom to buy things that will to speak your mind, the freedom to travel and have the life you desire filled with all the things you desire. The freedom I speak of, is attainable by all it's freedom from expectations. It's freedom from the suffering that comes from self attachment from the beliefs that we are simply unfortunate people who have been dealt a shitty hand in life. With this freedom comes joy and humor, and the awareness that joy and humor can also help to unlock it. This universe is wild. It's so awesome. Our mindfulness practices are designed to help remind us of what

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we truly are,

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and what we really aren't. Every time we sit to meditate, or we just take a moment to ground ourselves in the present, we are reminded of our vast, spacious selves. When we allow ourselves to just sit back

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and be with our breath,

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we begin to see that the thoughts just keep on going. The body keeps on feeling and sensing, and we aren't required to be a part of it, we can step back and watch the show. As we do this more and more. Not only do we begin to see our patterns more clearly, but we also have have the opportunity to check Those thought and behavior patterns against what we, the soul or the consciousness, know that we should be doing instead know that we could be doing instead. The issue is, many of us get to this point, right? Like we start to see the real us. And then we begin to crave a life where that is all we know a life where our thoughts no longer have the power to pull our focus, a life where the pains of our bodies subside so that we can know peace again without much effort. A life or simply knowing the truth is enough for us to act accordingly all the time, no mistakes. It's similar to the folks who stress that they couldn't possibly squeeze in meditation because their lives are too hectic and loud. They've got kids or roommates or whatever. The problem isn't that the external world around you is too hectic. The problem is is that you believe that it should be quiet for your sake. Or in general, for those of you who are struggling because you feel like you know how things are now, and that should be all it takes, let go of the belief that knowing is enough. We must walk the walk, talk the talk and remind ourselves regularly that the one walking and talking isn't even us most of the time, not the real us at least. We treat every thought and action our minds and bodies take as evidence that we suck. When all it is truly is evidence that you fell asleep again, so to speak, you forgot who you were to be upset at yourself because you got lost in your sense of self again, is similar to being upset at your significant other because you had a dream they cheated on you, but didn't cheat on you. You just dumped it. When you wake up. You can see it and you can let it go. You didn't do those things or Think those thoughts, your body did it at a time when your consciousness had been almost hijacked in those moments were thought and behavior patterns were winning your consciousness just kind of fell asleep for a bit. That's okay, now that you've noticed, wake up, just like you would after a bad dream. Wake up and look around. Remind yourself where you actually are, who you actually are. And that the things that happened in that dream weren't your fault. It's these moments that tend to frustrate people greatly. I've been working so hard to become more aware I shouldn't have done or said these things. Well, you didn't. You've been on autopilot

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for so long,

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that it's just so easy to fall back into it.

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The work of becoming more and more aware is challenging as fuck. It is especially challenging when you get trapped by the ego and the thoughts of I should have or I shouldn't have, just accept everything. Then choose to move with intention towards the things that feel right to you. Not to your egoic mind but the real you. The EU that knows that we should always choose love over fear. The EU that knows we are all one.

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The EU

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that knows that remembers deep within that in this moment, everything is okay. You are safe and surrounded by the universe that loves you and is you.

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When I wrote in my journal,

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you are the tension.

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It was after realizing that my body was all kinds of contorted and crumbled up because I was feeling upset or overwhelmed about something. When I woke from the dream of I am overwhelmed. Suddenly the real me behind everything was like Oh, I know how to fix this. just straighten out the body, take a couple deep breaths and let it go. Be Here Now. And so I did. And immediately the tension that had seemingly been growing larger and heavier by the second

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had subsided entirely.

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When I wrote,

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you are the games you're afraid you'll fall victim to. This was a reminder of my belief system of non duality, of unity of oneness. Here I am this consciousness, and suddenly I'm identifying with my human body and mind and believing that I must stay vigilant so as not to fall

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into the messy games of life.

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My egoic self believes that there was this external force that was out to get me or trap me, and then suddenly it clicked. If I am everything, everything is me. That includes thoughts, that includes beliefs, that includes fears that includes gay This particular line helped me to feel a bit safer in this existence. It stopped feeling like a mean spirited game of keep away, and instead became this fun game of Let's learn and grow together. Everything feels so much friendlier now. Rather than getting upset at myself when I stumble or when I fall asleep, so to speak, and the mind and body resumes control again for a while, I get excited to laugh when I wake up at how silly it is that for a moment or longer, I forgot who I was. When you have moments in life where you feel frustrated because things didn't go your way. Rather than viewing it as life trying to teach you aggressively. Look at it as you trying to have a little fun and show you who you are. And when you have moments of guilt or shame for not being more remember that you are everything and that guilt and shame. Over unconscious patterns is just as silly as guilt or shame over the contents of your dreams. You have the ability to influence what goes on in your brain. Yes, you have the ability to influence what goes on in your body. Yes. However, you have likely spent most of your life

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dreaming.

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So that's what your body and mind know. When the awareness starts to get covered up by thoughts and sensations, you go right back into the dream. The important thing is to learn how to wake yourself up more, as often as you can. And when you wake yourself up, have a nice little laugh over the silly dreams. You've had that silly dream that you're small and unimportant. That silly dream that you have much to be ashamed of that silly dream that you should have something or be somebody by a certain point in your life. The silly dream that mistakes are sunk. Have something being wrong with you. The silly dream that anything outside of your conscious self is the answer to your problems. The silly dream that if you do enough, work enough, think enough, somehow you'll be able to balance out everything, so you never have to feel sad again. So you never have to feel angry again. You never have to feel pain again. Wake up and laugh at how silly those ideas truly are. That doesn't mean that you are silly and should be embarrassed. We're all dealing with the same things continue to work on bringing more awareness into your days. So you can notice these silly things and then laugh at them. One of my good friends and a wonderful member member of this community duple had a funny story recently that I want to share here as a good example. In the Midwest lately, we've had weather that's all over the place. I mean, I guess not lately, but just in general. We've thought From days that feels like summer to waking up with snow on the ground. So when we notice moments of fresh warmer air, we tend to really embrace it. So last week, we had one of those wonderful warm days DuBose out in his car with the windows down on a break at work. He's sitting out there enjoying the air in the weather just smiling at the world, when suddenly the thought arises. The only thing that could ruin this perfect moment would be if a bee flew into my open window. Guess what? literally within seconds a fucking wasp flew into his car and went right for him. He freaked out rushed to unbuckle and jump out of the car. And once he did, the wasp was nowhere to be found. It had disappeared as quickly as it came. Now it's important to add a little backstory here. duple like many of us, is in the process of working to be more mindful. He's been making incredible progress. In his life, and it's really been so, so great to see previous versions of Drupal would likely have responded differently. I'm sure many of us can relate to that idea. Something like that would happen, and we would take it as a sign that we are fucking cursed. Look, here it is, here's the proof of my bad luck.

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Or we'd react with anger. I can't

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even have one nice peaceful moment to myself on my break What the fuck? Or was fear? That could have been so terrible, I'm allergic. Oh my gosh, what could have gone wrong, I could have died.

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I'm sure with enough time you can imagine all the

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ways that your brain would light up with frustration or assign some meaning to something as simple as a wasp flying into an open window. I know mine certainly would have in the past. As I mentioned, though, duple has been making incredible progress over time. And this particular instance was wonderful evidence of that rather than becoming upset at the wasp or the world or himself for thinking the thought duple once freed from the immediate danger of the Flying monster started laughing. How funny. But it took just one negative thought to remind him that nothing can actually ruin anything if you're conscious. The Wasp flew into the car. That's it. It is what it is. It's not a punishment. It's not evidence that duple didn't deserve any peace and quiet. It just is what it is. His brain thought the thought the wasp flew into the car, the sun rose the sunset, everything just is what it is. For that reason, it is so worth laughing over. So my friend, this very moment is your opportunity to start bringing more fun and joy into your own existence. One wonderful way To do that is to do as much as you can to be fully conscious as often as you can. To be aware of what's happening in your mind and body but to be aware without judgment, everything just is what it is. Those unkind thoughts that arise, laugh at them when you notice them. Silly thoughts, you're mistaken.

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I'm not worthless. I'm everything.

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Those frustrations over getting caught up in old behavior patterns.

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laugh when you notice those to

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look at me getting frustrated over the way this body works when it goes into autopilot.

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How silly

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you're not the programmer who set the patterns for this human suit. You walk in, walk around in. You are basically the new guy on the job. You just have to work to find all of the patterns and then start changing them bit

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by bit.

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No need to judge the programming or the actions that the body and mind take as a result. Just see it. Laugh at how ciliate is, and then choose to move with intention, not expectations as you work to reprogram this lovely human suit you have. Look at that. I'm shaming myself again. How silly. Look at that. I'm wishing things were easier again, how silly. Look at that. I'm angry over something outside of my control how silly work to notice as much as you can without judgment. And then once you see it, work to bring a little more fun into your life as you work to change it adjusted influence it. This doesn't have to be so serious. As I was thinking about in writing this podcast episode, I was reminded of a line from a straight up ridiculous movie that I have not seen in years.

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The line was

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don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive. This is the damn truth. Our time in this manifestation this human suit, it's limited. We don't know how much time we have. We can, however, exist with the timeless as we learn to let go of our need to be someone and allow ourselves to just be. We can squeeze so fucking much out of a single second when we're fully present. We can be joyful and laugh at the way things play out before us and around us through us. We can laugh knowing that we are truly safe and surrounded by a universe that cares about us and is us. So this week, in the midst of what many believe feels like the most chaotic time they've ever experienced, find ways to laugh. Pay attention to yourself and your patterns. Notice them, laugh at them and then move on with your day. Watch bar comedies laugh at silly things. More laugh at unkind things more. laugh when the dishes aren't done. laugh when you catch yourself becoming frustrated that the dishes aren't done. Not everything has to be so serious. Allow yourself to enjoy this existence as it is in this moment. And remember one of my favorite quotes ever that I heard from ROM das. If it's not fun, don't do it. If you must do it,

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make it fun.

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Have a delightful week, my friends, be kind to yourselves. Be kind to others, and learn to laugh at the ways that life is helping to steer you towards growth and healing.

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Now get out of your own way.

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And manifest dope

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shit.