With Discomfort or with Patience?
In the past, when I've had to wait for something out of my control in the external world, such as the arrival of a repair person, I've felt uneasy. When would he or she arrive? Would he or she arrive? Should I begin a task only to be interrupted in the middle? And then there were things out of my control in my inner world, such as waiting to remember an errand that I needed to do. What was it? I would feel impatient. I couldn't get in the car and go until I remembered what it was. These are small things, but they create discomfort and thus add to our stress level.
The Uncertainty
While you are waiting for the resolution of these sorts of dilemmas, how do you spend that time? Fretting? Or are you able to calmly go through your day while waiting for the resolution of the dilemma? In the case of the external world, the dilemma is a complex stimulus. It can be resolved if the usual habit of fretting is blocked, by your Inner Guide, thus providing an opening for a better response: namely, going about your day.
In the case of dilemmas of the internal world, such as being unable to remember an errand, the complex stimulus (remember/not remember) is often actually created by one's Inner Guide: it may block the memory to create that complex stimulus, in order to unlock a locked-in habit pattern so that it can be replaced by a better solution.
In this case, the Inner Guide has two tasks: it creates the complex stimulus and blocks the old, locked-in response.
Because I have an Inner Guide, I can wait patiently and go about my day. If the repair person doesn't show up? It's not the end of the world. I'll just reschedule (perhaps with a different repair person!). If I can't remember my errand, I'll know that my Inner Guide will allow it to come into awareness at the right time.
What Do I Mean by "The Right Time?"
When my Inner Guide has judged that I have been left in suspense long enough for a locked-in habit pattern to become unlocked so that the mental apparatus can choose a new, better solution. But don't these switches require only a nanosecond? Yes, but the Inner Guide wants to change multiple locked-in habit patterns, and it takes time for those occasions to arise. The Inner Guide will end the block either when that task has been fulfilled...or when I need to know. (I can't find something that I want to give one of my granddaughters for Christmas. I know that I will be allowed to find it in time to send it to her.)
If you have an Inner Guide and do self-hypnosis regularly, you may have had experiences like this yourself. If you don't yet have an Inner Guide, you can acquire one, for free, here:
