Crawford Performance Solutions

https://youtu.be/D6pkk_nQC1k

Have you noticed how sometimes excitement and anxiety can feel similar? There are butterflies in the stomach, elevated heart rate, etc., and this is because they are both driven by the same chemical, adrenaline.

However, while the chemical nature of these two experiences are somewhat similar, the experience of life that is produced is very different. And, for those of you who follow my “Life from the Top of the Mind” philosophy, you know that this has to do with how the brain processes information.

“Adrenaline paired with joy is excitement… adrenaline paired with worry or fear is anxiety.” ~ Bill Crawford, Ph.D.

Why is this important information? Because, if we want to have as much influence as possible over our experience of life, we need to know what part of the brain to trust. For example, the middle brain, or limbic system, has a tendency to value anxiety over joy because, for as long as we have been on the planet, anxiety has kept us safe.

However, while we are long past the need to be worried about survival, the middle brain does not know this, and as a result, it can have us feeling anxious or worried when there is really nothing to be worried about (or at least nothing that is a threat to our survival).

Of course, if there is something that deserves our attention or concern, we can trust the “Top of the Mind” to focus on what I call “productive concern,” or solution-focused concern, that produces clarity, confidence, and creativity versus anxiety.

Therefore, if enjoying life is important to you, I suggest that we begin to enjoy… in joy… or begin to ensure that we are experiencing adrenaline as excitement. In this way, we are becoming more influential in our lives (and potentially in the lives of others) by understanding the chemical nature of how we respond to life, and choosing the more purposeful part of who we are as the part we want to trust. What aspects of your life could use a little more excitement and joy?

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Remembering The Face of My Father

I am a fan of Stephen King, especially his character development work such, as his “Dark Tower” series. In one of the early books in this series, one of the worst things you could say to someone is “You have forgotten the face of your father,” which means you are acting dishonestly, or without integrity.

My father was a recovering alcoholic and one of the founders of Alcoholic Anonymous in the area of North East Texas (Kilgore Texas) where I grew up, and I remember being taken to all the AA meetings because we didn’t have enough money for a babysitter. Here, I saw my Dad (and Mom for Al-Aanon) speak again and again about their journey to recovery with the hopes of helping others.

In my seminars, people often ask me, “What lead you to do what you do?” and I always tell them about growing up in an AA home, and being exposed to the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. However, I really didn’t know how much this had shaped my philosophy of life until just before I published my first book. I found a letter from my Dad to an East Texas newspaper that had to be written sometime in the early 50s. (It is now included as an Appendix in my book "Life from the Top of the Mind")

The letter didn’t have a date on it, but it had to be written sometime after 1947 because that’s when Dad joined AA. Still, keep in mind that even if this was written sometime in the early 1950’s, much of what we speak of today in terms of the mind-body connection, and the degree to which we create our own reality was not part of that culture. One thing this article does demonstrate is the degree to which our lives can be influenced by the environments we grow up in, and how fortunate I was to have grown up in an AA home. I share it with you here as I remember the face of my father:

Alcoholics Anonymous Is A Force In Molding Lives.

"One of the most important lessons we learn in Alcoholics Anonymous is that whatever comes to us in the way of happiness or unhappiness, health or sickness, abundance or lack, we attract by our own consciousness. When things go wrong, the human tendency is to place the blame on circumstances or luck, but the real truth is that we have “gone wrong” somewhere in our thinking about life.

With most of us, the transformation of our thoughts about ourselves and life is not an immediate but a gradual process, for the habits of years are not easy to change in the twinkling of an eye. This apparently slow process brings discouragement and the inclination to give up to many beginners in AA, for appearance rarely changes overnight. But each victory gained, however small, is a step towards the goal of a richer, happier, more satisfying life.

Each time we replace an unloving thought with a loving one we are building a consciousness of love into our life. Each time we replace a thought of fear and doubt with one of faith and confidence we are changing the pattern of our life. Each time we affirm health and abundance instead of talking sickness and lack we are becoming firmly established in the consciousness of life and richness.

A heart that is filled with love and expresses this love in kindness, consideration, and tolerance toward all attracts loving and happy experiences. A consciousness that is filled with thoughts of life and strength and vitality brings into manifestation a strong healthy body. A mind that acknowledges the everywhere presence of God establishes prosperity and order in outer affairs.

The purpose of our 24-hour program in Alcoholics Anonymous is to give us at least one to replace one negative thought with an affirmative one we make an important advance in spiritual growth. To build constructive, uplifting ideas into our consciousness is like mastering a subject by daily study. Attainment may seem far away at first, but each day’s application brings its reward, and sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly, we realize that we have achieved our goal.

The power to transform our lives lies within us.The Spirit of God is with us to uphold us and sustain us, and as we work with Him, the way is made clear and easy for us. We are assured of continual growth and life is transformed and blessed."

I have always been aware even as a small child, how important my father was to the AA community. In fact, I have many vivid memories of people relating stories of their lives and how they owe whatever success and happiness they might have achieved to him. What I wasn’t aware of, however, was how much his life and that of my Mom, laid a foundation for who I am and what I do today. Yet, as I hold the written pieces of his life in my hand, I find the compass that confirms my direction.

My father, in his quest to touch others, has also left me his love.

Thanks, Dad.