I missed writing a blog post for last Wednesday. I let life get in the way. That troubled me, but I had to let it go. It’s in the past, and that’s not where happiness resides. So, stay in the present. Okay?

I thought of this analogy, and I’m sharing it because I think it’s great.

“Swing away” is a term I heard from the movie Signs, starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, written by M. Night Shamadamadingdong. You know his name.  It was a cool movie about unfriendly aliens coming to our planet and Mel and Joaquin (a former baseball player) battling them. Mel tells Joaquin, “Swing away,” when an alien is in the room with them. He swung that bat, and the alien was toast!

So, if we imagine our woes and worries as unfriendly aliens, and when we allow them into our minds to swing away and knock them out of our consciousness. Just imagine swinging a bat at negative and worrisome thoughts, sending them into oblivion and away from you. And they can’t affect you anymore. That’s what being in the present moment is. Because in the present moment, we can control our thoughts.

I used to have a lot of resentment and sorrow in my head, and it made me stuck. I couldn’t be creative or feel happiness because I felt tethered to those past memories and how they made me feel, thereby reinforcing the old messages I learned as a child that stayed with me into adulthood. I mean, I was not consciously dwelling, but something would trigger the painful memory. I would move a decorative box, and it reminded me of an experience I had with my older sister. I’m right back there, feeling exactly how I felt at the original time. How sad, right?

I think many of us do that. It’s almost like I couldn’t forgive myself for what happened at the time of the incident and have beaten myself up for not being assertive and standing up for myself. That bothered me the most.

If we think about the “swing away” idea, we can visualize getting rid of negative and self-defeating thoughts and allowing the thoughts we ought to be thinking, like, what’s happening right now in front of me?

To calm my mind, I sit down and pick anything to look at and just breathe. I zone out on the image as I focus on my breath. I just breathe. I focus on my chest rising and falling. I think about how it feels to breathe and breathe out. I take deeper breaths in and out of my nose and focus on breathing. I am in the present moment.

Now, once you “swing away,” releasing all those yucky thoughts, and you’ve focused on your breathing, then start thinking good stuff like these examples.

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I am good enough.

I am capable.

I am smart enough.

I believe in me.

I love who I am.

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Swing away at the stuff that hurts and bothers you. I remember hearing the saying, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” years ago from this business owner speaking to a customer. At the time, I didn’t fully get it. I was young and very enmeshed in the family drama and dysfunction. I didn’t even know who I was half the time.  But years later, I heard the saying,  “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” again, and then it clicked. It’s about not letting things get to you and sometimes taking the high road to avoid aggravation in your life. “Swing away” at any thought that does not serve you for the better.

Asking ourselves questions also can keep us in the present moment and aware of our thoughts.

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Why am I thinking this thought? (This helps swing our thoughts back to the present, where we can change what we think into something that serves us well.)

Why am I doing this? (This helps to make us aware of our actions so we can change them. Great for quitting smoking. You have to justify why you are putting something that could potentially harm you in your mouth.)

Would my ideal self like to do this? (This one is great, and I’ve been doing it. It helps to stay true to who you are.)

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Swing away those thoughts that don’t reflect happiness to you and take back control of your life. What we think, we become. Think good thoughts about yourself. Ask yourself those questions. They bring awareness and are so revealing and helpful.  At least, to me, it is. I think I’m on the right track because it’s making me feel better. That’s why I’m sharing this stuff. I want everyone to feel better, too.

Our minds are so powerful. When a soldier comes back from living in horrific war conditions or anyone repeatedly exposed to sadness and pain, the mind stores all those memories. We can’t help doing that. Our brains are recorders. We have every right to feel the feeling when exposed to that, but we can’t keep living with it day in and day out. That’s what swinging away is all about – helping ourselves not feel pain anymore.

Take a chance to live in the present moment and see where it leads you. If you can’t stand it and want to dwell in the past or worry about the future, ask yourself why. Once you answer that honestly, you’ll figure it out. We all have free will.

Like the band Rush’s song “Freewill” says:

You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that’s clear, I will choose Freewill

Thank you for reading this. I would appreciate a comment, even if you leave just an emoji. I don’t do anything with the emails or names. If I wanted to gather emails to send a newsletter or something like that, I would ask.

To swinging away,

Francesca