Hook, Line or Sinker – Which One Are You?

This morning I felt like a hook (did not say hooker, people). I was in that feisty, bitey mood where those in my path should take heed and move outta my way.

I was filled with SHENPA.

Shenpa, a Tibetan word, can be translated as the stickiness, the urge to be distracted, the hook that takes us away from the present moment. It’s those sticky thoughts. The stickier the thought, the greater the hook.

My friend Ginny Agnew gave an excellent, not to mention vulnerably witty presentation at Seton Cove last week on shenpa and the work of shenpa-expert Pema Chödrön, an American Buddhist nun.

Here’s a darn fine quote from Pema Chödrön (spellcheck wants me to change her last name to Chowder…)

“It is the nature of the mind to have thoughts just as it is the nature of the sky to have clouds. The thoughts aren’t the problem; it’s the sticky quality – the fact that the thoughts have hooked you.”

Suffice to say my thoughts have been pretty sticky as of late. It’s as if my mind decided to go fishing today, cast out the line and I took the bait – I got hooked.

Here’s truth-telling.

Someone, hypothetically my husband, doesn’t respond when, from another room in the house, I yell an expletive because I’ve just hurt my hand. In the moment of “no-response-from-said-husband” something in me tightens (that’s the shenpa) and I start to spiral into getting angry at him for not caring about me. I snipe at him as I walk into the bedroom. He is huffing and puffing doing pushups, looks up at me in disbelief, catches his breath and says, “I didn’t realize you’d hurt yourself.”

Oh. It was all in my head – an all-about-me-nobody-loves-me story.

He gets up, grins, hugs me and says, “Are you alright?” Then he plants a smooch on my forehead.

Well don’t I feel goofy.

Note to Self: Next time the sticky thought comes (and it will), give yourself a little space by taking three full deep breaths to stay in the present moment rather than getting hooked by the sticky thought. Then reach for a nonjudgmental response.

Another fine opportunity to re-story my behavior.

Had any sticky thoughts lately? Wanna practice breathing with me?

For those of you in the Austin area, here’s a breathing opportunity to participate in an upcoming “Re-Story Circle.” This month’s topic is (you guessed it) “Hook, Line or Sinker – Which One Are You?”

If it hooks you, I hope you come…

https://www.jeanneguy.com/re-story-circles/

To one and all, stay tuned for future thoughts on re-storying your life.

Ciao,

Jeanne
The Great Self-Proclaimed Re-Story Expert

P.S. If you don’t know about Pema Chödrön, google her or check out her lectures on YouTube.  The wisdom will make thy head spin.