Paul's Corner

Hi Paul! It's good to see you back! I'm happy to hear the movie shoot was a positive experience.

As to those old habits, I've come to believe our brains are hard-wired with thoughts that go back to our beginnings. That's all very hard to change, because those old tapes always seem to come back to haunt us with their negative messages.

The thing I've found most helpful is changing my response to those thoughts, and thereby breaking the cycle that tends to take me to places I'd rather not go. Those patterns in themselves become habits, in that we follow the same routine when certain feelings crop up.

Yep, you can't always make them go away, but you can choose to respond differently and scare them off! They won't know what hit them!

Cheers,
Michelle

I know this sounds silly Paul, but it just seems like you have a little annoying gremlin on your back hammering at you all the time that you'll never achieve what you want to achieve. I want to shoot that mo' fo' so badly and rid him of your life, so you can live on happily and joyfully with all kinds of wonderful hope and dreams in your heart. :)

that's " Rid him OUT of your life" :)

Hey! I'm not alone! I do the same thing! OK, make ya a deal. You knock it off and I'll knock it off. Deal?

As the Mum of 2 children and being fairly new to the singles world again, the world can seem intimidating sometimes.

I had an idea for you Paul...

I don't know anyone who HASN'T seen SB here in the US, so people do know who you are. Maybe not your name, but they know who you are. Well, what about working with Outback Steakhouse for selling the beer? If you're not familiar with it, Outback is a large restaurant chain headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Maybe a deal could be made for selling the beer and using your acting skills in the ads? I don't know much about the business you're in, but if you want to combine the beer with the acting thing, it might be a solution.

http://www.outbacksteakhouse.com

Corporate Office
Outback Steakhouse, Inc.
2202 N. West Shore Blvd., Suite 500
Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: (813) 282-1225

Michael W. Coble
President, Outback International

Benjamin P. Novello
President, Outback Steakhouse

What do you think?

Thought

Fear, if unopposed by courage, eats away at the heart.

Hello PC Friends,

I loved your post Paul. Working obviously makes your heart and head feel good and useful. I do believe it is normal, for someone in your field, to "worry" about the next project. You have wonderful talent and yet some self doubt it seems. The good thing is that you have set yourself your own "yard stick" to live up to. That can be a good thing but to have expections so high-you fail yourself. You have plenty of support and admiration from many people. You are sucessful. I just loved your post-it was straight from the heart and sincere.

I'm going through something of a similar nature. I've learned that I have alot of negative self talk. I have many things to be greatful for of which I am. But, my core being is not at peace. It has alot do with my childhood. I hate for that to sound so mundane but there were particular things that happened to me as a child that no child is deserving to be put through. I've been willing to process much of it and now have hit a really tough place in my journey.

Hope all of my friends here are doing well!

HUGS!
Abeth

Paul,

Glad that the shooting went well and that you and your family had a great time during the interim.

I usually shy away from commenting on posts immediatly but this one struck me for some reason. I think it may have to do with thinking about the future, the habit of thinking about it constantly. That's my own personal bad habit that I long to break. But your post today for some reason put things in a new perspective for me.

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that trying to figure out whats next is hopeless, no matter if we are on top of the world or on the bottom of it, the future remains to be an untame animal that a good part of the time has a mind of its own. We could face the unpleasant or we could unexpectantly encounter a good suprise. SOmetimes no matter how hard we work toward a goal we could continually be batting zero and then dumb luck will fall on our doorstep.

All we can do is keep going.

All we can do is be good to ourselves, good to those around us and do our best when it comes to our work. Missed oportunities, bad decisions, good decisions, career opportunities, no career opportunities, etc all come with the territory.

Maybe I'll start a new habit of joining the rest of my neighborhood at the local pub on Friday night and celebrate getting through another week.

take care all,

Hey, Paul. Good to see you back. Glad your film shoot went well. We'll be looking forward to seeing it. It's been a while for us, you know.

I'm afraid I'm not very good at giving advice or following it myself. Old habits ARE hard to break and once in a while, when you least expect it, there they are, no matter how hard you try to get rid of them. Gotta keep on hangin' on. Life is one hell of a roller coaster.

Hello out to all the PC'ers, especially Mary across the pond, Mil, Tim, Peter - where are you darlin'?, Julie, Abeth, Tea, Kristen, Michelle, Delta lady and everyone else. So many friends, so little time to name you all.

Be well.
Sally

Paul, it's great to hear from you and to know that the past month has been such a positive experience for you and your family.

Your post really struck a chord with me. Like everyone, I have my own particular negative pattern of thoughts that have the pull of familiarity about them. This doesn't make them more attractive, just easier to fall into. The pathways we have made over time with old habits and patterns of thought can be so smooth and easy to skim along. It's a struggle to change the direction and forge new ones against that flow. Striking out like this is part of the journey though and what makes it such a challenge and such a worthwhile and life-expanding experience. It can be tough though.

Abeth, I wish you the best of luck with this part of your journey. It's not easy to be facing into a phase like this, but having the courage to acknowledge it and confront it (and I'm sure you have this) - will pay you back many times in true peace of mind and self-awareness. In my experience, looking back at times like this in my own life, they can be times of transition leading on to real movement forward. I hope that this is what the time ahead will be for you. Good luck.

Hi and love to Michelle, Peter, Julie, Sally C,Evelyn, Millie, Inn, Kelly and to all in PC.

Hi back to you Tea and welcome to you Kirsten.

Take care all,
Mary

I find the following words very comforting. I realise that each one here has their own particular faith but thought I would submit this for your consideration anyway.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Thinking of you all.

PS We are off to watch the Finn Brothers perform at the town hall tonight. Can't wait!

Alison are you suggesting that I walk around naked? I might give that a go today - mowing the lawn should be okay but going to the mall may be a little more....confronting! I do agree there is no point in worrying about tomorrow (although I often do) for as they say tomorrow never comes! Once we get to today it is a waste of time worrying about the now - just jump in and live it!

Julie - true as you say whatever tomorrow brings is just that - once it presented to us we just have to make the best out of it. Whilst we cannot dictate exactly what tomorrow will bring I do believe that we have a pretty good shot at creating that which we need but dont always want. I spend a fair amount of time fantasizing about that which I wish to create for myself and my family. I believe that I can and do make these dreams reality perhaps not always exactly as I imagined or hoped for or when I hoped for but none the less much of it does come to pass. The phrase becareful what you wish for is apt as we all too often involve ourselves in negetive fantasy without even knowing it thereby creating exactly that, that we dont wish to bring about. Hence my constant work at changing my thought patterns and habits from the negative to the positive.

Abeth - for every up there is a down and every down there is an up. The good thing is that after finally traversing all the mountains and the valleys you do eventually get to the beach on a bright, sunny, clear and warm day. There is a patch of sand with a towel for you to lay back on and maybe even a glass of wine, a beer (Mercs Own of course)or a gin and tonic - or a cup of tea what ever is your pleasure. The waves will gentle lap at the shore patiently waiting for you to dip your toes in amongst them and the sea gulls will glide effortlessly above you - and your spirit will soar with them. You may even forget how tough the journey through the valleys and mountains was but surely you will rejoice arriving at the beach. Travel well.

Something similar happened to me after being in Europe 1 month ago and coming back to the US I actually got caught up in the negative habits that pertain to my life in Europe and those in the US—weird place emotionally. It took me a while to be honest enough with myself to make changes and to embrace this situation as an opportunity to toss some of the negative thinking/habits out and to begin replacing them with healthier and more positive ones.

As pertaining to worrying about the future, that too has it’s own cycles of being more and also less in the forefront of my life anyway. Fear of the unkown can be so paralyzing and crippling and joy and openness towards what will be so energizing. In theory, it’s an easy choice, in reality a lot of work to let go of fear and negative thinking. I often wonder what makes me (and others) so drawn towards negative thinking when the alternative is so much better?!? Or is it???

Abeth, I wish you great strength as you travel through this difficult phase in your life. While looking back don’t forget to look forward and experience the healing that this experience can and will provide you if you let it. Be well and take care of yourself!

oh and welcome back to you Paul and your family. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time filming and such a wonderful holiday with your family as well!

Hello PC Friends,

I want to thank everyone who has read my post and given me wonderful words and encouragement. Yesterday and today I'm feeling much lighter and even more hopeful

I loved the beach theory. As a matter of fact it's my favorite place to be. We go to the beach (Outer Banks-Nags Head) every year for our vacation. It does clear my head and heart. We are on August 20th for a week. I have a huge surprise for my husband for his 50th birthday (I'm the young one-37). He was beyond wonderful and patient during the difficult pregnancy. I'm paying back in kind with a sitting service so that we can go out to lunch and canoeing.

Isn't weird to think that you're not the only one with these thoughts that we post and how are lives are similar with the issues that we face? I do believe everyone who posts on here have so much to give-it's ashame that we live so far apart!!

Again, thank you for being such great "listener" and taking the time to think of me.

HUGS!
Abeth

Abeth you are such a cutie. Paul you are such a sage! :)

xxoo Tea

Hey, just wanted to check in and say hi to all of you oldbies and also to the many newbies who don't know me but may get to in the future.
I hope everyone is well.
Paul I'm glad to see that things are moving along for you. I hope the new film does well. I'm not sure we can escape the patterns of our lives, but maybe we can somehow make them work for us? I'll have to think on that some more.
Miss you all. Love, Inn