A Joyous Perspective on "The Force": Is it always with you?

It's Friday, and time for another Friday Night Thought Tale at the Hendersons. Today is May the 4th - Star Wars Day - as it has come to be known. It occurred to me that when the Star Wars characters said, "May the Force be with you.", They really were not suggesting that they didn't have the Force with them already. They were simply hoping the person would have the courage to let it out.  Remember when Yoda told Luke, “Always with you what cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?…You must unlearn what you have learned…." The force was strong in Luke, but his emotions and fears stood in its way. He had to unlearn some of his thought habits. 

What is standing between you and your force?

"The first step in getting what you want is having the courage to get rid of what you don't."

~me

I think a large block that keeps us from realizing our force resides in our views about the power of feelings or emotions. Watching kids in a preschool classroom, I see kids who get stuck on feelings and can't move on, regardless of the logic provided. I reminded that some of them will never grow out of that response. Some humans allow those emotions to run wild, trampling any truth of the existence of "The Force". They blame their big ol' hearts, but...

Feelings really don't come from that muscle just underneath your sternum.  

They come from that giant organ between your ears. That organ under your sternum just pumps blood -  that one between your ears pumps out thoughts. Thoughts that fuel both logic and emotion, all in the same space. Altogether, sometimes fighting quite a war, right? Logical thinking tells you what you know you should do, but heartfelt thoughts tell you why you don't 'feel' like it.

The term "I just don't feel like it" is really...

"Because I really don't know that I need to..."

Consider that every emotion indeed is the knowledge of something that begins with a thought. When I accept those thoughts and stick with them, I then decide what to do with them. Example: Grief is a feeling/emotion that arises from a loss, and your thoughts surrounding that loss. Your 'heart' aches, but the ache begins in your mind.

Calling upon 'The Force' within brings us to a place of powerful hope.

The force is healthy and determined, not destructive. Destructive habits or responses are just actions that you think will make those thoughts go away. In reality, they only confirm their power over you. If you examine any area of habit that you want to be rid of, you will find a thought process behind its existence in your life. 

Like Luke in the swamp with Yoda, you've got to call them out.

Try capturing them as they happen. Some of these thoughts are really so silly when you slow them down and dissect them. Something I started to do is write down some of these thoughts that support feelings and harmful emotional habits. Only you can understand when you see it on paper how wrong these thoughts are. 
You would not share some of these things to another human no matter how much you trust them. But I promise, it is essential to bring them out into the light because...

Like a fungus, these thoughts grow best in the dark 

and become bigger.

No coach, no loved one, no authority - not even Yoda - can make

you unleash your Force through addressing the emotional thoughts that hold it hostage. That, my friend,  is entirely up to you. You just have to believe you really need to do it. That you want the change more than the status quo.

“Your path you must decide.” 

~Yoda

So tonight, Chris and I will be toasting to "May the 4th" with a drink I call, "It's Simply Spring." It does seem more natural to allow the truth and light to address the false and dark when the weather is more beautiful, isn't it? But perhaps beginning to unleash the Force in Sun will help us to be expert at doing so during those inevitable times when it leaves us. Cheers, Friends.

Joy's It's Simply Spring-tini (makes two)**

2 oz of Tito's Vodka

1 oz of apple vodka

1 oz peach vodka

1 oz of pear vodka

2 oz of sparkling lime soda

Pour all into a shaker filled with ice. Strain into two martini glasses. Garnish with an edible flower. Unleash the force! :)

**Always drink responsibly