Using Extreme Options to Find Your Alignment in Challenging Situations

By pushing out the edges of what we’re willing to explore mentally, we can more easily find our center.

In order to be aligned internally, we’ve first got to take responsibility for what’s going on inside of us and how we’re reacting while recognizing that we cannot control other people or mother nature.

When we stop needing others to behave a certain way and requiring conditions outside of ourselves to be a certain way so that we can be happy, we’re the most centered and content. Then we’re guiding ourselves from the inside out. And the more we do this, the more we experience inner-ease and contentment.

One way we can find our alignment is by Extreme Choices.

By PLAYING with ideas and pushing what we’re willing to explore mentally without acting on them we can often find our center and decide on “right action” (for us). Adding a dash of humor is also helpful.

Here’s a real example of a situation one of our clients was experiencing. She was waiting for her subway train when she saw a man in front of her who’d sexually harassed her at work which resulted in him getting transferred, and her quitting her job. Now we’re not making light about what happened to her at work, but rather we’re playing here in the safe place of a mental landscape to help us find our center and decide on best action.

Here are some options, but note that there are many more possibilities than we can even imagine:

• Option 1: push him in front of the subway car as it arrives. (OMG how could you even think that! JOKING!)
• Option 2: go up to him and punch him in the nose and kick him in the groin. (maybe joking ; )
• Option 3: run out of the subway and take an uber or taxi instead
• Option 4 walk out of the subway and call a friend or relative to take you
• Option 5: hang back and wait 40 minutes for the next subway car that goes to your stop
• Option 6: firmly plant your feet, do some deep belly breathing to calm the nervous system and keep a neutral face, standing your ground. Go in the same car if necessary
• Option 7: Give him a big hug, plant a kiss on his cheek and tell him how nice it is to see him (joking!)
• Option 8: Squeeze his butt, then wink at him when he turns around (JOKING!)

Our imagination works quickly – we can consider all of these in minutes. And somewhere in the middle is probably what feels most aligned.

So considering these options, which one provides the greatest sense of inner-ease, an internal “yes” that is in your best and highest good? Do that one.

Different people will feel most aligned with different options because of prior experience and beliefs. Each of us must decide for ourselves which action is most aligned with our best and highest good. So next time you find yourself in a pickle, use extreme options to determine the course of action that is right for you and you’ll find yourself in the driver’s seat of life.