I wish to register a complaint!

    I wish to register a complaint!

    I wish to register a complaint!

    13 Feb 2006 by Andy Hunt

    I was standing on the platform of Newcastle station waiting to get on a train. The train doors were closed as the driver had only just got on and was doing whatever drivers do to get ready. An elderly lady approached me and asked if this was the train for Carlisle, I told her it was. She asked why we couldn’t get on (I must look knowledgeable about such matters). I suggested that it was because the driver had only just got on. She grumbled and tut-tutted in my direction as if I’d arranged the closed doors to spoil her day. Although the management of the train had nothing to do with me, I found that I felt rather defensive and didn’t know why.

    As I was considering this mysterious defensiveness, when the thought popped into my head “If someone complains about something to me, then it must be my fault”. Logically this is complete rubbish, but the thought had occurred to me, so I tested it out by saying it out loud. As I said the words I had a feeling there was some truth in it, even though I thought it was nonsense. I made a little note and later that day tapped that belief away.

    Saying things out loud is a great way to test if the sentence in question has some emotional energy in it, even if it’s complete rubbish from a logical perspective. If you try this out you may find you have examples of ideas that you think are false, but feel true. Once you know about these nutty little ideas you can do something about them.

    By the way, if you’re in a public place, quietly test these thoughts out loud, or people will wonder about you. However, if you want some some more personal space, say it as loud as you like, people will be happy to give you some room.

    Do little things like this matter in the great scheme of things? Maybe not, but the persistent finding and resolutions of these ‘flea bites’ might make you feel a whole lot more comfortable. Who knows one of these little flea bites might lead you in very rewarding directions.

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