I love the series “Dune” and “Children of Dune”. I don’t remember how many times I have watched them but I have watched them a lot. Of course it is not the same as reading the book, but for what the director had to work with to make the film, he did a fantastic job. Now I am waiting for Steven Spielberg to make the movie “David the King”.

In Dune, there was a scene where Paul Atreides was training with Gurney and because Paul had just been tested in the black box by the Reverend Mother Helen Mohiam of the Bene Geserit, he was not focused on the training. Had he been in a real combat, he would have been wounded. He dismissed it as “I’m not in the mood” and Gurney answers “Not in the mood? Mood is for women and children, young pup. Mood isn’t for fighting” It is true. Mood is not for fighting but we al l go through different moods during the day. It is not confined to women and children. There are so many graduations in this “mood”

For this exercise, you will learn how to shift your mood.

You need to pay attention to how you feel. How do you feel right now?Acknowledge that you are feeling down (if you are) and then move on to do the following exercise

We begin with whatever was right in front of us..a book, a candle holder, a pencil..whatever is right in front of you.

In order to truly appreciate that thing, you need to hold it in your hand, feel it, observe it, be at one with it.

Appreciation takes time and when you do give yourself a chance to have this time to appreciate anything, you will soon realize that for that thing to get there in your hand, right at this moment, this lowly pencil or pen, countless of man-hours were expended.

To get the pen into your hand was a product of the work and coordination of a lot of people.

Now you move on to another thing and so on and so on. Look around you!

As you do this, the worry/anxiety/anger/ will dissipate and be replaced with wonder. The key is not to hurry and pay attention to your feeling..you need to move on from a "down feeling" to “neutral" to "appreciative" to “happy”. There are countless stages in between.

The key is not denying how you are feeling. It is acknowledging it, and moving forward regardless of the circumstance. This requires discipline: the discipline of focus, and the discipline of patience. Focus on what you have right now, not in the past.

How do you feel right now, after doing the exercise? Exactly.

Mood or feeling is how we communicate with the universe. Feelings is a combination of thought and energy. We think the thought- it is a conscious process- and a mood is created, but the resulting feeling is much more powerful than the thought. You can feel it in your body.

When you are angry or sad, there is a different set of chemical reactions that occur. When you are happy another set of chemical reactions occur. There are different receptors in your brain for each process. The important thing is to know that a negative feeling triggers a set of chemical reactions that are not good for your body.

Some of us are so accustomed to thinking negatively we don't even notice it until we actually pay attention to it.

We need to lessen the gaps between happy emotions in order for our desires to come faster.

 © 2009 by Melinda M. Sorensson