Page 20 - Taming Your Gremlin A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way (Rick Carson)_Neat

“You’re just going to get your hopes up and end up disappointed.
Nothing’s going to change, least of all you, Babycakes.”

or

“Schmuck! You need another self-help book like you need a hole in the

head.”

Well, he’s wrong on all counts. Again, hear his chatter, but don’t take it
too seriously. Simply notice it. Then make a choice to direct your awareness
back to these words, back to your gremlin, or elsewhere. Awareness and
choice are the primary elements of simply noticing.

SIMPLY NOTICING

The simply in simply noticing cannot be overstated. Simply noticing has
nothing to do with predicting the future, undoing the past, analyzing, or
intellectually understanding anything. Simply noticing involves only simply

noticing. That is, paying attention—the same sort of attention you would
pay to a good movie. When you watch a good movie, you simply let
yourself be entertained. You don’t work at enjoying the movie. You just cast
your awareness on the screen and let the movie do its thing. By the same
token, if you’re talking to the person next to you throughout the film or are
mired in some other mental activity, you miss the movie. Simply noticing
requires effort. It does not require strain.

EFFORT AND STRAIN

Jimmy Baker was on my flag football team when we were fifth graders at
Overton Elementary in Lubbock, Texas. We were the Overton Oxens.
(Okay, okay, it should have been oxen, but hey—we were in elementary