Illuminator #1 (Peggy McColl)

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Illuminator #1: Your Destiny Switch Written by Peggy McColl

"You've learned how your Destiny Switch works, but you can benefit greatly from creating a tangible one that you keep in your office or home as a visual reminder of what your emotional state is -- and what you'd like it to be.

"To create your own physical Destiny Switch, go to any hardware store and purchase a single- or four-switch dimmer panel (or you can photocopy or redraw the one I've provided on page 120, or purchase one at www.yourdestinyswitch.com). Start by choosing either a positive emotion that you often have difficulty keeping at a high level or a negative one that you tend to slip into. Let's say that you have trouble staying calm and not getting angry. At the top of the switch, place a label that says "Calm," and at the bottom, affix one that says "Angry."

"For 21 days (because that's how long it takes to develop a habit), work with your Destiny Switch, keeping it in sight and moving the lever each evening to mark how angry or calm you were that day. To do so, you must pay close attention to the levels of anger you're experiencing, even if it's painful to be honest about this emotion. If you're feeling a bit irritated, pull the switch just a little toward the anger position. If you find yourself feeling downright furious, pull it much lower.

"As you work with this illuminator, please remember not to judge yourself. The purpose of using it is to shine a light on the levels of your Destiny Switch and on your emotional habits. Each evening, as you record the daily level of emotion you're working with, take a look at how you did in comparison to yesterday. If you did a little better, that's terrific! You probably made a point of being aware of your emotional state and worked hard to keep your switch in a high, positive position. If you didn't do as well, acknowledge that fact, congratulate yourself for observing it, and make a decision to switch into positivity.

"It's also good to consider the reasons why you might have slipped a little. Did you forget the Observe-Decide-Switch approach and allow yourself to get pulled into negativity? Looking back, how could you have used one of the Switching Strategies you learned to raise your emotional level? Don't judge or scold yourself. Simply remind yourself of your ability to shift your emotions, and make a commitment to do a little better. The very next time you have the opportunity to make a choice between feeling a negative emotion and a positive one, pick the latter.

"Which feeling you work with depends on what you think your biggest emotional challenge is. You might be very aware of a need to develop a particular feeling -- such as patience or confidence, for example. Or someone you care about might have told you that you ought to work on a specific emotion. Perhaps you disagree, but consider whether that person might have your best interests at heart and truly want to see you in a more positive emotional state. If others suggest that you seem angry or worried, explore the possibility that you need to focus on creating more calmness or faith. Use your Destiny Switch for just three weeks, noting your levels of these emotions each day, and see what happens.

"One of my clients used this illuminator to discover whether she had a problem with anger, because her partner had pointed out that she was always getting mad. When she heard his observation, she was defensive at first, but then she connected with her feelings of love and trust and recognized that he was truly concerned about her. Although she thought he was wrong, she worked with her Destiny Switch to monitor her levels of anger over the period of a week. To her amazement, her partner was right: She was slipping into anger every day. Working with this illuminator revealed an emotional habit that she wasn't proud to acknowledge. However, now that she was aware of her anger, she could consciously try to switch it to a feeling of calmness. She also worked on raising the levels of her other positive emotions, particularly love, because as you know by now, all of them work together to lift the levers on your Destiny Switch -- and love's power is

enormous.

"If you like, you can use the following sample Destiny Switch to record what you're feeling. Choose an emotional pair to work with from the Scale of Human Emotions on pages 41 to 42, and write the positive one at the top of the switch and the negative one at the bottom. Each night for three weeks, draw a horizontal lever in the position that reflects your emotional experience for the day, and compare it with what your levels were previously. Notice the movement of the lever over the course of three weeks as you work on using your Switching Strategies to increase the positive emotion.

"In a notebook, you can draw 21 of these Destiny Switch diagrams so that you can use one daily for three weeks. On each day's switch, be sure to identify the names of the two emotions you're working with, writing in the positive one at the top and the negative one at the bottom."

Copyright 2007 by Peggy McColl. YOUR DESTINY SWITCH (book) published by Hay House

Inc.

www.destinies.com or www.hayhouse.com or