You don’t have to wait for circumstances to change to change how you feel.

Imagine that you’re a radio broadcasting station.

Every moment of every day, you’re broadcasting a signal. That signal is made up of your thoughts, emotions, expectations, and beliefs. When you’re feeling anxious, fearful, frustrated, or uncertain, you’re broadcasting one frequency. When you’re feeling hopeful, confident, appreciative, or at peace, you’re broadcasting another.

Now here’s the interesting part. You have the ability to deliberately change the frequency you’re broadcasting, regardless of what’s happening around you.

Think about how a radio works. There are hundreds of different signals traveling through the air at any given moment. Some are playing music you love. Others are playing music you can’t stand. Some are broadcasting news, others are broadcasting conversations.

All those signals exist simultaneously, but your radio only plays the one it’s tuned to.

You don’t have to eliminate all the other stations to hear the music you want. You simply change the dial.

What if your emotional state works in a similar way?

Your Circumstances Don’t Have to Determine Your Frequency

It’s easy to feel good when things are going well. When life is unfolding the way you want, feeling happy, relaxed, and optimistic comes naturally.

But what about when things are uncertain? When you’re waiting for something important to happen and you have absolutely no control over how it will turn out? Or when life simply isn’t unfolding the way you hoped it would?

That’s when the ability to deliberately choose your emotional state becomes incredibly valuable.

Your brain is designed to anticipate danger and protect you from repeating painful experiences. When something unexpected or disappointing happens, your nervous system remembers. The next time you face a similar situation, it may automatically prepare for the worst.

That’s not a prediction of the future. It’s your brain using the past to try to protect you.

And here’s something worth remembering:

Just because something happened before doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again.

The past is information, not a prophecy.

You can acknowledge what happened, recognize why you might feel apprehensive, and still choose to focus your attention on a completely different possibility.

You don’t have to fight the fear or pretend it isn’t there. You simply don’t have to let it choose your frequency for you.

Imagine From the End

There’s a powerful visualization technique called Imagining From the End.

Instead of focusing on everything that needs to happen to get where you want to go, you mentally step into the experience of already being there.

You stop asking, “How is this going to happen?” and begin exploring a much more interesting question: “How would I feel if everything had already worked out?”

Notice that the question isn’t about figuring out the details.

It’s about the feeling.

Imagine that whatever you’ve been hoping for has already happened. The uncertainty is over. The waiting is finished. Everything that needed to happen has happened, and you’re finally able to exhale.

What does that feel like?

Maybe it’s an incredible sense of relief. Maybe your shoulders relax and your breathing becomes easier. Maybe there’s a feeling of freedom, excitement, appreciation, or simply peace.

Imagine the weight you’ve been carrying suddenly lifting.

You don’t need to know exactly how everything came together or what steps were necessary to get there.

Those details aren’t important to this exercise. You’re practicing the emotional experience of the outcome you desire.

And there’s a fascinating reason this can be so effective.

Your Brain Responds to What You Imagine

When you vividly imagine an experience, your brain activates some of the same neural networks involved in actually experiencing it.

That’s one reason athletes use mental rehearsal. By imagining themselves performing successfully, they can strengthen mental patterns that support their performance.

Your nervous system can also respond to imagined experiences.

Think about biting into a really sour lemon. Imagine the juice hitting your tongue.

Did your mouth water a little?

There wasn’t actually a lemon in your mouth, but your body may have responded anyway.

Now consider what happens when you repeatedly imagine something going wrong. Your body can respond with tension, a racing heart, shallow breathing, and anxiety, even though the event hasn’t happened.

But the reverse is also possible.

You can deliberately imagine an experience of safety, relief, confidence, or freedom and give your nervous system an opportunity to practice those feelings.

You don’t have to wait until something good happens to experience some of the feelings associated with it.

And the more familiar those feelings become, the easier they may be to access when you need them.

What Are You Broadcasting Right Now?

From a Law of Attraction perspective, your emotional state is your point of attraction. The idea is that the energy you consistently offer influences what you allow into your experience.

Think of your emotions as the music playing on your personal radio station.

If you’re constantly tuned to worry, disappointment, or anticipation of something going wrong, those thoughts can dominate your experience.

But you can change the station. You can begin focusing on possibilities that feel better. And you don’t have to make some enormous emotional leap from fear to joy.

Sometimes the shift is as simple as moving from:

“I have no idea what’s going to happen, and that scares me.”

To:

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but there are possibilities I haven’t even considered.”

Or:

“Things didn’t work out the way I wanted before.”

To:

“That was then. This is a new day and a new opportunity.”

Or even:

“Right now, in this moment, I’m okay.”

Every one of those thoughts offers a slightly different emotional frequency.

The goal isn’t to force yourself to be positive every second. It’s to recognize that you have choices about where you place your attention.

And those choices can change how you experience the present moment.

One important distinction: Your emotional state isn’t a guarantee that circumstances will unfold exactly as you want. You don’t have to carry the responsibility for controlling every outcome with your thoughts. The power of this practice is that it allows you to approach uncertainty with more peace, clarity, and confidence.

Try This: A Visit to Your Future

Think of something in your life that you’ve been wanting to change or something you’re hoping will work out. It might involve a relationship, your health, your finances, a personal goal, or simply a situation that’s been weighing on your mind.

Find a quiet moment and begin with a round of Tap & Breathe. Allow your nervous system to settle and release some of the tension you may be carrying.

Then close your eyes, take a few slow, comfortable breaths, and imagine that it’s already happened.

Whatever you’ve been hoping for has worked out beautifully. The uncertainty has ended. You’ve received the news you were hoping for, achieved the goal, resolved the problem, or experienced the change you’ve been wanting.

Don’t worry about the details of how it happened. Instead, imagine the feeling.

You can finally breathe.

The tension in your body begins to dissolve. You feel lighter, calmer, and more relaxed than you’ve felt in a long time.

Imagine that wonderful moment of realizing that everything has come together.

Feel the relief. Feel the freedom. Feel the appreciation.

Imagine yourself smiling, maybe even laughing, because it feels so incredibly good.

You don’t need to figure out what happens next. For these few moments, simply enjoy the experience of everything having worked out.

Let yourself stay with that feeling for a little while.

Then, before opening your eyes, say to yourself: “This is the feeling I’m choosing to practice. I don’t need to know all the details. I can feel relief right now. I can feel appreciation right now. I can allow myself to feel good right now.”

When you open your eyes, take a moment to notice how your body feels.

You may find that something has shifted, even if only slightly. That’s enough.

You can return to this feeling as often as you like.

You Don’t Have to Figure Everything Out

One of the most exhausting things about uncertainty is the mind’s constant attempt to solve problems it doesn’t have enough information to solve.

It runs scenarios. It imagines conversations. It predicts outcomes. It tries to prepare for every possibility.

But sometimes there’s nothing left to figure out.

You’ve done what you can do. Now you’re waiting for other people and circumstances to play their parts.

And while you’re waiting, you still get to choose how you spend your time mentally and emotionally.

You can spend that time rehearsing everything that might go wrong, or you can spend some of it enjoying the possibility of everything going right.

Neither changes the fact that the future is uncertain. But one can make the present moment a whole lot more enjoyable.

You don’t have to know how things are going to work out to allow yourself to feel hopeful about how they could work out.

And if fear comes back, that’s okay too. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost your alignment or done anything wrong. It simply means you’re human.

Notice it. Take a breath. And when you’re ready, gently turn the dial again.

Because no matter where you are, no matter what circumstances surround you, there is one freedom you can continue developing:

The freedom to deliberately choose where you place your attention and what emotional state you want to practice.

And that’s a freedom worth cultivating.

A Thought to Carry With You

“You cannot control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” — Maya Angelou

An Affirmation to Carry With You

I don’t have to know how everything is going to work out. I trust that things can unfold in wonderful ways I haven’t even imagined yet. I release the need to figure it all out, and I choose to feel hopeful, peaceful, and appreciative right now. I trust the process of life, and I am open to wonderful possibilities.

With love,
Bonnie