Ep. 82: BEWARE THE CURSE OF PADDED THOUGHTS!

Awesome With Alison EP: 82

You know when you create a story or narrative or thoughts in a certain situation to help yourself feel better? Like for example when you, a wonderful pie maker, take a pie to a neighbor and she doesn’t like it (IMPOSSIBLE) so then you jump straight to things like “oh well those berries I got weren’t the best” or “my oven has been acting up lately” or even to “well Karen never has had the best taste.” We all do it!

Here’s the thing, these padded thoughts, meaning thoughts, stories, narratives, or ideas you create around rules you’ve made for yourself to help you keep your ego and sense of identity safe, can sometimes empower you, but they can also be a curse. Let’s talk about that.

We give ourselves these padded thoughts thinking we are being nice to ourselves but really we are just perpetuating unreasonable rules that give us the illusion of control and a false sense of security. It’s a house of cards! And always leaves us thirsty because it is never enough to really satisfy what we actually need.

So how do we identify padded thoughts? I’m so glad you asked! I’m sharing three ways to find them, and three ways to replace them!

1.Notice what you’re freaking out about. Is your response proportionate to the action?

The tricky thing here is that in the moment you will 100% feel justified in your reaction, so calling in reinforcements to talk it through can be really helpful in getting objective. Also freaking out is a broad term you can interpret whichever way you tend to react, maybe it looks more like pulling inward, feeling sensitive, getting really sad, rage and anger etc.

2.They form a narrative in which you must meet a requirement or some minimum.

I can’t control everything but I CAN control this one thing so as long as THIS thing goes exactly perfectly as planned everything is ok! Right!? NOPE! It’s so tricky! If you are thinking you have to be x or y in order to make z acceptable, it’s a padded thought baby.

3.It is ultimately centered in lack.

I’m not enough. I’m not safe enough, lovable enough, successful enough, nice enough… whatever you’re “enough” is. We build padded thoughts to protect us from these places of insecurity.

So once you find them rather than just eliminating them, because that’s hard, let’s make it easier and focus on replacing them!

1.Use observation

Create some distance to allow yourself to observe things without attaching it to your ego or worth, allowing you to not get defensive or judgmental. This is the best way to learn about yourself without the negative spiral.

2.Identify your intention.

Go back to your original intention and then LEAVE IT. You can’t control the rest.

3.Your best is enough.

I truly believe if you are breathing you are doing your best. That’s it. You show up, and you accept that your best is different each day.

I know these thoughts are a little abstract but they have really been helping Eric and I so we wanted to share them with you guys too! As always for more examples and specific applications I hope you will go listen to the episode and escape the curse of padded thoughts in your life!

Eric takes us out with “Cats” in the new Parisian Cafe Collection at Pleasant Pictures Music Club

Awesome things we referenced in this episode:

Gettin’ booky with it!

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Singer

Other Awesome Stuff

Michael Singer quote: “If you mistreat an animal, it becomes afraid. This is what has happened to your psyche. You have mistreated it by giving it a responsibility that is incomprehensible. Just stop for a moment and see what you have given your mind to do. You said to your mind, “I want everyone to like me. I don’t want anyone to speak badly of me. I want everything I say and do to be pleasing and acceptable to everyone. I don’t want anyone to hurt me. I don’t want anything to happen that I don’t like. And I want everything to happen that I do like.” Then you said, “Now mind, go figure out how to make everyone of these things a reality, even if you have to think about it day and night.” And of course your mind says, “I’m on the job. I will work on i constantly.”

Gary Zukav 

AWESOME ON DEMAND where we are focusing on EASE this month!

This awesome episode is brought to you by:

Make an IMPACT with your content with Pleasant Pictures music Club and their “Year of Music”!

Get your 30-day free Audible trial here!

Sign up for my tasty Thought Nuggets!

For more fun, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Follow The Alison Show on Instagram (where I party hard).

Check out Alison’s Brand School on Instagram


Leave Some Love

Your email address will not be published.

Don't Miss a Podcast!

You're busy and we want to make listening to the podcast EASY. Sign up below to stay up to date!