Friends, yet again we’re talking about climbing the emotional scale, this week with a process from Ask and It Is Given, by Abraham-Hicks. This is called “Moving Up the Emotional Scale” and it is one of my favorite techniques for changing my mood.
I love it because they acknowledge that it is not reasonable for most people to jump from despair to hope. There are emotional steps in between, and it is possible to get to them. I consider this to be similar to climbing an emotional staircase. Here’s how Abraham ranks our emotions (emotional set-points, in their language), from best to worst feeling:
1. Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation
2. Passion
3. Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
4. Positive Expectation/Belief
5. Optimism
6. Hopefulness
7. Contentment
8. Boredom
9. Pessimism
10. Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
11. Overwhelm
12. Disappointment
13. Doubt
14. Worry
15. Blame
16. Discouragement
17. Anger
18. Revenge
19. Hatred/Rage
20. Jealousy
21. Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
22. Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness “
(Hicks, Jerry & Esther. Ask & It Is Given. Hay House, Carlsbad, CA, 2004. Kindle Location 2850)
I find the order of emotions fascinating in itself, but we’ll save that for another post. The process here is to find your current feeling on the scale, and find what thoughts you are thinking that are causing that feeling. Then, you just reach for a slightly better feeling thought.
So, for example, I am feeling overwhelm, with thoughts like, “there is no possible way I can get everything done this weekend.” I would very much like to jump to “Hopefulness” but there is no way that is happening.
I can do frustration, though! And it’s even easy, with a lovely thought like, “the weekend is too short!” Now I’m feeling a general disgruntlement about the average American workweek. (Though I don’t even work it myself. For this purpose, it’s useful!)
I think, from here, I can get to pessimism, with, “it’s unlikely that I’m going to accomplish everything I’d like to this weekend.”
That is only two steps up the emotional scale, but it feels a lot better. I’d rather be pessimistic than overwhelmed any day. I think I can get to boredom with, “I wish I was doing something fun this weekend instead of having so many tasks to catch up on.”
From there, I can reach for contentment with, “it’s worth having one weekend of catching up so I was able to visit my family last week.” By now, I’m sure you see what I mean. It’s not hard to take a tiny step up the scale. Try it! Please leave a comment and share how it works for you!
Sign up to receive newsletters delivered to your inbox on the first, third, (and occasional fifth) Sundays, lifetime access to my free tools library, first notice of new programs, classes, and sales.
I love how you have been sharing how you use Abraham-Hicks in your life. I am currently reading Ask and it is Given and it’s interesting to hear another coaches take on it. You did a great job of describing how this exercise can be used in every day life. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Kristen! I love Abraham-Hicks for all of the practical processes. Would love to hear how you’re using it!