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11. How do I mentally rehearse my “Scenarios” correctly?
The idea behind this tapping method is really very simple. It's a mental rehearsal, one scene at a time, of handling a difficult situation. All you need to do is imagine that you are in a difficult situation in the future, one that would make you feel stressed. Then, picture what you feel like doing next in that situation, even if you don't handle it very well. Just follow your natural tendencies, and discover what happens as a result of your actions. Since this is only happening in your mind, you are free to imagine doing whatever you like, but don't just fantasize, wish for, or analyze. It works best when you picture actually doing something in the real situation.
Give yourself full permission to play out any desire or urge that comes to your mind, whether it seems right or wrong. There is a beneficial emotional release in this. For example, if a person feels the desire to blow up at their criticizing mother, they should not try to force themselves to come up with a constructive approach, but rather, they should picture themselves actually blowing up, play it forward, and discover what happens as a result. With that urge cleared out of the way, like a piece of junk released from the closet, a person is free to go beyond it. Then, as they visualize their mother criticizing the next time, chances are they will feel like handling it differently. So, do not resist an urge or a thought. Try it out as an imaginary experiment to see where it leads.
This mental rehearsal method is a tool for you to use to solve a problem. You should take charge and use it as a means of playing out scenarios in your mind, so you can get unstuck from your usual patterns and experiment with new approaches. Even if you repeatedly find yourself unable to cope with the situation, you can still play it forward into the future, one episode of the Problem Situation after another, until you become really tired of that same old pattern. Eventually, if you stick with it, you will have had enough and something inside of you will shift. This may seem repetitious, but in the end it will save a lot of time, energy and unnecessary real-life stress.
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