Feeling Blue? Try the Turbo Rambo Appreciation Assault!
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Have you ever been in a bad mood?
You know, one of those days – or weeks – where it’s like a dimming switch has been activated? And you’re not sure who turned down the lights: Was it you? Or was it someone else?
And if it was someone else, you’re pretty sure you know who it was.
Stupid jerk.
But if it was you who turned down the lights, well that’s just frickin’ annoying, because here you are, stuck in a dark place with no way out.
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And here’s the worst part. When you’re in the Bad Place, you suddenly realize that everything really does suck. Like, when you were in a good mood? And everything seemed awesome? It was just a trick. Right?
I know you know what I’m talking about.
You think you’re seeing things as they really are. And this “realization” puts you in an even worse mood, because now you’re seeing the “truth.” And the “truth” sucks.
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If you’re one of those people who deny their negative feelings rare souls who never gets in a bad mood, you might have a hard time understanding this post. Nevertheless, I would suggest you read it for the future, when you snap out of denial your friends.
Let’s dive into it, shall we?
There are many different options to shift a bad mood. Meditation, exercise, music, going to the movies, talking to a friend. These techniques and many others can help lift your personal microclimate from dark and stormy to sunny and bright.
And then there’s the Turbo Rambo Appreciation Assault.
Never heard of it? That’s because it’s a brand new Goofball Technique being unveiled for the first time in the History of the World!
And if that’s not enough to add a smidgen of sunshine to your otherwise cloudy day, I don’t know what is!!
Here’s how it works: Let’s say you’re in a crappy mood. Let’s say this crappy mood started because you were worrying about money. (I know, you probably can’t relate to this, but bear with me!)
Everywhere you look, you see evidence of your lack of abundance. Debt, bills, scarcity of resources.
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There’s no sign of relief in sight, and each minute finds you closer and closer to tattooing a “Loser” sign on your forehead. What’s a goofball to do?
The Turbo Rambo Appreciation Assault, of course!
“Turbo” and “Rambo” are in there for a good reason. This approach dares you to barrel through your resistance and MAKE yourself start listing all the ways in which you currently have abundance in your life.
I know, you don’t want to. I know, it seems silly. I know, I keep saying “I know” and it’s annoying.
The trick is not to wait until you’re in a good mood to start noticing what’s good about your life. You need to hunt down the good and smoke it out!
In the case of abundance, there are always tons of things you can list. The clothes on your back.
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A bed to lay your head.
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Food.
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Plumbing.
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The sun.
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Your mind.
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Your heart.
photo: Jesslee Cuizon on flikr
Your friends.
photo: Hamed Saber on flikr
Maybe you don’t have all these things. Or maybe you have them, but they’re not as abundant as you want them to be. Just list what you have! And don’t stop.
Many would-be Appreciators come up with, say, ten things and they don’t feel better. So they stop.
Remember, the Turbo Rambo Appreciation Assault is a practice of power and persistence! It’s not for wimps! If you want to feel better, sometimes you have to go the extra mile, the extra push-up, the extra 35 items of appreciation.
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There are two types of Turbo Rambo Assault – Micro and Macro.
In the case above, we did both. We started with direct appreciations in the area of abundance: clothes, shelter, food, plumbing. We call this the Micro approach.
We then branched out to appreciations of a more general nature – the sun, our minds, our hearts, our friends. We call this the Macro approach.
Sometimes, if your grievance has your knickers in a seemingly-irrevocable twist, it’s best to start with the Macro approach. Just find something – anything – to appreciate. After enough work in the Macro area, eventually you’ll be ready to turn your Turbo Rambo lens to the area of complaint. The Micro lens allows you to doggedly and persistently find things to appreciate about whatever was getting you down.
I say was because after enough time in Turbo Rambo land, your bad mood will wither in response to the non-stop gratitude and appreciation. It will have no choice but to bow down and slink away, unable to withstand the never-ending Turbo Rambo positivity.
photo: Meena Kadri on flikr
Some of you might claim that this practice encourages denial. After all, I’m telling you to look away from what’s bothering you and focus on what’s good.
Let’s be clear: Turbo Rambo is not a method that encourages the bypassing of emotions. After all, in order to get out of a bad mood, first you have to admit that you’re in one!
photo: Dana Lurie on flikr
By all means, feel your feelings – all of them! Do this for as long as you need to. Turbo Rambo is not intended to displace your emotional life. Indeed, certain emotional patterns, like grief, may take awhile to move through your system.
That’s not what we’re talking about here.
Instead, we’re talking about chronic negative patterns of thought. It is these sticky, thorny patterns that Turbo Rambo is designed to eliminate.
We’ve all been there: Those times when our crabby feelings get stuck in the mire of our negative thinking.
photo: Andrew Higgins on flikr
That’s when Turbo Rambo offers a way out.
As any Law of Attraction student knows, focusing on what’s good brings more good. Once you’re willing to shift your focus, the Turbo Rambo Appreciation Assault creates a vibrational resonance of gratitude that cannot be denied!!
It’s not that your troubles aren’t still there. But the more you Turbo Rambo them, the more your old stuff gets transformed by your new focus.
Don’t believe me?
Try it and see! And don’t just try it once. Try it again and again and again.
Ask yourself: Would Rambo quit now?
And the answer to that question, by the way, is: No! Never! Turbo Rambo Appreciators never quit!
Indeed, the more you Turbo Rambo your way through life, the more your negative thinking will be transformed, along with your crabby moods. Not only that, you can Turbo Rambo any mood. You can make a bad mood better, sure. But you can also make an already-groovy mood even groovier.
It’s all part of living as a Hard-Core Appreciator.
Speaking of appreciation, I’d like to give a shout-out to the Abraham-Hicks material. They’re a great source for appreciation techniques, and their work was a source of inspiration for this post.
Okay, Goofballs! Go forth and appreciate!
photo: Meaghan O'Malley on flikr
How do you get yourself out of a bad mood? What role does gratitude and appreciation play in your life?
My name is Z. I’m the gender-flexible love child of Ram Dass and Lily Tomlin. I live for three things: spiritual growth, silliness, and soul-satisfying acts of creativity. Welcome to my world!
