THE SECRET OF ‘THE POWER OF SEVENTEEN’
When you are in a situation that seems hopeless, and you feel trapped by your circumstances, you may be looking for an answer to a difficult problem that isn’t illegal, immoral or fattening. That is where the secret of the Power of Seventeen comes to your rescue. (Photo by Kira-auf-der-Heide on Unsplash)
When Do We Need this Power?
The day may begin like any other and we are unaware that we need any special power. The sun comes up, the dog has been fed, and life looks good, until, as they say—’Life’ happens.
Have you noticed that ‘life’ happens when we are least prepared?
An accident. A death. A bad case of the flu. A dead battery. The well goes dry and the power goes out. Bills are due, and the bank account is at zero.
Well, we may have anticipated this last event, depending on how closely we have been watching the balance. But so often, we can feel trapped without any options to move forward.
At times like this, we are left with no right way to respond. It feels like a door slammed on our best intentions to accomplish something. (Photo by Kelly-Sikkema on Unsplash)
What to do? Where to turn? How to navigate without oars because they just fell overboard, and the anchor isn’t holding.
So we make choices to survive these events that we hadn’t planned on.
When this happens to me I respond with the closest thing at hand which mitigates my stress. Often that looks like— smells like—tastes like— chocolate. Dark creamy chocolate. (Photo by Maddi-Mazzocco on Unsplash)
Chocolate won’t start the car, nor will it bring back the dog who just died.
And the most significant difficulty is it only mitigates pain for about seventeen seconds.
SEVENTEEN REASONS
FOR OUR CHOICES
Many years (decades?) ago, I tried to explain to my doctor why I made wrong choices in times of difficulty. Her response to me was, “There are seventeen reasons why we do anything.”
She then led me in a process of exploring things that impacted my life I had never considered before.
I breathed with a little more regularity, and my blood pressure settled back in a range more conducive to longevity.
When I felt like there was only one choice I often felt shame and frustration.
Learning there are seventeen reasons for why I do what I do liberates me from self-blame and helps me be a bit more merciful with myself.
However, I am still left with no solutions
Until I realized that there is a flip side to “Seventeen Reasons”!
THE OPPOSITE OF SEVENTEEN REASONS IS SEVENTEEN SOLUTIONS
If there are seventeen reasons why I do anything, then logically, there must be seventeen solutions to any problem.
Could it be that simple?
I began to test out my theory. No matter what problem visits my life, I start by making an assumption that there is a way through, around, or over it. (Photo by Aubrey-Rose-Odom on Unsplash)
More than one way.
There are seventeen ways. I just have to be creative, exercise some faith, and like any good scientist, be willing to test the hypothesis.
My own research convinces me it is one of the most powerful tools to navigate challenges in life.
It is such a powerful maxim I thought it must be written in the Bible, or the Dead Sea Scrolls somewhere. Still looking… (Photo by Taylor-Wilcox on Unsplash)
Soon I began to refer to this wisdom as “The Power of Seventeen.” It is a guiding principle throughout life.
Whenever I find myself stumped, avoiding something that feels impossible, or making foolish choices in desperation to ease the stress, I call on this power.
USING THE ‘POWER OF SEVENTEEN’
When I need to find a way through a problem, I ask myself, “What are seventeen possibilities?” I acknowledge that at least twelve things I might come up with are impossible, impractical, illegal, immoral, or downright stupid. As an exercise, however, it opens my brain to think about things I hadn’t considered.
An example— the other day, I found myself over-eating and wanting to hit the bag of peanuts for the umpteenth time.
I counted to seventeen.
Slowly.
And then I asked myself, “what are seventeen reasons why I want more peanuts?”. (Photo by Radu-Marcusu on Unsplash)
I began with the obvious…’ I’m hungry’ and followed by ‘I need the energy’ and ‘peanuts are better for me than a candy bar.’ Finding reasons isn’t as tricky as finding solutions, though it can be more revealing.
By the time I got to 14 reasons, I had found myself digging a lot deeper into my unmet needs. I could see that I was feeding that unmet need with peanuts.
But this didn’t help my desire to pig out at all!
So then I asked myself, “what are seventeen ways I can meet this desire?”
I could —
1. Eat them anyway…in secret.
2. Have chocolate with my peanuts because if I am going to have them anyway, I may as well really enjoy it.
3. Wash them down with a glass of wine – an all too frequent solution to my angst.
4. Cry
5. At the same time, bang on the piano. Both of these choices may be better for my body, but it can be difficult for others in the house.
6. Have an early lunch instead because I may, in fact, be hungry.
7. Feed the peanuts to the birds because I love to watch them and listen to them singing.
8. Likewise, I could put a lock on the peanut canister with a password I’m sure to forget. Probably not a good idea!
9. Photograph the peanuts. I often use images as focal points when I meditate.
10. Get some exercise. Something about spending energy and breathing fresh air help enormously.
11. Another idea would be to call a friend – one who will listen without judgment and receive my peanut hunger for what it really is.
12. Certainly, I could put on mittens too big to manage a peanut?
13. Write to my congressperson about sponsoring a bill that makes it illegal to have peanuts in the house. Sure, …make it someone else responsibility!
14. Write in my journal about the more profound needs I uncovered when I was reviewing the seventeen reasons “why.”
15. Yell at the dog. (Photo by Charles-Deluvio on Unsplash)
16. Give my peanuts to a homeless person.
17. Finally, write a letter of gratitude for the gift of abundance in my life.
WHAT IS THE PAYOFF OF NAMING
SEVENTEEN OPTIONS?
Have I stopped eating peanuts?
Not exactly. But…
I strengthened my waiting muscle.
I am no longer a victim of my “hunger.”
Victims have no options. I have options.
Seventeen options, to be exact.
I invite you to try the Power of Seventeen the next time you feel trapped by a problem in your life. And let others know how it works for you in the comment section below.
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE YOU MAY ENJOY READING”FIVE SPIRITUAL LESSONS MY DOG TAUGHT ME.” ( Click HERE)
