Susie Taaffe shares how a scalded hand sparked reflection on balance between giving and receiving. She reveals a practical trick: when anxiety hits on waking, do one small task immediately to signal your brain that problems are being solved, which she says cuts anxiety by up to 95 percent. She also describes a "heart-list" method where you number your tasks, breathe, then let your heart choose which one to do.
Chapters
Good morning, everyone. Here I am going live again. So admittedly, I didn't show up yesterday for myself and go live. I was trying to do every day, but you won't believe it. I so we all know we did this big message from the universe, and then yesterday I was trying to listen to the word trying. That's not good in itself, isn't it? I was trying to listen to my heart. What did I need? And I was really tired, so I had a nap, and then I woke up, and I thought, oh, I'll have some soup. That felt really. Really good. And then as I was getting the soup out of the microwave, which I've done a million times before, I literally scalded the whole pan— the whole palm of my right hand. So I was like, what is going on? Like, I mean, it was burnt. I had to ice it. The whole palm and a bit up the side was all super burnt. So I was like, you lady, seriously not listening to something that you're supposed to be listening to. So I, instead of coming downstairs and doing my live, I promptly put— took myself back to bed because I was like, I, I wasn't fit for any form of lifing yesterday. So I just couldn't believe it. So one hand, right hand. And so then I did a little bit of digging in when I was like, what is going on? So, um, the left hand is all about receiving, but the right hand is all about giving. So I obviously have to balance those two because I'm getting very, very strong messages from the universe, like physically hurting ones, which I would really like to stop having. Um, like, look at, look at that color of that bruise there now. That is so bad. Anyway, so, um, my body is being put through the wringer, and so I need to, I don't know, listen better. Anyway, I haven't even told you who I am. Hi, I'm Susie Taaffe, and this is my Um, channel, Susie Unshaped, where we basically unshape all the emotional shapewear that we have been wearing all our lives. And, um, which means all the shoulds and the, like, the old belief systems that aren't serving our hearts. And so what we're doing here, this is an unscripted, um, musings about how can we listen into our hearts more and stop trying to figure out so much with our heads. So the universe has been giving me very painful lessons about turning— tuning in. But what I don't understand is that I was trying so hard to tune in. And maybe I think the keyword might be there— trying. I think trying is the problem. You don't try. You either do— actually, isn't that a Yoda? I think that's a Yoda saying. Do or do not. There is no try. Okay, well, I've just yoded myself, so that's pretty funny. Do or do not. So into our hearts we go, and turning off the chatter. So this morning I woke up because I, I did go back to bed and I didn't do my live yesterday. And then so this morning I woke up in like a, you know, that like panic anxiety, like And I'd sort of been dozing from about 4 AM, so I'd, um, put on some, like, an affirmation loop, um, to try and turn the chatter off in my head. But I think what it had actually done is it actually made me more stressed because it was dropping ideas of all the to-do list and things that I haven't done. And but, you know, when you're sort of half asleep and it has you like one foot in reality and one foot in the dream world, so. Things like it was coming up like my website wasn't done right. I had to do that part first, and this part didn't fit it. Like that sort of, you know, where you're kind of nearly hallucinating a little bit. So I woke up like, like panic, panic, panic, panic. And, um, so I had— took me just a few seconds to just recalibrate. And I find all the times when I do wake up with that anxiety, A, the best thing you can ever do is get out of bed. Literally, the second you you get upright and stop thinking and start doing something, I find that can squash 95% of the anxiety. So I have, um, over the last 10 years or 11 years, as I've been picking myself back up and pulling my life back together— a single mom, unexpected divorce when the kids were really little, and then we lost all the money, there was no money— so, um, I have been Picking myself up off the ground for a long time. So I would have to say that I probably have a master's degree in pulling myself off the ground. So number one, get up. Number one is definitely get up and start doing something. It might just be unpack the dishwasher. Maybe you put a load of washing on. But I find whenever that anxiety starts, if you can do something that's It doesn't have to be related to what the anxiety is about. So for me, I'm trying to build an empire and a business and things like that, and sometimes I don't actually have the key for what I need to do right now. But what I've found is our brains don't know— the brains that cause the anxiety, the heart doesn't cause the anxiety, the brain causes the anxiety— but our brains don't know. They can't tell the difference if we accomplish something in another area or we accomplish something in the area we have anxiety about. So if you can't figure something out and it's causing you stress, do something else that you can figure out. E.g., I— my go-to, get all the washing, start the washing, tidy the house, because you're accomplishing something. It's forward-moving, and your brain can't actually tell the difference between you solving that problem and you solving the other problem. So you'll end up becoming much calmer. Because your, your body is getting the signal that you're actually sorting the problem out. So it, um, can make the brain turn down those levels of anxiety. Other obviously good things are, um, meditations and breathing. But sometimes you're too wound up. Like, if I tried to do a meditation this morning, it would have been the worst thing possible for me because my brain was already in the spin. So once you're in the spin, You need to be able to stop the spin. So instantly, yep, get up, achieve some, some easy lists, like some easy tick boxes on your to-do list, which literally might be pack the dishwasher, turn it on, unpack the dishwasher, wash some sheets, or do some folding and put it away, tidy up a little bit. And that will just help settle everything right down. So then maybe you might be in a better state. You can do a meditation or And I think this is probably also a good time to introduce the list. The list. So the list is where you actually write down all of the things that you have to do on a list, and you number them. And then what you actually do is you actually have to sit in, sit in your heart and ask your heart which number it wants to. do on the list. So not what one your head thinks is the most important, but what one your heart wants to do. So a few deep breaths, and then look at the list and don't let your logical brain take over. You have to do the one that your heart says because your heart knows more than your brain does. Your brain thinks it knows everything and it doesn't. Your heart knows the actual answer. So I'm going to go after this and write down my list and let my heart tell me which ones I need to do and try not to— not try, do or do not do, Yoda. I will not let the logic get in the way. So today, write your list, heartfelt choices only, beautifuls. And thank you for listening to me. You carry on. Love you lots. Bye.
