Vicious cycles are not fun.

Even the word vicious totally sounds bad, right?

Vishhhhhhhh-Isssssssssss.

Makes me wanna crawl under my bed and not come out until that evil, hissing vicious cycle slinks back to where it came from.

But wait, where did it come from?

That’s the key question, isn’t it?

When we can answer that question, we have the power to get out of the vicious cycle.

So where, pray tell, does the vicious cycle come from?!

How about a multiple choice quiz to discover our answer?!

Vicious cycles come from:

1. Bad karma
2. Your parents
3. The mean kid in kindergarten who stole your lunch money and ate your crayons
4. None of the above

Ding ding ding! Time’s up!

Those of you who chose D, None of the above, can now smile heartily and pat yourself on the back.

Vicious cycles are not caused by bad karma.

They are not caused by our parents or family curses.

And they are definitely not caused by the mean deeds of others.

Vicious cycles begin and end in our minds.

Here’s how it works:

First, we choose to look at a series of circumstances and deem said series Vicious. (Or Vishhhhhhhhh-Issssssss.)

Our inner dialogue sounds something like this:

Everything is baaaaaaad. Just look at the massive pile-up of crappy and cruddy things that are happening! Woe IS me!!!!!!

Even though there are alternate interpretations of events (we’ll get to those in a minute), we choose to go with the “Everything is Vishhhhhhhh-Isssssss” option.

Now our minds are fully armed with the “reality” of Vishhhhhhhh-Isssssss.

We’re so convinced by this “reality,” we look for more evidence – past and future – to confirm our sad state of affairs.

Not only that, we draw and create more Vishhhhhhh-Isssssss in our lives by our thoughts and attitudes.

Yikes!

Now, we really are in a Vicious Cycle, but it’s a self-created one.

The way out?

Given that we’re the creators, the only way out of the Vicious Cycle is where it began.

In our minds.

And this is the fun part.

If we can create a Vicious Cycle, why not create something a lot better?!

Like a Bliss-cious Cycle of Never-Ending Good.

I don’t know about you, but I’d hop on board that ride a lot quicker than the Woe Is Me one.

And how do we stir up all that Blissciousness?

There are loads of practices that can get us there.

Gratitude, for starters.

Affirmations. Meditation. Imagining future good.

Wait a minute, I can hear you say. You said it was a Blisscious Cycle of Never-Ending Good. Really? Never Ending? Isn’t that a bit over the top?

Nope.

Sure, things happen – internally and externally – to harsh our vibe, but here’s the trick.

When something “bad” happens, this is what we may be tempted to say:

See? This proves it isn’t working. Bad $#@% always happens to me. It’s just the way it goes. It’s cuz of that Charlie kid in kindergarten who ate all my crayons.

Yeah, you can milk that narrative if you want.

But why do that?

Instead, you can remind yourself of the “bad” things in the past that led to something even better.

You can open to the reality that this “bad” thing is here because something even better is on the way.

You can sit in the awareness that this “bad” thing is growing and strengthening you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine yet.

See what I’m saying?

It’s your call.

There’s Vicious, and there’s Blisscious.

Pretty easy choice, if you ask me!

How do you shift from Vicious to Blisscious? Share your comments below!