The Downside of Trying to Erase Negative Thoughts and Feelings
By Steve Wells
For years I taught that the road to success was to “focus on what you want and not on what you don’t want”. I still see the value of the first part of that statement, focusing on what you want, but I now have major challenges with the second part. Trying not to focus on negatives, or, as many pop psychologists have taught, seeking to banish the negatives from your mind actually has the opposite effect. It may ultimately be one of the things that is most preventing us from being more successful!
Some very popular “positive thinking” teachers still recommend that you wear an elastic band around your wrist and sting yourself with that band every time you think a negative thought. And many psychologists recommend a technique called “Thought stopping” where, when you find yourself thinking a thought that disturbs you, you are supposed to yell loudly to yourself “Stop it!” There is even a very funny popular You Tube video circulating where a woman with claustrophobic thoughts is told to “Stop it!” as a way of dealing with her phobic thoughts.
If only this commonsense advice actually worked. But not only does it not work, it can actually make things worse.
Research now shows that thought suppression, trying to banish certain thoughts from your mind, is almost guaranteed to cause those thoughts to enter your mind more often. Trying NOT to think about something is actually a great way to ensure you will think it even more. What you resist, persists. And the same applies when you try not to feel something.
Is this one of the reasons why so many people are depressed?
I think it is. As outlined in The Willpower Instinct, an excellent new book by Kelly McGonigal, studies show that the more you try to suppress negative thoughts, the more likely you are to become depressed. The more you try to push away self-critical thoughts, the more your self-esteem and mood plummets.
And this doesn’t just apply to your thinking, it also applies to behaviour. The more you try not to think about eating chocolate, the more chocolate you’ll ultimately eat. The more you beat yourself up for failing at a task, the more your future performance on similar tasks is likely to suffer. The list goes on and on.
What is the solution?
Acceptance. Allowing. Simply allowing the thoughts to be there. I say, let the thought “be thunk”. As opposed to our fear that the thoughts will then control us, that by “giving in” to those thoughts that they will “take over”, the decision to allow those thoughts to be there without having to act upon them simply confirms that we are not prisoners of our thoughts.
When thoughts are allowed to “be”, they tend not to hang around. And if they do, they no longer have the same influence. Allowing and accepting them forces them to relinquish their pretend power. When they have been really faced, it all becomes clear. They are simply thoughts.
Tapping can also help here.
In our Simple Energy Techniques (SET), we encourage clients to focus on whatever they are aware of about their problem, whether thoughts or feelings, bring that into their awareness and then simply add the tapping. There is no judgement about the thought or feeling. We simply bring attention to it, and tap, following it wherever it moves to next, through different manifestations of your thoughts or feelings.
Often, after tapping in this way using SET, the sufferer is able to think the negative thought which previously disturbed them but they no longer have any negative feeling “attached” to that thought. They are no longer controlled by it. They see it as simply a thought.
But it is not just the tapping which causes this, it is the acceptance, which begins with that willingness to bring the negative thought or feeling into awareness. Simple awareness in itself can be healing, especially if that awareness can be held without judgement.
I often mused when I used to use EFT that the true power of the “EFT Set-up statement”, where you have the client state “Even though I have this (problem) I deeply and completely accept myself” is not the positive self-accepting statement as many assume it to be (many clients in fact reject this statement anyway), but is really that the problem is being faced and named. It is in the recognition, acceptance, hell even the resignation of that statement which essentially says, “Dammit, Even though I shouldn’t have this problem I do have it!” Now research appears to be backing up my hypothesis. And I challenge EFT practitioners to use a statement like the one above instead of the usual set-up statement. You’ll find it works just as often. As does saying, “I deeply and completely reject myself”, by the way, but that’s another story!)
The same applies to feelings. Instead of trying to “tap away” our negative feelings as many EFT practitioners advocate, which can produce an inner resistance which draws both practitioner and client into the trap of “thought suppression” and feeling avoidance mentioned previously (which some clients can only resolve by dissociating from the thought or feeling, driving it underground where it must continue to be held psychically until it can be healed by acceptance, with a practitioner who themselves is not scared by the negative…), it is truly our willingness to focus on the negative which allows tapping to reveal its power.
Feelings are meant to move…
I believe feelings are meant to move us and move through us, and that as they do so they inform us and allow us to adapt to important changes in our world.
Of course, we are afraid of some of our “negative” feelings, we don’t want to feel them because we fear they will overwhelm us. Again, this is where tapping can help. Tapping used with acceptance of whatever is present. This “acceptance tapping” helps to calm our resistance to what “is”, to allow us to “bear with” our legitimate feelings and allow them ultimately to move back into flow.
As we allow ourselves to feel our feelings, release our resistances, and let go of our judgements, we grow into new perspectives and ultimately evolve. And rather than constricting or defeating us as we feared, as we flow with our feelings and allow them to move us and move through us, we expand into new levels of consciousness. And joy arises from within.
What do you think? I would love to read your comments on this article.
Come to one of our live trainings and experience the power of radical acceptance and advanced energy work! Find out more at: http://www.eftdownunder.com/events.html
HiSteve,
I really like that subtle distinction about your alternative to the usual setup phrase. While we all know that the setup is routinely said to gain acceptance of what is, your variation is more of an acknowledgment and detached observation which adds another dimension to the process and the purpose too.
I’ll try that – thanks
I gave up using a set up statement ages ago – probably after attending one of your trainings in London. I think that the value in it, if any, is the sheer embarrassment it caused most people saying it! Since it provoked some energy and emotion into awareness it gave the practitioner something to work with.
Glad to be rid of it though!
Hi Steve,
This is a very tricky one to explain to a person who has not experienced the energetic process of interruption or stepping back. New neuro pathways are created and strengthened by energy & thoughts according to the neuro science research. The subtlety of allowing a thought vs “masticating” the thought is very fine. I see so many people addicted to the energy & thought patterns that create the problem, they are totally hooked into it and if the ego sub-personality is in the driving seat they do not appear to be able to step back to ‘allow’ anything, even though they think they are. The ego seems to whip them to the winning post until something can break the state and this is where the tapping is a great interruption tool if they can & will use it at that time, but how many people can when they are on their own and the loop starts to take them down the rabbit hole, especially if there is a payoff to their pattern & behaviour i.e. to keep them a victim to be rescued or to suck another person’;s energy rather than take responsibility for their own energy?
I fully agree that supressing the thoughts or energy is not the answer but to ‘be’ with the thought or energy knowing it cannot harm you is the first important thing to be taught & for them to experience what that feels like. I believe you need a facilitator to first have this experience & a cleaver one who is able to break the hold of the ego especially if & when you are in the addicted pattern – I cannot stress this enough to people.
I have observed so many 12 step programs keep people stuck with the constant regurgitating of the problem : this is great material to share with them. How about targeting them with your tools they so deperately need it to put in their tool box to interrupt the energy pattern of addiction.
You do a great job Steve and I am so happy to see what you are doing. Take care and hi to your wife…. Jo Lindo
Hi !dear mr Wells!I’ m a french woman and i send you this e mail from my country!My English isn’t that good so please pardon me all the mistakes!if i understood well,it’s better to accept our bad feelings and thougths for better results with the tapping!i agree completly because whenever i say “i deeply and completly accept myself ” i don’t believe it at all! it sounds fake!so: what do i have to say to make it rigth ? Are you coming to france for a seminar? I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU AND TAKE LESSONS FROM YOU !Thank you for the enlightments you bring to our world sir! love! soraya!
Hi Steve,
thanks for the thoughtful words. I usually modify the set-up affirmation, that’s something I work out with clients individually (and most don’t like the original one).
However, I have often found benefits by using the set-up to state the problem very clearly for the clients. I sometimes provoke on purpose with that set-up – and that very often clears the air, so to speak. By naming the “devil” out in the open, it loses much of its dread. I think that relates to your suggestion of acknowledging the problem and the feelings that come with it. Accepting a situation and a problem is the first step to allowing us to work through it.
So really agree with your take on positive thinking. It has its uses, but it shouldn’t be a reason to push problems out of sight.
Hi Steve
With set-up statements I have always use the clients own language, which in the case of soldiers can be quite colourful, as this reflects their emotional states rather than mine. We too often try to take them over and imprint ‘our’ reality over theirs as though we know best.
I always endeavour to find the positive reasoning behind negative thoughts and behaviour before attempting to remove them otherwise the client will find another negative thought or behaviour to replace it. As with replacing drugs with alcohol, or self harm with assaulting others to get the attention needed. Practitioners need to understand that all negative behaviour has a positive intent, it is finding out that intent and replacing it with a better more positive behaviour that is our task and leads to a more balanced life.
Hi Soraya,
Yes! We are coming to Paris in November. You can find information about the workshop here: http://www.eftdownunder.com/paris2012.html
Thanks for your comments – Hope to see you there! It will be translated into French.]
Best wishes, Steve
Hello from Canada, Steve ! I enjoy your postings and always learn much from your insights, experience and learning.
I have read through a couple of times this latest posting about erasing negative thoughts. – and I don’t ‘get’ the point.
Firstly SET is surely just a shortened form of EFT ? I have often wondered what the subtle difference is ? EFT can include all the finger points that you use and call SET – in fact I was taught to use all the finger points as well as the body points in the early days of EFT.
Secondly – your understanding that emotions are supposed to ‘move us, and move through us’ . . is exactly the purpose of any form of ‘Tapping’ or other Meridian percussing – simply to move any ’stuck’ energy on through the Meridians, allowing the emotional energy or thought energy to do exactly what it was designed to do – inform us, protect us, enrich us – AND FLOW ON THROUGH US. When, for whatever reason we have learned resistance to those thoughts or feelings, they become stuck in our meridian system, then they become negative energy – and begin to be toxic to our system. So we ‘Tap’ using SET, EFT, QIGONG. DEEP ABDOMINAL BREATHING or other effective means of unblocking the stuck energy – SIMPLE ? Eh ?
Using the ‘Acceptance Phrase’ on the set-up statement is often useful, just another step in acknowledging, out loud, that we accept ourselves with all our emotions and thoughts – (which we seldom do ! ) And that very statement WHILE TAPPING already moves a whole lot of self-incrimination from our energy system. And of course we can adjust that Acceptance statement “I would like to Accept myself and all my emotions” “I can’t accept myself yet, but I’m Tapping on that right now !” Etc Etc
it all seems very straightforward if we remember what we are doing from the Energetic point of view
1. All thoughts and emotions are simply energy moving through us with helpful information for us.
2. When we have awareness, we receive the information inherent in the thought/emotion, and it moves on through – no stuck emotion – resulting in continued health, well-being and joy bubbling up from our depths – our natural state of Being
3. When we deny or in any other way repress our thoughts/emotions then we create a ‘blockage’ in our energy field. Sadly, we have not allowed ourselves the information that our emotions/thoughts were giving us, and also the energy blockage effects our Bio-Chemistry having uncomfortable consequences to our entire well-being, often leading to physical ailments
4. When we become aware of those thoughts and emotions that cause us discomfort – we percuss the Meridian system while holding those emotions and thoughts that we do not want any longer, and our energy flows freely through our entire Being again.
When the energy is freed, not only do we feel more energetic and fully alive again, but we also ‘receive’ the information that was held in that stuck energy – we call that a new perspective – a shift in awareness or understanding. It is fact the inherent Wisdom that is the potential ‘Gift’ in every experience in our lives – especially the ‘difficult’ ones !!
So – all this ‘fine tuning‘ and intellectual discussion of “EFT or SET”, “Using the Set-up Statement or not,” etc. just subjects this simple, magical practice of releasing ‘Stuck Energy‘ and its consequences, to the typical ‘Western’ approach of detailed analysis – often losing the point in the process !
Feel a feeling you don’t want – think a thought you don’t want to add energy to – accept you have it, ‘TAP’ in any way that suits you that will release the energy to flow freely again throughout your system – and VOILA ! You have re-balanced your Biochemical imbalance caused by the emotion/thought; released the caught energy in it, allowing the free-flowing of Chi, which is the life-force, and also released the information that that emotion/thought was bringing to you.
Steve, with all that simplicity and and a whole “Bang of Benefits’, does it really matter which ‘system’ we follow, which words we say, which current scientific research we are excited by – JUST DO IT – JUST TAP ! It is interesting to follow the Scientific research – interesting to apply psychological theories etc etc – but Never allowing those discussions to cause the ‘Should I do it this way or that way?’ ‘Should I use this method or that method?’ – ‘Which is best?’ As they always say ‘THE BEST ONE IS THE ONE YOU USE ‘
In the practice of Qigong, there are reputedly at least 40,000 different practices, many of them claiming to be the ‘most effective’, and always with a name attached, In our early days of practicing Qigong, we were mesmerized by all the methodologies – and now have come to understand that they are all dealing with only one thing – the free flow of Chi throughout the system. And sometimes a good laugh will do the trick ! (As you teach so well) So it is with ‘Tapping’
they ALL work if you do it ! No need for for intellectual analysis – though that is fun too !
Thanks for your constant inspiration – and this opportunity ! Hilary Moon
Hi Steve, we hear you! I have experienced the disturbing ‘positive thinking speak’ that permeates many motivational speakers’ presentations, and understand that most people do not really get the power of facing the negative with the extraordinary EFT SET and PET toolbox. I was a bit confused with the wording when you mention that we should not be “trying to “tap away” our negative feelings as many EFT practitioners advocate”. We do tap our way through the negative, inviting the worst of the worst to come forward, no? And then watch the intensity dissolve or resolve. PET is so powerful. I definitely agree with the idea that a problem arises when we try to use positive thinking to ’say away’ the negative, which I believe ends up too often with frustration with the inability to actually get there. Maybe positive self-talk is different from positive thinking … Thanks for the wonderful work always. I sit up and pay attention when your newsletter arrives in my inbox.
I am older, like things simple now, and I love to laugh with clients…I have studied you, and Gary Craig mostly. My most powerful phrase with clients is “All the feelings I have about___ are acceptable and legitimate for what I have been through…and I accept myself completely”. The first part is soothing, then the second part is ‘just too much’, and we go with that. Thank you for all your teachings. Lynda Schroeder
I live in Jamaica and have followed your expertise on EFT, SET for years. I too could easily abandon the “I love and accept myself” set up phrase and say “even though I have this problem dammit, I do have it anyway” and will give it a try. It’s going to be difficult for me to now allow those negative thoughts to linger and “allow them to move us and move through us”, after I’ve tried so hard to keep them at bay.
Hello. Thanks Steve so much for this helpful article.
Just wanted to comment that I find it helps me feel free if I do what I call “just watching” whatever sensations are in my attention at the moment (including any thoughts, which I see as being inner body sensations) as I tap. This includes “just watching” any “resistance” too, that is, allowing resistance to just be as it is too. I also “just watch” any non-acceptance that comes up too, and in so doing, automatically allow any non-acceptance to just be as it is as I watch it. So your article here really helped confirm some hunches I’ve been experiencing lately about the power of getting into what I like to think of as “observing mode” of brain usage. I’d love to see what goes on in the brain when we sort of shift into a “just watching” mode. The “just watching” and tapping combination seems to do something very deep, something very freeing. Sometimes emotions will come up, and I just keep watching and tapping and it passes through and I feel much lighter after a few moments.
Well, just wanted to share some related experiences and to thank you for your helpful article.
-frew
Hi Steve, now I’m REALLY looking forward to the Seattle weekend!
“Allowing everything to be as it is” (a meditation practice I’ve been doing for a few months) takes me to a spacious attention larger than whatever it is that’s hard to be present to…which lets me see that I can be present… which is a parallel to the idea you’re presenting here. I’ve always thought that tapping fundamentally is about allowing/accepting… naming the unspeakable, embedded in the first half of the set up statement, allows it. Then the spacious attention is found in the second half. (Or that’s how it works for me.)
Also, I love the snarky tone, about halfway through your article, in your sentence that starts with “dammit.”
Hi Steve, The distinction between accepting and getting rid of a “bad thought” is a really important one. I think it’s all to easy for people to think of EFT as the anaesthesia or exorcism of negative emotions! Where as I think of it as a way of being able to approach, experience and allow those emotions to shift into something else.
The power of acceptance and other things is beautifully covered in a book by your fellow countryman Dr Russ Harris in The Happiness Trap which is a useful addition to any tappers library, even thought it has nothing to do with tapping.
– Andy
Thanks for raising this most interesting topic. I agree with you, Steve, that focusing on what you want and having a vision for the future is very important. But surely even more important is being congruent. Many people are so concerned about not having negative thoughts today they push these thoughts into the subconscious creating a discrepancy between what they think they should think or feel and what they actually think or feel. We do know that most feelings driven underground will manifest in inappropriate behavior, addictions or physical illnesses.
I also have a number of issues with the current ‘ Rampant Positive Thinking Brigade’ and would like to start a ‘Let’s Get Real’ counter movement that encourages people to question and express themselves and their feelings without being branded negative.
Hilary asks does it really matter which system we follow, which words we say? I believe it does, especially in a world where we are encouraged to use a one-size fits all approach to everything. A good example of this is CBT widely recommended today for depression. It works well for some but for others, including myself, it is seen largely as an extraverted thinking tool and an avoidance of feelings. Human beings are incredibly complex creatures with all sorts of different values, beliefs, cultures, personality types, feelings etc. We need to acknowledge these, listen carefully, assess people’s readiness to make changes and watch for ambivalence which is nearly always there. And you say Steve, tap with acceptance with a practitioner who is themselves not scared of the negative. And keep tapping on ourselves of course!
Thank you again Steve. When are you coming to Brisbane or the Gold Coast?
Judith
Hi Steve,
Funny how your article came in just the right moment as I have been asking myself the very same question, whether it was OK to suppress negative thoughts or I should use tapping on everything (I do use tapping a lot in general).
In my current job as software engineer I am feeling a lot of frustrations where the “most simple” things regularly do not work as they should (due to reasons outside of my control) and typically it takes ages to make a millimeter of progress. So I have to invest lots of effort with little feeling of achievement (this is a feeling I share with many collegues). At times it depressed me so I could not continue to work until the feeling goes away (and that can take a long time). The gain of the depression for me is, that by avoiding to work, I avoid the frustration of another unexpected problem.
After reading the book “Trances people live” (by Steve Wolinsky) I realized that when another (damn!!!
thing did not work, I allowed myself to enter a depressive “trance” (according to his terminology) of “NOTHING works and there is no sense of trying”.
Once caught in the trance, I did not have ANY energy or motivation to work or use tapping to remove it, not even with the “starting trick” of saying “Even though I have NO motivation to tap…”. I was totally caught in the trance.
After reading the book I decided to suppress the trance reaction when I feel it coming (like “stop it!”) and then quickly start tapping to get rid of the suppressed feelings of frustration that caused it. So far it seems to work pretty well.
best wishes, Oliver
Yes, yes, I absolutely agree. This ties in with the Sedona method, but adding tapping to it must surely make it so much more effective. I’ve been tapping on my negative feelings and problems, simply allowing them to be as they are, but then I usually end up with something a bit more upbeat. Perhaps I’ve been too hasty with those positive statements and I haven’t been altogether honest with myself because those same old ghosts keep coming back to haunt me
I welcome your comments as the most thoroughly practical, down-to-earth no nonsense wisdom I have heard. Thank you Steve for that.
Muriel.
Hi Janice,
The trouble is that when you think you have kept the thoughts “at bay” they are really not far away! Studies show that when you try to forbid yourself from thinking certain things, your brain is constantly processing those thoughts outside of conscious awareness. Also, when people are given “permission” to express thoughts they were trying to suppress, that thought becomes less primed. This is all explained very well in The Willpower Instinct which is an excellent book, and it also fits with our experience when working with clients using our approach. Sure, you don’t LIKE these thoughts, but instead of fighting against them, which creates resistance and “what you resist, persists”, release the resistance, allow them to be there but don’t feel you have to act on them, and just add tapping and see how that goes!
Best wishes, Steve
Hi Judith,
Yes, I agree. When people get upset with you expressing something which seems negative to them, they are really saying “I can’t deal with MY feeling reaction when you express things like that.” I have often said that tapping can allow us to deal with the world the way it IS, without having to pretend it is something else… Major mythologies are created in attempts to assure ourselves that we have control over everything, when really there are so many forces and so much of the world we do not understand. I saw a quote the other day, can’t recall the author, that you can be happy to the extent that you can manage anxiety and ambiguity..
Best wishes, Steve
Steve
Your comments regarding suppression of negative thoughts are the best way to ensure they remain in or at the fore-front of your mind are accurate.
The further we progress up Maslow’s triangle the more emotionally and psychologically dysfunctional we become because we carry the baggage of the lower levels with us.
A shift to self actualization requires a paradigm shift in attitude from one of ambitious pursuit and dedication to goal achievement to one of acceptance. From being the centre of the universe in our delusion, we must change to being an infinitesimal speck of spirit in the cosmos …. a butterfly wing beating.
Once we acknowledge our survival driven ego is our worst enemy to being happy and fulfilled, we can stop worrying about our ’self’ issues which concern us. We can relax and accept the wrinkles in our psyche for what they are … and celebrate the “variation of the species” … vive la difference.
In order to realize the positive, there must be negative and to expect otherwise is unrealistic and the path to distress. The critical process which ultimately determines our “happiness quotient” is the relative importance we place on both the positive and the negative; and the action which ensues.
We should keep at the fore-front of our mind the fact that we are only using 30% of our brain and that is the stupid, survival driven dinosaur part …. we can not expect too much of it and should “keep it simple”. Being fascinated by the “not”, our brain will focus on what we are trying “not to” if we let it. The trick is to examine the dross when it emerges from your subconscious, treat it with the contempt it deserves and go on to think of something else leaving the (normal) negative to sink back into the subconscious pool. Thinking too much about anything, particularly ’self’ issues will only cause these to become magnified.
Love yourself, love others, only sweat the important things …. and use tools like tapping if they work for you.
It’s not enough to “tap away” or “tap down” or even just deal with, or “allow to move you and move through you” the current thought patterns that you are aware of but disturb you….
sometimes, it’s not the world doing it to you that you have to be peaceful about it, but you have to become open to an awareness that you’re doing something to you (at a deeper level) and you have to stop doing THAT.
I Also Must Add A Thing That Accepting Or Ignoring What You DON’T Want Strongly Depends On Your Type Of Personality. Most People Have The Ability To Change Their Color, But There Are Also Some Who Don’t. Like Gandi, Htler, che guevara, And A Very Few Others. I’m Seeing Most People Here Agree With Steve, It’s Right, But Some May Be Lucky To Be Successful In Ignoring Bad Thoughts. Steve, Please Allow Others Just Trying It. If Someone Is REALLY Interested To Remove Bad Thoughts, Just Don’t Give Up Easily. Negative Thoughts Have A Way More Energy Than Positive Ones And This Is The Reason Why The Things Get Worse For Most People. But If You Have Only 1 Negative Thought, I Think You Have A Way More Positive Ones To Battle It, And If You Have More Than 1, You Can Push All Of Them To 1 Place Of Your Mind By Relating Them Together, People, Every Where We Can Fail, In A Battle, In Life, In Economy, Etc. But DON’T Talk About Failing In Your Own Mind! It’s Ridiculous Steve, You Even Couldn’t Control Your Own Mind, So How You Are Writing About “Energy Provocateur”? I Think That You Only Reduce People Energies, I Don’t Know Anything About Your Own Thoughts But You Must Know That Accepting Some Thoughts Will 100% Destroy Someone’s Life, So All I Can Say, Is That You Are A Bad Thought Yourself, It’s A Shame On Internet That Everyone Can Post Everything On It.
Hi hanzo,
This is not something I am making it up, it is supported by research unlike your assertion that “negative thoughts have way more energy than positive ones”. I see no evidence for this at all, although I will agree that humanity has a universal tendency to think about worst case scenarios, the current theory is that this is in fact one of the key factors that allows the human race to succeed. Instead of seeing this as a bad thing, it is very empowering to allow and accept such thoughts without thinking you need to act on them!! In fact, it can be very empowering to realise that you would not be destroyed if the worst did happen! Acceptance is not about giving in, nor is it a disempowering position at all. Accepting and allowing your thoughts does not mean you feel the need to act on them. Your mind will continue to think freely no matter how you try to constrain it, that’s what minds do. It is only when you fuse with your thoughts or attach meaning to them or emotion that they then have power. Tapping and other techniques can be used to help defuse this process and allow you to think freely without feeling that your thoughts are going to take you over… I have seen this repeatedly take a negative thought which had great energy and emotion for a person and reduce it to what it really is: Just a concept or an idea, with no power of its own at all!!
The great thing about the internet is that people with differing points of view can be heard. I get the feeling you want to act like some kind of positive thought police stopping anyone who offers a counter to your point of view. The challenge is that there is a great deal of fear which I sense behind your assertions, mixed with your obvious anger. Yes, there is a lot of rubbish on the internet, I agree. I like to ignore the rubbish and move on to the good stuff. I encourage you to do the same. Best wishes!