I don't believe some of the things I say when I tap.  Does that matter?

For us to do work on any thought/emotion we need to bring it into our thought field (meaning we are feeling or thinking it) at the moment we are tapping.  That might be a little bit of a confusing statement, so let's think of it in terms of the analogy of washing dishes.

The only place we can wash our dirty dishes is the kitchen sink.  We have dirty dishes all over the house.  They can be by the TV from watching football last night, on the kitchen table from lunch today, and on the counter by the sink.   We can know were all the dishes are, but until they get into the sink, we can't wash them.  

It doesn’t matter how those dishes get into the sink.  It only matters that they get to the sink.  We can put them in the sink, or someone else can put them in the sink.  Once they are in the sink we can start cleaning.

When we are doing Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) we have to the same thing.  We need to get the thought, the physical pain, or the emotion into the "sink" before we can clean it.  We can know intellectually what our issues are, but we can't do anything about them until they are in the "sink".  Our "sink" is our thought field, meaning once we are feeling the emotion it is in our thought feel.

I know my boss treated me badly at work today, but it is not until I start playing the memory back as a movie in my head and really start to feel my rage that I have moved this memory into my thought field ("sink").  Once I have done this, I can start doing EFT to get relief.

With that as background it brings us to the question.  The words that we say are not magic.  They are only important in the fact that they help us get what we want to work on into our thought field (get the dishes into the sink). Just like getting the dishes to the sink, it doesn't matter how they get there.  All that matters is that they get there.

Let's say I need to clean up my self-esteem when it comes to talking to the opposite sex.  In order to do any work in this area I need to bring the issue of being uncomfortable talking to the opposite sex into my thought field.  I have two options for doing this.

First, I could right at the issue and tap like this:

"I am such a moron.

I can't talk to women,

I always sound like a fool.

They think I am so stupid.

They wish I would leave them alone, because I am wasting their time."

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This is a very simple direct approach to the problem.  Or I could take a second tack.  I can take advantage of the little voice in my head that is going to tell me I am not worthy.  Please note what the voice in my head does.

"I am a funny guy.

[voice in head: No you are not.]

I am a charming conversationalist and people love talking to me.

[VIH: No you not.  You sound like a fool talking to others.  You never know the right thing to say.]

I am going to walk up to someone new tonight and just strat chatting.

[VIH:  No you are going to be a sweaty mess and chicken out.]"

[How to use these tapping phrases]

In this instance, I didn't believe a single thing I said out loud, but the voice in my head brought up all the stuff that needed to be cleaned.

Again, it doesn't matter who brings the dirty dishes to the sink.  It only matters that they get there.  In this second case, by saying things I didn't believe the little voice in my head brought the emotions that needed to be cleaned up into the thought field.

For anther example of this approach, see I don't know what to say! (part 1)

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