Thoughts, feelings and emotions which refer to any experience that occurred before now, are by their nature in the past. The past is not just memories of events from days, weeks or years ago. It is what was only a moment ago. According to some researchers one ten thousandth of a second ago.
Imagine that.
"Now" becomes "then" aka "the past" literally in less than the blink of an eye. Of course some of the past and the consequences of the past persist into the present moment. It is in some ways the persistence of the consequence of past experience into the physical that gives us the "feeling" that the past is a reliable reference point for dealing with the now. And to a large degree it would seem so.
But that is part of the illusion and in a very real way an impediment to meaningful change. Feelings and emotions are only the end products of past conditioning and experience.
The challenge is use the past as a source for knowledge but not be "used" by the past. This requires that we wake up. The exact meaning of this is subjective but for my purposes it means to recognize yourself as the creator of your life experience. This acknowledgment will make you authentically responsible for your life.
And perhaps most important but difficult to do is give up blame. Its much easier to blame mom, dad, teacher, church and state for what's not working in your life. Of course this does not mean that these individuals, groups, or institutions are absolved of accountability. What it does mean is you recognize that you are the CEO of your world. And in the final analysis blame is a waste of time.
Instead you reorient your life around accountability, integrity and honor. You give your word, you keep your agreements. You act and live as the deliberate creator of your own life. In a nutshell, you live as the person responsible for your life experiences.
As the deliberate creator and CEO of You, Inc. (LLC) you choose and act in alignment with your values and mission. You take ownership of the consequences of your choices and actions. No blame. No excuses. You get things done with integrity and grace.
To accomplish this transition to deliberate creator requires a shift. From living in the "familiar and routine" aka "the comfort zone" to inspired acts of deliberate creation. Now, I like to be comfortable. I like my house warm in the winter, I like my coffee hot. The point is that the familiar and routine often evolve into the classic catch-22 known as the "rut."
The rut is safe, part of the known, created by the past and sustained by choices which mirror the past in content, context, feeling and emotion.
When in the grip of the comfort of the familiar, we lose traction with living a more inspired life.
Paradoxically, we need challenge and novelty. Its not just a "nice to have." We actually truly need change, novelty,to be challenged. Its in our DNA. The problem with most of us is that our need for security and certainty will trump out need for novelty. As we get older, we have more to lose. This perceived increase in risk tends to reduce our initiative and keeps us in familiar territory.
How do we rise above the the tendency toward the familiar and routine? Good question, so glad you asked:)
The seeds of our personal evolution are found in a our willingness to change. Routines are hard habits to break:) Just the plain skinny on how "it" is. With willingness we discover an internal resource that opens us up to new possibilities.
Willingness is the key to the renewing of our minds. To take command of our future in a deliberate and creative way requires a shift in our consciousness, to break the physical and mental conditioning of being "ourselves." It all starts with the willingness to do so.
Yet, the "spirit is willing" and the flesh is weak. What to do?
To be born anew demands a replacement of old patterns of behavior, thinking, doing and being. We must be conscious of our habit of being and how we live. The natural response is to resist change. We are , after all is said and done biological beings. We have tendency to reach a state of homeostasis aka the comfort zone. That is tension seeking resolution. To transcend the tendency to stay with the familiar and routine we must be both willing and sufficiently conscious to be and do in a new way. We must be born anew to see things in a new way.
Just the way it is.
According to some,"Change has come to America." If you want to be the conscious creator of your own change then you must take a leadership role in your own life. You, Inc. and its CEO, that be U must deliberate and act in new ways. To change we must see in new and powerful ways. As Einstein noted, "we cannot solve the problem with the same kind of thinking that created it. We must go up a level." We need a shift in perspective and a new mind. Born of a new perspective. A new attitude which embraces principles of integrity, honor and personal responsibility.
We must turn around or away from the old paradigm. See differently. Acquire new knowledge, apply this knowledge with wisdom and listen for feedback. Then and only then will we become responsible creators. then and only then will we be the change we want to find in the world. Then and only then will meaningful change come to America.
No comments:
Post a Comment