How do we respond to the stimuli we are subjected to?
When scrolling down Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media platform, surfing the net in general, walking through a shopping mall, listening to the radio, browsing your podcast portal, or nowadays simply leaving the house – you are exposed to a myriad of manifestations of people’s thoughts, beliefs and values. In response to all this incoming data, we note things that are not in alignment with our values and dislike them; we see or hear things that are in alignment with us, and we like them, wanting them, wanting to share them; and there are all those things that we barely notice, that do not really trigger a reaction at all, things that we are neutral to, things we just accept as society or the world.
In these 3 examples, our brain files these observations as, No I don’t want that, Yes I do want this, and all those are irrelevant – the outcome of which is a reaction or response is triggered, and some type of action occurs, regarding things we do or do not want in our lives.
This is what the desire-mind does.
“I like this, I want more of it.”
“I don’t like this, I want less of it.”
Drawing in and pushing away (also called craving and aversion) – all based on sensations of our lowest nature – our body and the preconceived emotional ideas we hold.
For most, this is an unconscious process.
How many truly stop and question, really investigate, what these judgements are being measured against? What is this list of qualities or what vision of life are we comparing these things to?
Did we consciously choose this list, or is it just a by-product of our upbringing?
Once we can see this clearly, we have the ability to engage more consciously, to actively evaluate, and ask ourselves: “Is this really a true and accurate reflection of the life and person I seek to become?”
If you cannot readily see this list of qualities that define who and how you’d like to be, all you need to do is populate two lists – one, of all the things you don’t like, and another with all the things you do.
You will find who you currently are, is somewhere in between, within the combined qualities.
This is so because we still tend to embody some of the things we see in others that we do not like – and we do not yet embody some of the things that we do like, as usually these reflect the person and life that inspires us, that we are still striving towards.
While we continue to put equal energy into acknowledging (and therefore taking action in reaction to) the things we do or do not like – we will remain in limbo between the two.
If we want our life to be one of our choice, i.e. a positive and inspiring life; we must shift this balance towards focusing on taking action into the ideas and expressions that mirror the beauty and positive that we seek.
For our life is simply an expression of ourselves, we are the creators of it; and collectively this creates our societies, cities, nations and the world – all we see is just a reflection of us – exactly how we are. The more we can shift our focus to the self and life we truly seek, the faster we will experience it!
Q: How much of your consciousness, and therefore energy, is focused on what you don’t like, and how much on what you do like?!
While it is nowadays a bit of a cliché to say that “where our thoughts go, our energies flow, and this is what we create” – it is nonetheless true.
The greatest problem we have with this, is that the VAST majority of our thought life is on autopilot and unconscious! And for all the “affirmations” we recite, it is like whispering at a tornado – there is no way we can affect it thusly!
Even though this may all seem overwhelming, do not despair.
By developing an awareness of how our mind works, and actively engaging it, we then have the ability to consciously choose the life we are living.
Through creating a clear idea of who we want to be, the type of person (and therefore type of life) we want to live, we can create an inner structure that will support that to happen. If we are spiritually inclined, this is akin to the process of “holding our mind steady in the Light”. We have a clear vision of ourselves as we’d like to be, and we choose in each moment to express as that person – just as we choose to abide in Light, or allow ourselves to descend into Darkness, or unconscious ignorance. This is the mindfulness of higher living!
Our life is a by-product of ourselves. In that, however we are as people, informs the choices we make, and these choices create our life and experience of the world.
If you want your life to change – change yourSELF!
Nothing but frustration and suffering come from trying to change our life, life is an effect of self – not a causality. If you want different effects, you must change the causes of those effects.
Only the foolish believe they can have a life of joy and prosperity while being grumpy, selfish and mean. The universe mirrors what we put out, “like attracts like” – if you want joy, give it. If you want prosperity, you attract more possibilities through kind friendly generosity, then selfish meanness. Would you like to work with unfriendly grumps, or people who are delightful to be around?!
So… To become the person you truly seek to be, and to live the life you dream of, requires you to know the values and qualities that self would embody – and then in each moment, just in that moment, with each choice you make, you simply ask yourself: “What would that self, choose here?”
If you genuinely want that other life, you must be that other person, in that moment. It is as simple as a choice in the moment. And then many such moments become a life. This is true whether the self you want to be is a loving and kind one, or a cruel, selfish and greedy one – I would of course recommend you dream a life that strives to cause no harm, that is positive for you, all others and the planet.
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What you have just read is an explanation one element of how the mind works – specifically bringing it into consciousness.
My Suggestion:
If you truly seek to change your experience, start with creating a “Day of Reflection”. No phone, no Internet, no distractions – some Truly Deep alone time.
- Prepare for this day by eating a wholefood plant-based diet for a few days before, and do not have any alcohol or other consciousness altering substances – plant medicine included. You want to be Here as fully as possible – not elsewhere! To see what is truly right here where you live, you need to be right here where you live, not in any altered state of consciousness.
Do all of this to really lighten the load on your body, to create an alkaline expansive state, and to elevate or make clear your consciousness.
- For the day itself, pre-prepare your meals ahead of time, or simply eat simply! Have several pieces of fruit. Or some carrot sticks and hummus. Yummm.
- Start the day with some simple exercise, like gentle yoga or stretching, or a walk, swim etc. Something low-impact, but enough to wake you up.
- Follow this with some simple meditation. Either mindfulness, lovingkindness, or a Journey to the Sun to embrace the fires of transmutation.
- Then settle into a good quiet space and start your reflections, and populating your two lists. (All the things I like, All the things I don’t like). Do not worry or think about what any of it means – not yet. Just write everything down, without censorship.
- After this, stop for a break, have a light meal, some green tea perhaps. (Definitely no coffee on this day – it is far too stimulating and inflammatory on the body – creating strong acidity – this will close you down on a level!)
- After your break you’ll look at your lists – aiming to really “see” yourself – genuinely, as you are. The you that resides somewhere in between these two lists.
- The next step will be to decide if what you see, is who you really want to be!
If not, you need to spend some time reflecting on the nature of the self you wish to be… what values that self would live by, and how those values would be expressed day-to-day, moment-to-moment.
- Once you have a clear sense of this, you need to choose to hold yourself accountable to your new self-vision and living ethics – and then be vigilant to keep choosing them!
You will not be perfect at this, so perhaps just choose two or three of these new ways of being, and just work on them to start with – never giving yourself a hard time while you’re working on recreating yourself. Just mindfully watching for opportunities to express and make different choices throughout each day.
- Somewhere along the way, something will happen, something that would normally really trigger you, and you will notice you react differently – and you’ll smile – as you realise you are indeed changing.
- And thus we live a conscious, life of our choosing!
To some, this may seem like a big investment. But we are talking about the future of your life, Your Life – isn’t this worth a big investment? You’re living it anyway, whether you engage consciously or not, so why not choose to align your energy and consciously invest in living a life of your choosing – rather than one based on unconscious reactions and judgements?!
To achieve success with the process outlined, it is presumed you already possess the ability to sit still and control your physical appetites; that you have a fair degree of emotional control, so you can look at things with clarity and detachment; and most certainly that you can hold your focus on a task, without distraction, for an extended period of time – in short that you have a decent degree of self-control and personal discipline.
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If you really want to go down the rabbit hole…
You will need to be able to see beneath the surface and extrapolate to a degree also.
Writing your lists and some simple reflection and new choices is not enough, you need to be able to really work with these things, to see with “eyes of authenticity and depth”!
Let us look at an example:
Let’s say an item on your Dislike List is that you dislike inconsiderate drivers on the road.
On the surface level you could say being inconsiderate is something you dislike, and so in your Do-Like List you would have written “consideration of others”.
However what this truly means is that you have another list: of “what you believe is considerate, and what is not”!
If you have personal integrity, you yourself would never do any of the things on your inconsiderate list, but instead hold yourself to the standard of what you think is considerate.
But where did this sub-list come from, what informed it, and is it genuinely comprised of driving behaviours that are actually considerate, or just what you personally think is – namely thoughts and beliefs filtered through your own conditioning and experiences?
So in reality what is really going on here, is that you are judging those who drive like you as considerate, and those who do not, as inconsiderate. Wow!
Can you see how this now-revealed premise is true?
Can you see how much you are projecting your beliefs into the world and onto others!?
Can you now state with certainty what is absolutely considerate and what is not?
Are you dealing here with true discernment, or simply judgements!?
And so we can see here, via this example, that we are indeed seeing out there, only reflections of ourselves – of our own thoughts and beliefs – and deeper and deeper layers of them!
Use the perception gained from this example, to fuel your intention to bring the stuff that fills your mind to the surface, to be seen, evaluated and altered if necessary.
Best of Luck Conscious Traveller
Azure Seer