As I was reading the post I wrote in December, I realized that I had been thinking about feelings/emotions from only the viewpoint of someone who is in touch with their spirit or subconscious and can recognize when an emotion is ego-based. I realized that not everyone (in fact, I think most people) can distinguish between a feeling/emotion that is coming from the spirit vs. coming from the ego (subconscious). I realized this as I was helping a friend who shared a problem with me about an emotion they were having and didn't know what to do about it. They, like most people, wanted to know what herbs/supplements to take to get rid of the unwanted/unpleasant emotion (anxiety).
I wish our society wasn't one that encourages people to seek quick fixes to things that aren't pleasant. There are probably lots of people who are on anti-depressant medication who just need to take a step back and get in touch with their spirit and meditate to figure out WHY they're feeling depressed or have anxiety NOT to push away what their spirit might be trying to tell them. (The alternative I see many people do is self medicate by drinking or drugging away their uncomfortable emotions). We can't be afraid of unpleasant emotions and delving in to discover why we're feeling them. It's how we grow.
I said in my Dec. post that feelings are your spirit's way of telling you yes, you're on the right track, or no, that's not right for you. However, feelings are not always right. In other words, feelings do not always accurately reflect what your spirit wants or is trying to tell you. Feelings can also come from your ego (usually those based in fear).
I've heard from some credible, well-known authors & public speakers that there are 2 fundamental emotions: love & fear. All emotions can be boiled down to one of these. This makes it easy to figure out what negative emotion it is in your subconscious that's causing you to feel unpleasant.
In my friend's case, his emotion, anxiety, was coming from his ego. Without revealing the situation, basically, he wasn't feeling anxiety because he was not on the right track/path, but because he encountered a new (good) situation that his ego was fearful of. New experiences are often scary, and if you are in touch with/aware of your emotions, you can realize it's fear that you're feeling and you can work on overcoming the fear. He did not realize it was fear (still doesn't ;) at least not that he was willing to admit to me (the problem that comes with helping friends, ha). It's impossible to work on overcoming or dealing with an emotion if you don't know, can't recognize, or won't admit what it is. The problem is that we have a conscious and a sub-conscious. The only way I know of to recognize/discover what emotion is in your subconscious that's causing you to feel a certain way in your conscious is to meditate. (what ISN'T meditation good for?!)
Btw, I love that when I put it out there to the universe that I want to help people, it sends me people who can benefit from my abilities, knowledge, experience (and/or whom I can benefit from by helping). I notice this happens with my healer friends too. I am always learning and I continue to learn TO help people BY helping people. That's why I love teaching so much.
Since it can be very difficult to delve into your unpleasant subconscious, here is an inspiring quote for ya...
"Each time you try something scary or challenging and pull it off, you put another feather in your courage cap" Morgan Freeman.
1/22/12
1/4/12
To What Extent Do We Create Our Reality?
Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be full of exciting things.
Now that the craziness of Christmas is over, I can go back to pondering how the universe works.
Lately, I've been very curious to try to understand the extent that we create our reality. Having studied social science, I know that our perceptions of ourselves and how we fit in the world affect how we behave. Our perceptions of others and their behavior also affect how we behave, and in turn affect how we see ourselves and how others see themselves. It's a giant cause/effect loop of perception and feedback. So, in this way, our perception affects much of our reality.
Also, I believe that instead of just allowing ourselves to be passive creatures who succumb to instincts such as reacting with anger when someone says or does something negative, we are evolved enough creatures to be able to make a choice about how we're going to react to create a different outcome. If we are conscious beings who can understand that certain behavior creates certain outcomes, and we choose to behave in certain ways as to create a desired outcome, aren't we creating our reality in a way?
We all know our perception of why someone behaved the way they did can be wrong. Maybe someone you met at a party was quiet because they weren't feeling well, or because they're shy, or because they're stuck up, or because they don't like you and don't want to talk to you. These are all possibilities. (Which option would you choose btw?) The reality for the person you met may be different than the reality you perceive, but regardless, your perception seems very real to you and you assume it is real unless you're told otherwise. Ever notice how people with low self-esteem have distorted perceptions that would choose the last possibility above. If you would talk to them, however, they truly believe that it's reality - that no one likes them. People tend to perceive things in a way that are consistent with and therefore confirm their prior beliefs. We're stubborn creatures. Have you ever tried to talk to a friend who has a very low self esteem and tried to convince them that they're smart, pretty, people do like them, etc...? It's almost impossible because they've told themselves this "fact" (that they're not smart, pretty, likable, etc..) so much that every opportunity they can to prove themselves right, they do - even if it means distorting "reality".
We all do this and the more conscious we are of our thoughts and perceptions, the more we can make choices to create a better reality for ourselves.
So, to what extent do we create our reality? I just watched one of my favorite shows on the science channel - Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. It pondered something interesting: does something exist if no one sees it? Now we're getting into quantum physics (something I would love to study in another lifetime). Quantum physicists believe that if we perceive something, it validates its existence.
However, we are all different and one person might feel compelled to understand how something works in order to use it, whereas someone else might not care how it works, they just want to use it/do it. We need both of these types of people. It makes me realize though, that just because I don't quite understand how something works and just trust it does and go ahead and use and apply it, it doesn't work any less than if I were to understand exactly how it works. Knowledge of something doesn't always affect application of it. Most people I know don't understand physics but it doesn't affect how well the laws of matter and energy work in daily life. They just work. That's how I look at the law of attraction and other laws of the universe. It also nicely explains things like this: just because our science is not advanced enough to measure the spirit, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've noticed as we have evolved, especially in recent years, more and more people are becoming better able to tap into senses that science is not yet evolved enough to measure.
Sorry, I digress (but this blog is as much for myself to look back at my thoughts and journey, so I do what I want ;). If you're still with me...
the thing I've found to not be completely true with the law of attraction and creating your own life is that I think as much as we have free will, there are forces greater than us that have either some control over us and/or strongly guide us toward a path, calling, or destiny (I have heard all of these terms used but don't know if I agree with all of them). What happens if what you currently want isn't aligned with your greater purpose, path, calling or destiny? I think this affects whether or not you will be able to use the law of attraction and manifest those desires. Also, what we think we want at one point in our lives can greatly change. What if what we think we are passionate about now changes when we later discover something totally new that we realize we are even more passionate about that? These are all possible blocks to the law of attraction and this year I intend on exploring these and more.
I've just started reading Caroline Myss' book Sacred Contracts. It makes a lot of sense so far. I'll let you know when I'm finished.
As usual, I love to hear others' comments, so feel free to let me know what you think about any of this.
Now that the craziness of Christmas is over, I can go back to pondering how the universe works.
Lately, I've been very curious to try to understand the extent that we create our reality. Having studied social science, I know that our perceptions of ourselves and how we fit in the world affect how we behave. Our perceptions of others and their behavior also affect how we behave, and in turn affect how we see ourselves and how others see themselves. It's a giant cause/effect loop of perception and feedback. So, in this way, our perception affects much of our reality.
Also, I believe that instead of just allowing ourselves to be passive creatures who succumb to instincts such as reacting with anger when someone says or does something negative, we are evolved enough creatures to be able to make a choice about how we're going to react to create a different outcome. If we are conscious beings who can understand that certain behavior creates certain outcomes, and we choose to behave in certain ways as to create a desired outcome, aren't we creating our reality in a way?
We all know our perception of why someone behaved the way they did can be wrong. Maybe someone you met at a party was quiet because they weren't feeling well, or because they're shy, or because they're stuck up, or because they don't like you and don't want to talk to you. These are all possibilities. (Which option would you choose btw?) The reality for the person you met may be different than the reality you perceive, but regardless, your perception seems very real to you and you assume it is real unless you're told otherwise. Ever notice how people with low self-esteem have distorted perceptions that would choose the last possibility above. If you would talk to them, however, they truly believe that it's reality - that no one likes them. People tend to perceive things in a way that are consistent with and therefore confirm their prior beliefs. We're stubborn creatures. Have you ever tried to talk to a friend who has a very low self esteem and tried to convince them that they're smart, pretty, people do like them, etc...? It's almost impossible because they've told themselves this "fact" (that they're not smart, pretty, likable, etc..) so much that every opportunity they can to prove themselves right, they do - even if it means distorting "reality".
We all do this and the more conscious we are of our thoughts and perceptions, the more we can make choices to create a better reality for ourselves.
So, to what extent do we create our reality? I just watched one of my favorite shows on the science channel - Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. It pondered something interesting: does something exist if no one sees it? Now we're getting into quantum physics (something I would love to study in another lifetime). Quantum physicists believe that if we perceive something, it validates its existence.
However, we are all different and one person might feel compelled to understand how something works in order to use it, whereas someone else might not care how it works, they just want to use it/do it. We need both of these types of people. It makes me realize though, that just because I don't quite understand how something works and just trust it does and go ahead and use and apply it, it doesn't work any less than if I were to understand exactly how it works. Knowledge of something doesn't always affect application of it. Most people I know don't understand physics but it doesn't affect how well the laws of matter and energy work in daily life. They just work. That's how I look at the law of attraction and other laws of the universe. It also nicely explains things like this: just because our science is not advanced enough to measure the spirit, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've noticed as we have evolved, especially in recent years, more and more people are becoming better able to tap into senses that science is not yet evolved enough to measure.
Sorry, I digress (but this blog is as much for myself to look back at my thoughts and journey, so I do what I want ;). If you're still with me...
the thing I've found to not be completely true with the law of attraction and creating your own life is that I think as much as we have free will, there are forces greater than us that have either some control over us and/or strongly guide us toward a path, calling, or destiny (I have heard all of these terms used but don't know if I agree with all of them). What happens if what you currently want isn't aligned with your greater purpose, path, calling or destiny? I think this affects whether or not you will be able to use the law of attraction and manifest those desires. Also, what we think we want at one point in our lives can greatly change. What if what we think we are passionate about now changes when we later discover something totally new that we realize we are even more passionate about that? These are all possible blocks to the law of attraction and this year I intend on exploring these and more.
I've just started reading Caroline Myss' book Sacred Contracts. It makes a lot of sense so far. I'll let you know when I'm finished.
As usual, I love to hear others' comments, so feel free to let me know what you think about any of this.
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