I often use an analogy to help describe why we need to bring the cognitive system that filters information up to date. It goes like this; when travelling by car on a road trip who remembers the Rand McNally Road Atlas? A new atlas came out every year. The new version had different roads that’d been added. Some of the new roads made the trip easier or added new attractions along the way. I had a Lexus that had navigation that was a couple years old and it was like I was lost in the Stone Age.
Now imagine that you’re headed from San Fransisco to Portland on a trip. Without navigation on your phone, it’d be pretty vital that you’ve got the current version of the atlas. And even your phone needs updates. What if you only had a 1978 version??? Of atlas or phone, you’d be fucked! Now consider that you’re headed from Albuquerque to Halifax? Yeah, I think you get the point.
Our mapping system is created throughout the early stages of our lives. Different experiences we witness and/or are a part of encode bits of information on how we interpret life going forward. This begins to limit what we think and the choices we make. This all happens in the name of self preservation.
So consider that all of us were exposed to unhealthy situations in childhood. I know some people think,”I had a pretty great childhood. Everything was wonderful and great.” You’re welcome to stop reading now or you might want to learn the deeper reasons why you transmit and convey things to the people in your life that are not what you intend.
These unhealthy experiences cause a disruption in how we regulate information and stimulation throughout our lives from then on. And unknowingly we seek out ways to help calm ourselves and regulate the sensations that live inside us. It doesn’t matter if they’re healthy or unhealthy tactics, the point is to stop pain and discomfort. We create barriers and limitations. We close off and contract. Our unconscious, finite communication that’s transmitted to the world is in accordance with all of this.
The solution is to examine ourselves. The process of examination is about pulling the lid off the corked away parts of us. I tell you all of this as an into in the my monthly project to see how I connect with and donate money to a group I’ve learned I call “homeless/others”. And the lessons this week continue to provide deeper insight into how I form thoughts that drive choices and actions to regulate discomfort.
Anybody out there avoid certain things? Often it can be pretty clear about why, like putting your hand on something burning hot. But how about certain people, situations, or even thoughts. Our mapping system is designed to provide clarity on limitations and containment of energy from either being taken away or put upon us from outside sources. All this happens by the perceived “others”. Are you ready for this? I’m here to tell you it’s pretty much all about retaining “energy”. (Power, respect, money, safety, ease, time, soul dollars)
What I’m learning is that I have more than enough but I’ve been living within an old paradigm of thinking I won’t be able to live without that $5.00 bill or people’s admiration or the latest iPad that just got released. So I sell out the possibility to have the deepest experiences where I live in the state of being of peace, love, truth, and god for my fears that there isn’t enough and that something will be torn from my death grip at any instant.
Thanks for you time.