Good Morning, -- I hope you were able to enjoy an extra day off this week as we officially transition from the summer mindset.
When a tire wears down all of its tread, it no longer possesses the necessary anchors that allow it to grip a diversity of surfaces. As a result it freely spins without forward progress. Adding more effort or power to this situation only makes things worse.
Bald
tires are a fitting metaphor for the way many of us approach our struggles and problems in life.
We talk to peers, we go to churches, therapies, or programs that tell us to apply more effort. We spend the money and then months later we are still stuck.
This is not only because personal change is difficult, but because most theories behind personal change are focused on behavior modification. A program is deemed successful only
if the behavior immediately changes. That is because the first assumption is that a lack of progress means something is broken under the hood.
In our minds we tell ourselves a countless number of stories. Some of these stories are true, others are not true. The problems in our life emerge when we are unable to identify the untrue story and keep playing the tape in our thinking. This creates a "Feedback" loop that is much like a tire spinning with no
traction and thus forward progress.
The first step is to become conscious. Consciousness is a way of adding tread or anchor points to our tires. With each new point of expanded surface area, we will grip our surroundings and bump, bounce and skip. As the process continues eventually we can realize the progress that we have been seeking. The problem was never our engine, only how the power was applied.
Our consciousness is
not the same thing as our brain. It is not just a byproduct of neurotransmitters firing, it is in its own category. Yes, consciousness is presently related to our living bodies, but it is a "non-physical" aspect which possesses our "being" or our "essence."
Once we are conscious of our being, we will be able to think about our thinking and understand our life's problems from a totally new perspective. This gives us a new strategy to move forward, to
heal old wounds, and live in the freedom that we all desperately seek.
Adapted from my book "Getting Better When You Can't"
Click link below to get your FREE COPY.
