A New Year: a Fresh Start!
An ingenious spiritual teacher, Lester Levenson, shifts people
out of old, crippling emotional patterns with the simple
suggestion: "That was Then. This is Now."
This statement of truth reminds us that our pain and suffering
occurred in the past--and brings us into the present to see if
the experience is actually still occurring. And, in fact, that
old experience of life is never occurring in the present--unless
we drag it into the Now. That is, unless we unconsciously
re-generate the expected, habitual past experience into the
present moment. As another sage, Harry Palmer, expresses it,
"The past only exists to the degree we re-create it in the
present."
We often set ourselves up for this unconscious carry-over by
saying things like, "Oh, Jake's always negative!" But does Jake
"always" have to be pessimistic? What if we approached Jake
today with the willingness to be open to the possibility that he
may be different, new, fresh? What might happen?
The Prison of the Past
In study after study, researchers have found that when one
schoolteacher is told a new group of students is "intellectually
challenged," those students will test very low on objective
exams. When a different schoolteacher is told the same students
are "geniuses," those same students will test very high on
objective exams in her class.
What's Up with That?
We experience our expectations. We cruise the road of life
projecting our beliefs ahead of us, only to arrive exclaiming,
"Oh, wow. It's just as I anticipated!"
Who Are We?
The same unconscious dynamic occurs with our own self-image! If
we've come to believe that we're not artistic, then we
continually prove it by seeing our creations as crude,
uninspired or amateurish. If we've decided we're not "athletic,"
we're not surprised when we don't catch the ball. If we're not a
"dancer," we trip on our own feet.
As long as I can recall, I've never been a "morning person," so,
"God, I'm tired this morning. I just can't wake up. You know
what I mean?"
The Filter of the Past
Our unconscious beliefs about ourselves act as a filter, only
letting in those perceptions of ourselves that "fit" our set
image of ourselves. If we should accidentally happen to do
anything "out of character," we either won't even perceive
it--or we'll rationalize it away as an aberration, a fluke, a
one-time chance occurrence.
And we'll even solidify the past by exclaiming, "That's not me!
I don't know how that happened. I'm not usually like this.
Please excuse my behavior." We even apologize for being
spontaneous and inventive!
Disguised as "facts" these unconscious old beliefs filter our
perception of every event, distorting reality to fit into our
rigid, preconceived framework. Lord, save us!
The Truth Will Set Us Free
The liberating truth about these self-convictions is that they
are totally arbitrary. Our limiting beliefs about ourselves are
only past experiences that over time have become so-called fact.
These "facts" are only old personal perceptions that we have
come to believe are "the way I am."
The Maintenance Project
I refer to this unconscious perpetuation of past experience into
the present as the "Maintenance Project." And, boy, does it take
a lot of energy to sustain our "Official Self-Image."
One day I watched young kids running repeatedly up and down a
steep mountain trail. It takes me all the energy I can muster to
scale that climb once a day! I asked myself, "Where did the
vitality go that I had as a kid?"
Whamee! The realization hits me like a Mack truck. I see that I
still have all that vigor! But now that energy all goes into
preserving my belief system about myself and my world--my own
"Maintenance Project."
I've bought into the notion that I'm older and can't do the
things I used to do as a kid. Unconsciously, I'm invested in
being right about my beliefs about aging, and having less and
less energy as I grow older. Hello?! Why would I want to do that?
The Poison of Our Positions
Do you really care that much about your beliefs in your
limitations? Is your dogged defense of your old, restricted
"self-image" making you any happier--or the world any better?
What is the personal cost of your "Maintenance Project?" Greater
than the 2006 U.S. Defense Budget? Probably!
Are your justifications for your old ideas of yourself really
just rationalizations? Or worst, simply old habits that you are
unconsciously keeping alive? Are you arguing for limitation ...
or possibility?
Unmask the Bandit!
Unmask the bandit that has stolen your personal power and joy.
Expose these "facts of life" for what they really are--fantasies
of an adult who has forgotten who wrote the script of life. A
grown-up who can no longer live life unrehearsed. A "mature" big
person who has lost the ability to play and create fresh in the
moment.
Be the Master of Your Fate
Being the master of your own self is having a real choice about
what beliefs--and therefore what realities--you choose to
empower. By becoming aware of the unconscious beliefs that are
creating your reality, you then give yourself the conscious
choice of which beliefs you want funding your reality. You can
withdraw your creating energy from the unconscious limited
self-images that no longer nurture your happiness.
When you take back your power from old, restricted ideas of who
you are, you can create and evolve in any way at any rate you
choose. You free yourself to invent anew and unfettered. You
become the Conscious Creator of your own destiny.
Re-tell Your Story
Start a fresh dialogue with the Universe about what it means to
be you. Energize new personal stories--and realities.
Envision--and then experience--fresh, different ways of
expressing your unique spirit. Create a new vision of yourself
that is more alive, resourceful and self-compassionate.
Options Abound!
Opt out of beliefs--and realities--that don't serve you. Opt
into beliefs--and realities--that do serve your deepest
aspirations.
Create a future from present passion, not from past perceptions.
You don't have to let your past experience get in the way of
your present happiness. Awaken to fresh choices, options and
solutions you never saw before. Re-seed a renewed sense of
peace, well-being and wholeness.
Master the Present--and Your Future!
Victor Hugo wrote, "There is nothing more powerful than an idea
whose time has come." What ideas have come just in time to break
you free of your self-imposed prison? What ideas will you allow
today to lift your spirit into a new world, a fresh start?