Gazing in the Mirror

March 9 - Collapse The Wave

The thing you intend, the minute
you intend it, exists, but . . .
you're only aware of the reality
you choose to observe.
~ Pam Grout, E-Squared

If one would take time, once
a day at least, to let go of
all that is not true . . .and
lay hold of Life in Its expressions
of beauty, truth, and wholeness,
(he) ... would be healed.
~ Ernest Holmes

I long ago proved to my own satisfaction the usefulness of practicing metaphysics as a method of navigating through this physical incarnation more comfortably. I don't think that I "control" circumstances external to my own self but at the same time I do believe in alignment bringing me into contact with circumstances that my heart is yearning to experience. There is an instinctual impulse within us to have "desires" and these are the prime emotional motivational energy that keep us keeping on. Desires may even be an aspect of our survival instincts. However the desire function in a person's life can become skewed or corrupted which can then become an addiction that only satisfies the individual briefly with a burst of pleasure from the neurotransmitter Dopamine.

The solution to addiction is not to withdraw from pleasurable living but balance. Many spiritually-inclined people look unfavorably on perspectives such as that one which has been expressed through Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret" concepts. They see a focus on rampant acquisition as part of consumer-driven economics. Others feel frustrated and disappointed at their own results in applying such methodologies and therefore deem them illusive and failures. The goal should be well-being and happiness and not simply the acquisition of "stuff" that one might display like personal trophies of achievement.

Finding certain basic needs for provision, fulfillment and intimacy lacking is a first step towards altering one's experience. These are motivations for taking action to change our circumstances and the operative key here is receptivity. We cannot acquire or experience something that we are not open to receiving. That does not mean that we were looking for certain unfortunate or unpleasant situations intentionally either. There are circumstances that we do not ask for directly but which we find ourselves in the midst of and within that lies the inherent possibility of experiencing a type of satisfaction that comes with the overcoming of that situation. There is nothing wrong with developing skills for survival in living.

In some of the more current research into neuroscience it is being discovered that a "pleasure-seeking activity" will act as a stimulant to the consciousness located in our frontal lobes. Who would have thought ? Likewise fear can shut down the Dopamine circuit and flood us with stress neurotransmitters instead. We withdraw and seek escape as our doubts and anxieties hold us back from living life more fully. Having goals that take time to achieve can actually satisfy an ancient aspect of our brain by providing it with a kind of curiosity and excitement – "I got the job", "I obtained the degree", "I'm taking delivery on my new car next week" or "We're closing the purchase of our new home tomorrow". There is nothing wrong with happy outcomes and there is no inadequacy in failure or unfortunate events. These are all only experiences in life.

Learning the process of metaphysics is simply acquiring some tools for living. Feeling motivated by being consciously aware of intentional goals and achieving these increases one's sense of stability and control in an uncertain environment. Often our responses and actions seem to announce to other people and to The Universe itself that we are receiving some kind of perverse enjoyment from the predicaments that we are happy to publicly announce that we're in the midst of. We use these situations to "prove" that we are somehow special and unique and so the person doesn't seek to stop that misperception that somehow being a victim is something worth bragging about.

Personally I prefer contentment and comfort in living even though there is no guarantee of experiencing these consistently as a continuous state of stability but I can certainly seek to align with life-affirming qualities. Harmony is one such indicator to me and when I am out of sync it is another kind of indicator about the direction I have pointed myself in. I can rise to the challenge of that and experience another kind of pleasure in turning that force of contrariness so that it serves my personal long-term goals. I don't have to have a destination or waypoint – I can free-flow on default. Or I can set my navigational beacon with a "landmark" along the way. Collapsing the waves of extremes that identify the fringes of duality seems a worthy effort to my own understandings. Waves are oscillations and there are always such oscillations in any human experience – in physical reality, in our own mental interpretations and within the emotional impacts of experience. The high of winning an award or gaining public recognition for some type of mastery is one extreme. The apathy, depression and loss of motivation that accompanies the feeling of being victimized by life is another. I tend to seek the middle way yet I cannot help but allow the extremes when they come, even though these are never my intention, they can yet help me to prove the skillful quality of my response.

~ perspective

I find interesting pleasures in
intentionally playing the game of
metaphysics with Life itself.
Sometimes I set goals because
only by doing so do I know if
my practice is effective.
Other times I am content to
float down the current of time
and experiences.
There really is no perfect way
to live, only preferences that
we may express while doing so.
Beliefs are a preference –
reality is whatever is.

#alignment #control #desire #duality #extremes #frustration #harmony #metaphysics #receptivity #survival