The Moment of Truth

What's the MOST important moment in your life? The most important in my life or; for that matter, anyone's life? I'll give you a clue: whatever it is, it won't be found in your past nor future. The most important, valuable and powerful moment any of us possess is the NOW moment commonly referred to as the present. 

How very fitting NOW is known as the present, because it could carry no better name indicative of the priceless quality of its character; literally the gift that keeps on giving. Consider how we may never know with absolute certainty what will or will not happen in the future because technically, the future has yet to take place. If something hasn't transpired yet, it cannot exist in certainty...at best, we may only consider it a probability; one of an infinite number of potential probabilities...or, for the sake of this discussion, one of an infinite number of probable futures. 

This arrangement actually works well in our favor because while we can never be absolutely certain of what the future holds, it does mean the probabilities NOW may morph into are infinite. At any given moment we find ourselves on the leading edge of creation pushing forward into the ever-expanding richness of infinite, unlimited possibility!

If the future is basically unknown because it hasn't yet transpired and the past is already over and set in history, what distinguishes the present as our the moment of power? Foremost, its the only place we can find consciousness. It's easy to project consciousness out into the future, but that's all it is...projection (into which future, which probability)? Likewise, there is no consciousness to be found in the past, at best, only memories of conscious moments.

All consciousness is here in the present, generating from present moment to present moment, the leading edge of creation, the infinite expansion of the universe continuing on and on.

The moment of truth, for each and every one of us, is NOW. Although who can really know whether this NOW moment is the same NOW for everyone everywhere. In NOW, all consciousness resides; in NOW we discover all power and action because all consciousness, power and action are  products of choice. The secret hidden in the present is that it is the only place where choice is possible; and choice is the defining consideration that sets in motion all the machinery of our realities. If the present moment is the barrel of the gun, choice is the scope on top that aims it on target. 

More on this subject tomorrow...

Pan Representation: Ultimate Flexibility

We all have a dominant or preferred representational system we  use to experience our World through sensory perceptions. Some of us interpret the World through a VISUAL system (in images and mental image pictures), some thru an AUDIO system (in sound and sound memory),  some thru a KINESTHETIC system (feeling and emotion), and still yet others thru an AUDIO/DIGITAL system (internal mental comparisons and evaluations).

Although we all have access to each of these representational systems, we have unknowingly conditioned ourselves to mostly utilize only one; hence, some people are "visual," while still others are "audio" or "feeling" types. If you accept this model of perception and experiential interpretation, then what interest is best served by prioritizing one system at the expense of the others? Why do we default by forfeit of conscious choice to ONE preferred mode at neglect of the others? Like so many of the patterns, strategies and mechanisms in our lives, it IS just a matter of reacting to what has been thrown at us. Our predominant system, as our values, habits and  socio-philosophical framework represent our best efforts of struggling at an unconscious level to cope with the influences that have impacted our lives. In other words, we have, for the most part, forgone our conscious responsibility of control over the creation, development and ongoing evolution of our representational systems; and by pure laziness, or lack of  better understanding that we enjoy CONSCIOUS CHOICE, have instead slipped into the un-inspected and unevaluated coping pattern that has emerged.

The analogy of the mother vs. foreign language: Consider your predominant, default representational system as your "mother tongue," the language your language of choice. If you speak visual, are you most likely to be understood by audio or kinesthetic persons? Are you likely to experience diminished understanding when a kinesthetic person speaks to you using feeling predicates? The prospects of misunderstanding simply increase when you communicate with those who speak a different language. While such analogy to language is self-evident, it still holds truth when applied to representational systems. If we select to focus on greater mastery over and success in life, developing the skill sets to recognize, shift and express ourselves in all representational systems would be where our greatest power and freedom lie, do they not? Do I enjoy greater potential for understanding, cooperation and accomplishment when I am able to speak, listen and process in all four representational systems, as opposed to only one? Of course, being able to do so requires first the knowledge that such an ability and the conscious choice to exercise it exist: an insight of which 99% of the population unfortunately lack.

We can change immediately when we begin to access the exceptional levels of personal power and flexibility that are available when we chose to become pan representational.

Perspective Alignment

What is perspective? It is viewpoint, because viewpoint is necessary for perception. So are there different classes or orders of perspective; distinct viewpoints from which we perceive and experience our World? Yes. NLP defines FOUR distinct perspectives and unless you exercise conscious choice over which perspective you assume in any particular situation, you stand a very good chance of operating in a perspective, unbeknownst to you, that may not serve you best.

Perspective One: Personal. Your experience is from the viewpoint of your own physical senses, from the position your body now occupies. You see as thru your own eyes, hear thru your own ears, smell thru your own nose, etc. In this perspective, we are completely associated with ourselves within the experience.

Perspective Two: Empathetic. In this perspective, we allow ourselves to experience the viewpoint of the other person, usually for the expressed purpose of creating better understanding. In Perspective Two, we are disassociated from ourselves, but not the situation. Our focus shifts to see thru their eyes, hear thru their ears with the idea of experiencing their reality from their position in time and space. A conscious and willful shift to the Second Perspective is how we increase our rapport and understanding with others, but can also work against us as unconscious identification with another at the expense of our own individualism and integrity. Cults are full of people hypnotized into switching and confusing Perspective One for Perspective Two, usually thru identification with a charismatic leader who seems to have all the answers they seek.

Perspective Three: Objective. This perspective offers the advantage of a viewpoint without being actively engaged or emotionally invested in the situation. You could say it is, "the impartial, third-party perspective." You view and experience sensory information as thru the senses of a non-partial, observing, neutral third party. In this viewpoint, you experience disassociation from both the personal perspective and an active role in the situation. It's like you become "a fly on the wall." The most prominent attribute of consciously assuming this viewpoint is objectivity; the ability to experience and process information from a completely unbiased, neutral position. Often, our best insights about moving forward come when we are free to perceive without  influence of bias and emotional preferences. Likewise, if you constantly feel a "disconnect" in some area of your life (a job you just can't get into, a task you lack motivation to complete, or a relationship to which you feel totally unable to commit), you might want to check if you are unknowingly operating from the Objective Viewpoint when you could be much better served operating from the Personal. Do you see things about the situation as if thru your own eyes in the location you now occupy? Do you hear thru your own ears, etc.; or, are you stuck a detached, disassociated, third-party perspective? If so, make the conscious choice to shift back into your Personal Perspective. Such a shift can make a real difference.

Perspective Four: Collective/Divine/Universal.       

This perspective orientation is without a doubt, mostly unfamiliar to the majority of inhabitants on this planet. It is  unusually unique and powerful because it assumes there is much more to you than you know. It is both simultaneously completely associated and disassociated. It is the viewpoint of the "Big Picture," and strives to take into account everything in regard to the situation in question. Most of us are too focused and pre-occupied with the details of our daily existence to consider frequent use or advantages of this perspective: however, there is great flexibility here when we access the tremendous power, resources and energy this perspective makes possible.

Now we have four different classifications of perspective and a workable model. How can you actually apply this information to improve life? Simple, Step One is condition your mind to take conscious note of the perspective you operate from at any given moment. With some practice, this will happen quicker than you think. Step Two: once consciously aware on a regular basis of your operational perspective, evaluate the current situation to see if it can be improved or your interests better served by shifting to a different perspective. Ask yourself, "Would this be less stressful if I stopped taking it so seriously and stepped back?" (shift from Personal to Objective) etc. 


When you hear negative or critical self-talk, do you notice the personal pronoun you being used? "You always mess things up. You should have said something, why did you keep your mouth shut?" There is LOTS of negative emotional content floating around in most of our mental landscapes, embedded by parents, teachers, authority figures, popular culture, etc. at a time and place where we probably weren't conscious enough to discern the negative impact. If most of your negative self-talk is phrased in the Second or Empathetic Perspective, shift it to Personal so you can listen to the criticism thru your own ears phrased with "I." You may be surprised to discover what you endure inside your head, now seems totally "off" because when experienced from Personal Perspective, you finally understand "I" would never tell "myself" such things.

How much of your unhappiness, glibness, lack of motivation, negative and/or critical self talk do you think can be traced back to misaligned perspectives? It only takes  a little  extra conscious examination to determine our operational perspective; and, whether the pictures and messages are truly ours. Often only a shift of perspective will bleed them of  power and the unfavorable influence they weild over our lives.

Transformation Vocabulary: Profanity

I believe a complete study of the vocabulary we use to describe and create our reality must include a study of profanity and curse words. These words include, but are not limited to fuck in any and all of its emphatic forms (fucker, fucking, fucked up, fucked over, etc.), shit (shitty, bull shit, full of shit, shit head, etc) damn, God-damned, bitch, bitchy, dick, dickhead, dickless, etc and the entire vocabulary of colorful vernacular which the Human race indulges in countless times daily.

Now my mother always taught me I should never use such language; her reason being, it would make me appear crude, filthy and coarse. In hindsight, she was absolutely correct, but her reason never really did provide me sufficient incentive to stop.

What does give me reason now is a fresh look into how words in general influence our state and our lives: a single word can contain a state and our words determine our emotional states. 

If you accept our minds create meaning and context from language by association; then particular words serve as linguistic representation for the feelings, sounds and mental image pictures that have become associated with it through habitual use. Your neuro-physiology fires off and responds to the now use of that word in precisely the same fashion as it has innumerable times in past uses. It must because that's how it's been wired in and conditioned. It then becomes very clear what we are doing to ourselves when we use this kind of language. We trigger and activate the worst in us.

In other words, the specific kinds of states profane words evoke aren't happy, constructive, positive or resourceful. The collection of emotions and memories which underlies their associations are some of the nastiest, most painful and unhealthy we possess.

See for yourself: say the word fuck, fucker or bullshit out loud. Don't just think it, you'll need to actually speak the word to activate the neurological triggers. How do those words feel in your mind/body? What sort of thoughts, memories and associations come to mind? Where does your focus go with these words? What changes occur in your physiology (breathing, muscle tension, overall energy, etc) Specifically, what state results from each of these words? 

When I say the word shithead, I immediately experience going back in time to my 6th grade playground after school and there's the the 7th grade bully towering over me, calling me a shithead right before he pummels me. The very same state I was in then is to some degree, activated and experienced now: fear, apprehension, anger, pain, confusion, rage, anxiety, adrenaline, hyper-ventilation, shallow breathe, sweat, shakes, etc.

If you accept that a single word contains a state, then it becomes simple to see why many people consider certain words offensive; they don't want to hear them because the states they evoke are full of too many unpleasant mental associations and uncomfortable physiological responses. Of course, most people are completely oblivious to the underlying mechanism of WHY this happens, yet they certainly know when they experience it.

It gets worse...many of us have unconsciously modeled the person(s) and their behaviors we associate with these words. The greater the conditioning of the association, the more profound the effect they have upon us. Over time, with repetition and intensity, these associations can become really hard and deep wired. Is it any wonder when I say "God dammit" I sound exactly like my father? If I sound like him, aren't chances good I also feel like him? Who's to say in some way I don't really become my father at his most angry, irrational, unforgiving worst with every use of that word?

Finally, consider the collective associations of racially derogatory words and the states they provoke and sustain. Think of the repository of hate, filth, violence anger and all the negative associations we take onto ourselves when we use those words. No preaching here, just an observation that language and emotional states are linked via a unique connection; an idea very much worthy of our attention as we contemplate our own happiness. 

Transforming My Vocabulary Part 2

In my last posting, I examined many of the words I use automatically in specific life situations. Not only do I use these words repeatedly and in a habituated manner without much conscious exercise over their actual application, but also discover myself unconsciously thrown into the emotional states they have come to represent to me through continuous mental association.

While the purpose of this exercise is to give myself more control over an expanded variety of different linguistic labels, what we are really talking about here is more effective state management through conscious manipulation of the language. I want to take linguistic labels I am using to represent negative situations and rename them in a way that diminishes or softens their intensity and the overall negativity of the state they represent.

Likewise, we can swing the other way by redefining our linguistic labels of positive situations to boost or amplify their overall intensity and positivity of the state they represent:

1. Happy

I'm happy the bill to fix the car wasn't too much.

Delighted, Enthralled, Overjoyed

I am delighted the bill to fix the car wasn't too much.

I am overjoyed the bill to fix the car wasn't too much.

I am enthralled the bill to fix the car wasn't too much.

2. Good

It's a good day to enjoy a walk.

Great, Wonderful, Exceptional, Excellent

It's a great day to enjoy a walk.

It's a wonderful day to enjoy a walk.

It's an exceptional (good, great, wonderful) day to enjoy a walk.

It's an excellent day to enjoy a walk.

3. Excited

I'm excited about finally being promoted.

Euphoric, Jazzed, Juiced, Buzzed-ing

I'm euphoric about finally being promoted.

I'm jazzed about finally being promoted.

I'm buzzed about finally being promoted.

I'm juiced about finally being promoted.

4. Fun

We're going to have lots of fun at the party.

Blast

We're going to have a blast at the party.

Adjective Modifiers - The easiest way to modify your vocabulary to boost and intensify their corresponding states is to simply combine any number of modifiers such as super, amazing, extra, crazy, etc to labels you are already using. Notice how modifiers elevate the intensity of the states they evoke:

I'm happy we're going to the movies tonight.

I'm super happy we're going to the movies tonight.

I'm crazy happy we're going to the movies tonight.

I'm extra happy we are going to the movies tonight.