The Identity Game Limits Your Growth

Once again, we come into this world a blank slate and the first thing we are given is a name and we are told who we are based on our family’s lot in life.  If our parents accepted this reality, they reiterated that reality to you.  As you moved outside the boundaries of your household, your friends, schools, religions, community, the world told you who are. But, who are you?

Down through the ages, it has been the question many have pondered.  “Who am I?”  Some have found the answer and others have backed a ready-made definition of who society told them they were.  They bought into the identity game.  Their existence on this planet earth was based on a limited category.  Why figure out who you are when society gives you ready-made answers and you can blindly accept the definition because then you think you belong.  You are finally part of a group.  The hitch is the group is plagued with polarities.  Not everyone in the group is working towards the good of whole and those who scream the loudest are usually at the lower end of the energy spectrum.

Law of Reconciliation

Every particle gets to individually decide.  And as every particle asks, it is answered—and the whole continues to thrive.” Abraham

The Law of Reconciliation states that instead of focusing on the differences, one should focus on the similarities for it is through the similarities that conflicts can be resolved.  Seek to find the common denominators of any situation and disregard the conflicting patterns.  To adhere to the conflicting patterns will keep you locked into a lower state of being.  In essence, reconciliation is not about guilt or blame.  It is not about making demands on those you feel have done you wrong.   It is about coming to a version of the truth that all parties can accept and working to forgive so we all may move on.

Beware of the Opinionated Mind

They are out there.  Those individuals who will zealously defend a particular belief even though the information presented before them proves it is wrong.  Trapped in a fixed mode of thinking, these individuals will exasperate and frustrate you.  No matter how you present the information they will refuse to believe you.

Usually after engaging in a conversation with these types of individuals, you will find yourself feeling as though someone just sucked the life force out of you.  Your energy will be depleted and often you will be emotionally charged with anger or resentment.  You may even begin to doubt your own beliefs.

Time to Reprogram Your Beliefs



We come into this world a clean slate and over time we are conditioned and programmed with other people’s beliefs, judgements, superstitions and prejudices.  By the time we hit our teenage years; these programs have become firmly entrenched in our mind and influence not only our thinking, but also our behaviours and perceptions.  Since they are so deeply embedded in us, most people rarely understand how these false premises are affecting them in adulthood.

One of the most detrimental beliefs prevalent within our world is that of conditional love.  Most of us we grew up being told, “I will love you only if...” Words that were uttered by our parents or authority figures which implied if we did what we were told we would be loved.  What this belief

Conscious and Subconscious Mind

Consciousness
Watercolour by Beverly Blanchard

There are textbooks which are written on these subjects. Here is a very simplistic overview of the subconscious and conscious mind so you can have an understanding of how they affect your life.

 

The conscious mind is located just behind your forehead. It stores your personal identity, wishes, desires and beliefs.  It is from this part of the brain that we think, learn, decide, imagine and analyze. It scans our outside world and bodies and provides us with information through our senses. When we choose to use our will to make something happen, take decisive action, or be on our best behavior, we are working at the conscious level of mind.   The conscious mind is not time bound. For most people it operates about 5% of the time.  When it is not paying attention, it is your subconscious mind which takes over.

 

Before the conscious mind evolved there is the rest of your brain which is called the subconscious mind.  Your subconscious mind extends to all your automatic body responses and learned behaviors. It is habitual and operates in the present.  Information coming in from the outside world and the conscious mind is filtered through subconscious mind processes. Here it is correlated to patterns of past experiences and the programmed beliefs stored within.

 

Most of your behaviours and beliefs were downloaded into your subconscious mind by the time you were six years old.  You learned through observation and your parents, teachers and other role models feed you belief systems and programs.  Throughout the course of your life these programs have become your operating system and in some instances you may not be aware of them.  It is why there are times when you are talking or doing something that you all of sudden say, “OMG I sound just like my mother.”  It was a program you pick up unwittingly.

 

Your subconscious mind does not know what is true or false.  It does not make moral judgments.  The subconscious mind does not argue or think.  Once an idea is impressed on the subconscious mind it actively goes about working to achieve it.  Through the power of subconscious mind, your beliefs are projected into the quantum field as electromagnetic thought waves.  The energy of your thoughts and beliefs draws to you circumstances and people to match their vibrational qualities.  Your life is essentially a printout of these programs.

 

In order to change the programming you have to become aware of the programs.  The first way to do this is to listen to the inner dialogues of the mind.  The brain has a tendency toward the negative.  So you must conscious of what you are saying and stop yourself on a continual basis.  It is only through active awareness that you can reprogram the circuits of your brain.

 

The second way is to trick the subconscious mind through imaginal activities.  Since the subconscious does not know true from false, you have to start creating a word picture of what it is you want.  Stop telling the old story and start telling the story of how you want things to be.  In my post entitled Imagination Techniques you can find some methods which can help you do this.

Law of Projection

The Opening
Watercolour by Beverly Blanchard

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players; they have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts. – Shakespeare

We like to think that we are all living in the same world but we are not.  There are as many worlds as there are minds, because every mind lives within their own world.  Simply put the Law of Projection states that everything you see outside of yourself is but a projection created by you.  In other words, you have written the script and you are the camera, director, projector and audience.  Through your script, all the characters and actors are all showing up by invitation. 

Most people do not realize that what is happening in their lives is a direct result of their perception, beliefs, expectations and thinking.  Once again, they would prefer to blame the problems in their lives or the world on outer circumstances.  It is your thinking that is creating your reality.  You decide what you will see before you see it.  Is your movie an academy performance?  Or is it a horror flick?  If you do not like the movie you have chosen, perhaps it is time to change the script, call central casting and request new actors.

All outward appearances of your world begin with your inward conditions.  Your state of mind creates your perception of what you will see in your world and projects it out into your reality.    Everything in this world is filtered through the eye of the beholder.  If you see the world as happy it is because internally that is what is inside you.  If you see the world filled with hostile people it is because internally that is what is inside you.  Whatever it is you are feeling is projected on your screen of reality.

In many cases, if our movie is focused on the negative, it is usually because there is something that we do not want to admit is inside ourselves.  Instead what we often do is rant about the person or situation.  They are this and they are that so that we never really have to deal with our own deep-seated feelings, perceptions and beliefs.  We do this because it keeps us safe, and in identifying what we do not like in someone else we somehow feel better about ourselves.  We also do this because we use our past situations and events to define our future.

I ran into a young woman the other day who was telling me she was going back to school in the fall.  She was quite excited about it until she started telling me about the problems she expected to encounter with the other students.  She figured that unlike her, most of students were not going to be there because they wanted to learn.  Most of them would have their parents paying their way and would probably spend their time talking in class and being disruptive.  She was going there to learn and if any disruptions happened she was going to put them in their place.  I tried to interject in her tirade with a casual comment that perhaps she should go in with an open mind and maybe she would find other students who were also interested in learning.  My interjection was met with another rant about how she was being realistic, and she knew how things were going to be.  Here it was April and she had already projected problems for a class that was not starting until September.  She had already decided that she would encounter problems with the other students based on her past experiences.  Her past was defining her future, and she was now setting out to validate her chosen reality.  Perhaps on another level, she was simply projecting her own disinterest in school.

Everything in this world is a projection by you.  Our movies can be based on a past picture which we keep running in our head or we can change the script and approach each day with no preconceived notions.  You have a choice to create a movie that sees a friendly world or a hostile world.  The reality is both of them are there and neither of them is there.  It is up to you to choose which movie your want on your screen?

Here are some exercises you may want to try:

1.  Remove the movie marquee.  Make it a habit of starting everyday without any preconceived scenarios.  Life is not a series of dress rehearsals rehashing the same script.  Act like you are on stage for the first time and experience everything as though it was happening for the first time.

2.  Get into the habit of using visualizations to match your affirmations.  Spend a few minutes each day mentally reviewing your life as if your dreams have already come true.

3.  Much of what we are projecting into this world is based on our own judgments.  Next time you are seeing something in someone else that you do not like ask yourself the following questions:  Does what I see in others really belong to me?  Is my vision clear or clouded by what I want to see?

If you would like to understand this law better check out this youtube by Hans Wilhelm on the Law of Projection.

 

Whose Blueprint Are You Following?




Winged Ones of Paradise
Watercolor by Beverly Blanchard

 

If your thoughts are the building materials in creating your reality, your beliefs are the blueprint.  When most people hear the word belief, they automatically associate it with religion, culture or politics. Yet, your beliefs are more than that.  They are thoughts that you keep thinking about yourself, your community and your world.  They are the foundational basis of your life.

It is said that we come into this world as a blank slate, and as we grow up our parents, teachers, friends, and society all tell us who we are; what we should think; and how we should behave. Although these people may have had good intentions, many of the beliefs we have picked up along our life journey are not working for us.  Instead they keep us stuck in behaviours in which we live our lives trying to live up to the expectations of others while we move further away from our authentic self. 

Few of us ever take the time to think about whether what we have been told is true or bogus.  We have accepted these beliefs and allowed them to unconsciously shape our reality.  How many of us have been told the following:  You are worthless.  You can’t do anything right.  You will never be able to do it.   You are too old/too fat/too useless/too stupid.  You don’t have what it takes.  You will never be successful.  You aren’t qualified.  You aren’t good enough.

So how do you start identifying what beliefs are no longer serving you?  You begin by looking at areas of your life that don’t seem to be working for you. Look for areas in your life where you feel fear or where your buttons are easily pushed.  Start listening to the habitual words and phrases you are using to describe your life.   When you come across something that is not positive, stop and ask yourself: what would I have to believe for this to be true?  Is this really who I am?

Examining your beliefs it is somewhat like peeling an onion.  The more layers you peel, the more variations of the belief you uncover. As we move through this blog, I will show you other ways to identify and change limiting beliefs.   Next post I will show you how your emotions fit into the picture.

In the meantime, here is a short video about Janine Shepherd.  Janine was training for the Olympics when a tragic accident shattered her dream.  Faced with a doctor’s prognosis of never walking again, she chose to create a new reality for herself based on her belief in her abilities.  Her story shows how important it is to never let someone else’s beliefs direct your life.