Part One: World One
When we are babies, we are at the mercy of those around us and our environment. Everything is done to us and for us. If we need something, we have no means to get it ourselves. We give our caretakers little clues that we need something. If they don’t understand those little clues, or don’t respond, first we squawk, then launch a full-on fit if our needs aren’t being met. As babies we are learning machines. We figure out quickly what works for us and record that behavior into our brains for future reference.
When we grow up, we tend to maintain this model of thinking. We can engage in habitual thought processes that random events happen TO us. The power over our life is outside ourselves and we have no control over the process. Our old model of how the world works kicks in, and we give clues, squawk, then go into a full-blown hissy fit if things don’t go our way.
When we live this way, there are a lot of payoffs. We receive attention when we tell our tales of woe. We don’t have to take responsibility for the events in our lives. Things just happen TO us. But we also feel out of control, purposeless, at the mercy of other people and events.
There is another way of living, if we can just change one thing. It is both the easiest and the hardest thing to change: our own minds.
Next week, we’ll talk about another world to live in and explore tools to help us shift into and stay in this world.
