This past weekend I attended a workshop offered by the More to Life Program, where I worked in a supportive capacity. All attending participants came in with a goal in mind, and they would learn tools that would allow them to access their own potential. Through guided methods of exploration, each person took off on a mission to find what has kept them repeating habitual patterns that sabotage any noble intention.
Over the course of the three-day program, it was fascinating to observe how the mind takes on assumptive roles. The circumstances triggering these assumptions are later turned into beliefs. Beliefs and their subsequent emotions discharge their energy and create new connections within the mind. Overwhelmed by our personal feelings, the mind is unable to process the incoming information, thus creating an alternative view justifying what it fails to grasp. The incoming data is, in short, an illusion that we contextualize as reliable. When this data is not verified for accuracy, it goes undetected and it is filed away into the hardwired system that constitutes our history, in other words, the story of our lives. It is important to note that inside the mind there is no lapse of time. To it all unresolved issues are still running their normal courses. The mind does not understand time or cost -- cost being how we tax ourselves in order to justify our erroneous assessments. The sad part is coming face to face with how we diminish our self-worth in the process. From the time we are toddlers, we learn to analyze and interpret others through our senses. As we grow and acquire intellectual ability, we learn to trust these senses and adopt them as infallible. Are they always, though?
I have been studying about consciousness for over 36 years. Experience has taught me that the mind is one complex mechanism, requiring constant evaluation in order to keep a steady pace toward our personal evolutionary process. If we are inattentive to the data placed within this sophisticated filing system, then we can only expect less than optimum results. In the words of the late Jose Silva, my mentor, and creator of The Silva Method, "garbage in, garbage out," and our minds can easily get clogged up, just like the pipes in our kitchen sink.
Once we have taken the necessary steps to look at the beliefs lodged between our ears, we can quickly and objectively verify their validity and move on to more supportive choices. This past weekend, I was privileged to witness greatness in the making. Over 30 students diligently pursued the acquisition of the tools that would enable them to reach these heightened states of consciousness. Seeing these spiritual warriors go for the gold left me in awe of the possibilities of what we can co-create as a global family. This experiential program proves time and time again that when we peel back the layers of lies and expose the truth about our humanness, we find the real purpose for our existence. Upon locating the elements of our truest and most noble nature, we reach a peak from heaven and touch a special place known as gratitude, the one component that gives life its sweet scent. It is through gratitude that our heart expands and finds the strength to project its force, the power of love. It could be argued that gratitude is the "secret sauce" to the manifestation of our reality. Gratitude is both the question and the answer to all our prayers; it is the gateway into unity.
In a world where contrast and diversity battles for the attention of our senses, it is critical to strike a balance between the external and the internal. Cleaning house is no longer just for "the four walls," we must also maintain order at the center of our being, our real home. We must dust off the cobwebs creating confusion and connect with those who we have alienated, raising ourselves into a state of gratitude by merely embracing what is. We no longer need to "Keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change."
For more information on the More to Life Program you may visit www.moretolife.org
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