I have been taking a fabulous tele-class with Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God.
Neale explained very clearly the reason we are stressed, get stuck in ruts and repeat behaviors that do not serve us is because we see things as an imagined truth as opposed to the actual truth. It is has been said that if you want to change your “life” you have to change your reality… shift out of the imagined to the real truth. This is possible, because you create your reality by virtue of what you believe to be true.
There are according to Neale three levels or layers to the truth: the imagined, the apparent and the actual truth. Most of us operate at the level of the imagined truth based on beliefs we integrated throughout our life and the “data” we collect to support it. That is why we imagine things to be true. The problem is usually this imagined truth formed when we were very young and lacked to ability to discern if we really think it is true. This is what is called “our story.” Until we become conscious of this, we create our reality based on data we have been collecting that may not be true but supports the story.
The problem or opportunity is what we think is true can also be untrue, and or spun a different way.
The goal is to live one’s life at the level of the actual truth without the filter or lens we have in place that created the imagined truth. It is like getting to a higher level of how you perceive the experience based on better data. Neale suggested this higher level is called using the mind to communicate directly with the soul which is the storehouse of the real truth. To get to that level you have to drop your story, this allows one to live in a stress free zone.
To me this is just like changing a habit.
I recommend that you try it. First you have to be open to why this is beneficial for you to “drop your story.”)
Here’s an example of what I am talking about:
A woman I once coached had a pattern of being overweight because her romantic relationships ended with her feeling dumped. In reality, she brought that outcome on by being fearful that she would end up getting hurt and abandoned. This was a childhood misconception she picked up by watching her mother relate to her dad that way. The “story” she had to dump so she would avoid getting dumped was that she was unlovable.
To do this, you start with noticing the emotion you feel in your body when a situation comes up that triggers you and feels familiar. Start paying attention to your internal dialogue. Then pause…take a few deep breaths and become the observer of the experience as you remind yourself that you are not more than your ego. It is your ego that feels hurt. By practicing meditation you gain an awareness of an expanded sense of your self that is beyond suffering.
Secondly, you come to understand that “story” is an imagined truth. It is not really true. You understand thoughts such as “I’m not loveable” were really based in a false interpretation of the past coming from a part of the brain that is stuck in the past. The part Neale added that was brilliant was to go one step further and to try to access the wisdom of the Soul.
Once you stop and, breathe you can ask the Soul for new data to come in that is informed by the Soul not the ego. This is how you shift your truth about an event and reduce your stress in a Nano second. You use your mind as a doorway to the Soul, not the past. This is what I believe transformation is all about. If you start up a daily meditation practice, it will eventually become second nature to you to reduce your stress by dropping your story naturally.
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