Positive thinking vs. Mental Contrasting and Goal Setting with Hope

I've been chewing on the ideas of last post, and what I've come to, as something effective and authentic, is goal-setting. Rather than telling myself "I already have this" I am setting the goal, visualizing that, and telling myself, "I can get this if I keep working at it."

This seems much more balanced, in line with scientific research, and honest.

There is another element I've been playing with, that seems outside the range of this goal setting, and I'm not sure what to call it. Structural Tension is what Robert Fritz calls it, Mental Contrasting is what Gabriele Oettingen calls it, but the bottom line is that, if you want to get yourself moving towards a goal subconsciously, you need to visualize both the positive outcome you want, and the current reality/obstacles in your way. This sets up the tension that causes the feeling of necessity to act. After that, you can use whatever strategies you want to help you get it done, but Oettingen added Implementation Intentions into a method she abbreviates to "WOOP." Wish Outcome Obstacle (mental contrasting) Plan (implementation intention) I personally would also add a step where you ask yourself why the outcomes are important to you. Then it becomes "WOW, OP"

In any case, even without mental contrasting, setting goals has robust research behind it, as does hopefulness in regards to your goals (believing you can accomplish them) so I feel comfortable implementing that. This is my current strategy going forwards and we'll see how it performs for me. Hopefully better than the previous strategy which allowed me to get more done but also exhausted me and then I got sick.

Trying to wear Dad's pants. Fake positive thinking vs. real perspective changing.

I asked the great spiritual teacher what to do about feeling like I have no time and no energy to do all the things I want to do, and the great teacher said: "change your psychology." And to elaborate, said, "stay in alignment" (her way of saying stay connected to, aware of, referring to and guided by source, God, spirit, high consciousness, higher vibration, whatever you want to call it).

And 'you are creating this with your thoughts, just stop saying, thinking all the mental chatter about not having time etc.'

I trust this teacher, but this last point is one that often rubs me the wrong way. I hear it bandied around all across the spiritual community. "think positive thoughts, don't let yourself think negative thoughts" and it strikes me as very insincere and weird. It sounds like I'm being asked to pretend that I don't think I'm super busy, which is basically lying to myself. Like trying to ignore a burning building and assuming that will make the fire go away. It sounds like the doublethink of Orson Well's 1986. It just generally seems unhealthy, inauthentic, weird and janky.

That's probably because it often is, in practice. But I'm sure that's not what the teacher would have wanted. There is another way to do it. But it requires the ability to pull back out of your own perspective and realize that your perspective is just one of many, and ultimately no more true than any other perspective. Most of the meaning in our lives (all of it?) comes from us, not some ultimate reality. A person dies and that means things to us that makes us cry. Another person dies and that means things to us that makes us relieved. The difference is not in the act: a person dying, but in the meaning we've attached to it. This person is dear, that person is terrible. This is bad, that is good. The act itself is meaning agnostic. Like a tree falling in a forest with nobody there to hear it. Except instead of "hear" we need to replace it with "give meaning to"

When you really see that, then it is no longer lying to yourself, to drop one perspective and meaning set, in favor of one that creates a preferable experience.

There do seem to be perspectives that are larger, more complete, and thus better models for the world. We function more smoothly, with less effort, and less suffering. We create more love and light in the world. It's not absolute truth, but it is closer to that ineffable light, and so more brightly expresses the qualities of it: love, peace, truth, etc. Like coming closer to the sun and getting more light and warmth.

So, I will try that. The teacher goes one step further, saying, these thoughts you have actually end up creating that reality for you. I suppose that's objectively true. Taking perspectives ends up having self-fulfilling effects. I think she means it even a step further, but that's getting quite far into the realm of "all is just the mind" and though that may be true, and I can intellectually grasp it, it's not quite my experience, so trying to live by it is like the five year old trying to wear dad's pants. kind of awkward, doesn't really fit yet.

OK, thus concludes this months post, only... what, 3 weeks late? I think I'll count anything in the same month as basically on time for this blog.

Until next time, one person who reads this ;D

Now

Even when you are short on time, it is super important to take moments to pause and just appreciate the life you have. You may be dead in twenty seconds, and then all your striving and planning will be for nothing. It seems hopeless or at least frightening, but the solution of the ancients was to do each action as a prayer, as an offering to God. Not just the seemingly important stuff like serving the sick or downtrodden. But even just sweeping the house clean. Making lunch. Ultimately it is all God, so there is no reason to parcel off certain sections and call them holy and the rest secular. God is in every particle, and can be experienced in exquisite beauty at any time. I may take practice, but the possibility is there, so why not at least attempt or practice taking advantage of that fact. No act is small really. It is only minds that are small, and in so being, make the act seem small. Or large, if the mind is that way instead.

This is important for me to remember, as I also strive to be more efficient, to get more done. Even that needs to be done ultimately as an offering to the most high imminent in all, more than as a means to an end. It will work, as a means to an end, but it will be a much richer life, if done in the mindset of journey, rather than destination. As offering, rather than clutching.

Time

I am two months behind.

I am behind in basically everything. I would love an extra two weeks where nothing new was required of me, so I could catch up on everything. But life doesn't tend to give us such things.

I am working on being more efficient, so I need less of that time. I'm working on organizing things better, so what I do takes less time. And I'm setting the intention and goal of leading a life where I do feel like I have plenty of time. Historically, when I do something like that, eventually, I succeed, so, it's exciting and joyful to think about how that will be, when I finally figure it out.

For now, it is nose to the grindstone, with a little extra grind and I try and take some time every now and then to work on improving things so I will eventually get to spaciousness.

Floppy arrows (happens to all of us), Moody teenaged Buddhas, lean in, lean out.

I need two posts now, one for last month and one for this month. I started last months post and never finished it, I wonder why *checks draft*

mostly ranting about too much pointless work, but I've since resolved that enough to not be miserable. I'll extract the gem I came to at the end:

I need to take a moment to refocus and ask myself what I actually want to get out of this program, and keep that in the forefront, as I do assignments, so I'm doing them in a way that serves that purpose. Maybe that means less time on some elements and more on others, or just approaching them an entirely different way.


Anyhoo. This summer is like last summer: an unsustainable amount of work, day in, day out. I can keep up with assignments, barely, but I have too little free time, and too much time doing the assignments. I'm also spending too much time in front of the computer, a fact which typing this blog is not helping.

In the spirit of acting "as if" i were someone I admire, who is both very spiritually wise, and practically successful as well, making things happen in the real world, I've come to a clear realization: I lean forward in the wrong way and lean back in the wrong way.

I lean forward on the "push push push" mentality, working "hard" at tasks, grinding away. It exhausts me, and then my mind, my intuition, narrow, shut down. I get things done, but at what cost? my health, my peace of mind, my connection to the universe.

at the same time I "lean back" from life. It's almost like I'm afraid to be passionate about something, because I'm.... I'm not sure what I"m afraid of. Maybe, of looking childish, being really excited and enthusiastic about things. Maybe, of being let down, when I get excited about something and put all my hope and expectations into it, only to have it fail, or not happen.

This is a tricky thing. really tricky. in the spiritual/new age movement, there is this idea of "being detached" that people try to achieve by just not caring about things, not trying to hard, not putting their all into it. It's like the moody teenager version of the Buddha, "whatever man. I don't care."

And it's not a good way to move through life. you get less done, you feel less, your not plugged in to your love, enthusiasm, source of energy. You avoid taking risks, and ultimately, it's because of fear. Real detachment, equanimity, is guided by Dharma. By what the situation dictates is right. often that calls for intense activity. The detachment then functions as a lubricant: it makes it easier for you to do that hard thing. You then become more likely to do it. But that is a much more... elusive detachment to cultivate. It's a state of poise, with equanimity. Like a fine needle on a compass, sensitive to the slightest pull of the electromagnetic fields around it, balanced on its axis so it can move quickly and easily to wherever that points.

It's the right kind of leaning towards, and leaning away.

And it's what I'm trying for. while the moody new age teenager detachment allows you to avoid the things you don't want to do, mature detachment moves you with momentum and certainty, often right into your fears.

what do you love? what really matters to you? what is the right thing, even though it may not be the comfortable thing?

Let detachment and silence be the pulling back of the arrow, that shoots you with dynamism and speed, straight to the place your internal compass is pointing, through obstacles, fear, resistance.

don't just pull the arrow back till it falls out of the notch in the bow and flops down onto the ground.

good-bye for another month (or two)
-stay playful

Acting "as if." Matching practices to student readiness. Fast and Easy vs. Fast and Focused/Dedicated.

I've been working with the idea of "acting as if" what I wanted were already true. This is particularly useful in terms of self-improvement. What would it feel like, what would you do, how would you act, if the dream you had of yourself were already true? you were already in great shape, had a great relationship, were hardworking and focused, had a razor sharp focus and determination in your spiritual practice? To act like the person in great shape, you'd probably be eating well, exercising regularly, etc. By this, I don't mean imagining you are in great shape and trying to cultivate the feeling of satisfaction of that 24-7, I mean using that image to help you figure out what actions you'd be doing, if you were like that, how you'd think, etc. Research shows that feeling and self-image often follow action, rather than lead it.

That means, if you want to be something, rather than waiting until you feel that way, to take action, start taking the actions that kind of person would take, and that will shift your self image and self feelings to match it. I'm not sure if this works in isolation, I'm doing this as part of a whole regime of self improvement, including introspecting, meditation, and various practises. I feel like I've worked on myself enough that my subconscious mind is generally friendly towards me, usually amenable towards my requests. This is certainly not always the case, I think it is quite often not the case. So there may be some more basic work necessary before acting "as if" is really effective. I can imagine it being just one more self-help jargon trying to get you to believe something that you fundamentally think is untrue, just by repeating it enough, which can actually have the opposite effect.

I think you first need enough actual experience of the malleability of the mind, and of the subjectivity of our perceptions and beliefs, to be able to accept the "as if" mentality with the right amount of lightness and faith. Are you aware that all your beliefs are subjective? That other people's realities, which you can so clearly see are just biases, opinions, unfounded or half-founded beliefs, are no more or less true than your own? Can you hop into another person's perspective and see how it is just as true as your own? Are you comfortable revising your most cherished beliefs, when presented with good evidence that your beliefs are less accurate? Have you actually done this at least a few times? Are you aware that your current belief system is just as arbitrary as the last one? Have you experiences a place of neutral observing, where you aren't judging and labeling what you see, but just experiencing it, raw? or at least, noticing your judgments and preconceptions as they arise? You don't have to be perfect at these things, but if they're totally alien to you, then you may want to work on that a bit before you try and become a belief engineer and start acting "as if" what you want is already true.

If your in the habit of believing your own fantasy stories, the "as if" thing is liable to just be another tool of self-deception. A surface level mental tool that may be interesting for a little bit but not show long-term results, or only very minor ones.

In any case, most of this blog is apparently a caveat about the tiny big of wisdom I'm chewing on. I suppose that's the problem with sharing this kind of stuff generally. It's not useful to all people at all stages of growth/development. That's one of the problems I ran into when running the self-help circuit. The stuff people were talking about required some more fundamental skills to be able to use. We were looking for quick fixes, but the only real answer was through prolonged and dedicated practice. Don't try and find the shortcuts, the one you end-up short-cutting is your own growth. Try and go to fast, try and avoid the hard work, and you end up messing things up and taking longer than the slowpoke. You can go fast, as long as your willing to work with intense focus and devotion. But you can't go fast and easy. You get what you pay for, in energy and time, more than in money. Being rich and able to buy all the experiences you want from spiritual teachers is not gonna get you further that the poor person who doesn't take all the fancy courses, but proceeds with care, devotion, and sustained effort/focus.

It doesn't have to be a grind, but it does take all of you.

in peace,
me

A good dream

I had a dream... last week? two weeks ago? At the end of the dream I was teaching a child how to do something, and then felt a little sad about being corrected, about doing it wrong, so we went to a beautiful beach. Summer, blue sky and sea, white fluffy clouds, summer, some sand grasses behind us, and a gorgeous sparkling white sand beach, empty but for us.

"If you were to take and count each individual grain of sand on this beach, and match it to a star, there would be more stars than grains of sand. In fact if you were to take all the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world, there would be more stars in space than grains of sand. In fact if you were to take all the grains of sand on this beach, and match each one to a galaxy, with it's millions, billions, of stars, there would be more galaxies than grains of sand, I think. In fact, the universe may just be endless, going on forever, and even if it's not, even if you could travel to the edge of it, just beyond would be another universe, and another, on to infinite universes."

Somewhere around the end of this, I realized this was one of those dreams where I was eloquently explaining something to someone, that was actually meant for me, though previously I never realized it until after I woke up. But this time I did. I realized I was dreaming, and something vast and yet personal, something gentle and all-knowing was talking to me, through me, as me. The beauty of the beach, the vastness of the universe, the benevolence of that Presence talking directly to me, welled up as deep emotion, and I started crying, like you cry when you suddenly are relieved of all your worries and stresses, suddenly find out everything is ok, everything will be alright, will be taken care of, that you are loved, that everything your heart most deeply desired will be, is being given, incomprehensible generosity.

The voice continued through my mouth, but I was no longer thinking, just weeping uncontrollably, louder and more intensely, cathartically,

"And this here, (life, as we know it) will end, but we will not end, we will keep going on, eternally, onto some other, even better life, light, once we've done what we've come here for, which is just to remember our true name... which is love."

At this point I was sobbing like a baby, overwhelmed with emotion that I couldn't even classify, except that it was a release, and it was incredibly nice, bursting into crescendo at the last word, which I knew was also "God." I wept in gratitude for a little longer, and the dream faded to light and I woke up, tears on my face, still sobbing, to the morning sun coming in, the nasty cold I had woken up to before going back to sleep and having this dream, healed to the point where I didn't need to take a sick day, (which I had been thinking, when I went to sleep that night.)