Re-Imagining: Are you aware of where your automatic responses come from?
Did you know that when most of us make decisions and take action, 95% of our decisions are made with limited conscious awareness? What this means is that the tapes and beliefs that have been programmed into our minds have created automated responses from how we react to situations and the people we bring into our life.
William Shakespeare wrote, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
While right and wrong, good and bad, on a universal level makes sense, when we dig deeper we can understand Shakespeare’s insight that this also creates automatic, canned responses that have been programmed into your mind.
While on a universal level, you know it is considered bad to lie or steal, on a personal level, your opportunity is to discover what is healthy or unhealthy for you. Advertisers may and will tell you what foods that are good or bad for you, but do they know your body as well as you do? All I can tell you is to know where your food comes from, make sure it comes from healthy soil and become aware of how your body reacts to it. Does it make you sluggish or does it energize and fuel you? Are you ingesting healthy or toxic ingredients?
The beliefs that have been instilled in you matter and it takes hard work to question whether they are actually yours. Only you know what is for you, and what is not, no matter how much anyone will try to convince you otherwise.
Becoming Aware of Automatic Responses and Blindspots
It is often when you are unable or unwilling to see or experience life that causes you to stumble along the path. So, your opportunity is to become aware of your automatic responses or blindspots. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like you are going through the motions in autopilot? Have you ever been in your car driving and when you get to your destination, you feel numb and don’t remember the journey? It happens to all of us as we rush through our life pursuing what we were told was good and honorable for us.
But when you step out of the structures and belief systems that you were conditioned were taught to believe in, you can start asking questions like is this for me or is this not for me? The most foundational relationship you can ever have in your life is with yourself and unlearning and relearning what sparks and ignites you (its4me) and what depletes you (itsnot4me). It is interesting to learn where your automatic responses, limiting beliefs, and good and bad beliefs originate. You can question not just your belief system (particularly if it’s limiting you) but also to examine how you respond and why it matters.
So much is possible when you put down the manual of success
Can you re-imagine the world where children are taught to distinguish between what is healthy for them and what is unhealthy; whether it is people who become trusted friends, beliefs they adopt and food they consume.
It is one thing to teach a child that fast food or alcohol may be bad for them and vegetables are good for them, but a whole world of opportunity awaits in helping them become aware of what is healthy or toxic for their heart, mind, body and soul.
Begin doing what you want to do now
First, before you start teaching, you can learn for it yourself. How can anyone “teach” anything they don’t practice themselves?
Francis Bacon shared with us that, “We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.”
Doing whatever is meaningful to you will recharge your batteries and lift your spirits, so be resolute in your determination to follow your intuition.The key is to begin to take action, because there is a window of opportunity open to you now, to move from reacting to experiencing life fully. You may have been taught that success is good and failure is bad. But what happens when you become aware that there are no mistakes, just life lessons to creating a healthy life. To know what is healthy for you, you learn how not to sabotage yourself along the way. It’s a gift called life and it’s up to you to decided how you want to show up and who you want at your side.
Showing up
I learned a long time ago that people are simply doing the best they can. And instead of judging or blaming, I started to realize, even when I got hurt or disappointed, that only I know what is healthy for me. I started to question the beliefs and programs I was running in my mind. And along the way, I met many people who tried to convince me they had my answers, but they did not take the time to become aware of my questions. I had to do my work to uncover what and who is healthy and toxic for me. They were not bad people, as they were doing their best, but I became aware, they were not healthy, for me.
It would be much easier for me to sit back quietly and observe the world but I decided to show up. I am not better than anyone and yet, I am very different from a lot of people around me. I have been told many times that I am way ahead of my time, and to be honest, all I understand from that is that people feel safe with what they know. It is easier to live in a world of good and bad than to shift to also becoming aware of what is healthy or unhealthy for you.
For example, when I started to become aware that the increase in breast cancer is correlated to toxic chemicals in mainstream deodorants, I started questioning my automatic response to what I was told was good for me and understanding that I should not apply anything on my skin that I could not eat. I started to question and become aware rather than accept the status quo especially since I saw it hurting so many people around me. I knew there were healthier options to dealing with body odor, which I was taught was bad and embarrassing.
Reality became a lot more real
I have become aware that if those who believe that there can be a healthier path sit back or hide, nothing will shift, as what always existed will prevail. But when we share healthy news and healthy ways of living, especially through healthy online networks, much becomes possible. We can then start finding and connecting with each other to walk in a healthy direction on our journey.
It takes small steps to believe that you can create a healthy life and relearn what works for you, and what doesn’t. I am sure auto pilot is healthy when you are a pilot, but when you are navigating your life, what is healthy for you? What is unhealthy? These are questions guiding me to greater awareness; what are yours? How do you truly want to show up in our world, and with who?
Thank you for showing up!
Ayelet, Lund, BC September 2019
