by Brian Germain
One
of the most powerful forces in the Universe is Inertia. Whether we are speaking
of the momentum of a falling body or that of an internal thought, things tend
to continue doing what they have been doing. This fact of physics and
psychophysics is not necessarily how things must proceed however, because, as
we have all learned in school, things continue in the same direction unless
acted upon by another force. This means that our fear-based thinking, our
belief systems that lead us to expect that bad things will get worse, can be
altered if we introduce the one force in the Universe that defies gravity,
inertia and depressive thought-patterns: Consciousness.
It is true that we all have ideas
that we have been repeating, some consciously and some unconsciously, that we
should leave things pretty much as they are. In fact, this kind of belief
structure is the basis for much of the way the world works. We continue the
momentum of thoughts we have had in the past, and thus a feeling of
powerlessness governs our lives. "If I change,' this kind of thinking says, "I
may find myself in a reality that is worse than the one I am living. Best to
keep doing what I have been doing" While this is true from a certain perspective,
if we do not change, we are certain to live out a future that looks a great
deal like the past. We will never evolve beyond what we are right now unless we
take the ultimate risk called Change.
Life changes no matter what we do.
We continue to change and grow, although conscious growth is always more
preferable to the alternative. Much of the change that occurs in human
experience comes as a result of powerful, often painful prodding from our life
experiences, driving us away from what we do not want. Another alternative,
what might be called "Conscious Creation", comes as a result of envisioning
what we do want and pursuing it. This is the kind of change that leads us to
the most desirable outcomes, and to the life that we feel most joyous in living.
We fear change, not because we love
what we have, but because we dread altering the patterns that seem to keep us
afloat. These patterns, or rituals if you will, work certain aspects of our
brain physiology to create a sense of normalcy, that dims the houselights of
our adrenal cortex, and make us feel safe. This effect, when used wisely, can
be of great comfort in times of real danger, but comfort for the sake of
comfort always comes at a great cost. When we hold still in the form of our
lives, and remake our future persona based on who we have been in the past, we
limit ourselves. Limits, it would seem, are the antithesis of the force that
gives us a feeling of being alive.
Freedom is the basis of this
Universe. We feel best when we are expanding and conquering new ground, and
fear is the friction that holds us back from taking on new challenges. If we
are to be who we most enjoy being, we must always take on novelty, based on
what brings us joy, and reach beyond what has been. Only then can we tap into
the source of our inner being, the energy that gives us life.
We will all experience something in
this life. Some will be drawn forward due to a sense of fear of unwanted
consequences. Those are the ones that nobody writes books about. A few, perhaps
a growing number, will choose to take the scary path that leads to a higher
form of life-joy by dreaming of new adventures and then living them. In doing
so, these brave souls will awaken the larger part of them that craves new
experience for the sake of new experience, and lives off the emotional release
that comes as a result of forging ahead into undiscovered country.
In truth, we are all the same on the
inside. We all desire to expand. Much like the balance of Entropy and Gravity,
the internal forces of expansion and contraction within the human consciousness
are in constant interaction, the fate of which is the story of our lives. Fear, hate, depression and hopelessness are
the forces that hold us to the life circumstances of the past. Much resembling
gravity in the way in which they are champions of the static and stationary,
these emotions lead us to more of the same kinds of experiences, including more
of those feelings that we desire so much to avoid. Love, joy, fascination and
exhilaration about what is next all describe the expansion of the soul into the
realms of possibility thus far unrevealed. This path, the entropic expansion of
what is, takes us on a far more redeeming journey. It leads us toward our true
purpose in life: the pursuit of the experience of being alive.
BSG