In the way or on the way?

In the way or on the way?

“I can’t do that because XXXX will happen”. These beliefs will prevent you from taking action. Every decision that we make comes from our Amygdala (Amygdala is the integrative centre for emotions, emotional behaviour, and motivation. The amygdala is commonly thought to form the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli). Our behaviour is based on what we believe that will give us advantage over disadvantage, reward over risk or positive over negative. Our awareness is based on our life experiences. We naturally want to avoid the predator and seek the prey (amygdala biased). Above the amygdala is an area called the prefrontal cortex. This area calms down the impulses installed in us, including the subjective bias so that we can spontaneously do things instead of reacting.

A mission instead of an emotional reaction.

When we are living in line with our calling, we spontaneously take action from within and live a fulfilled and meaningful life. We will always excel, achieve, be reliable, responsible and disciplined in the things that we value. The second we have to do something that resonates at a lower level in our values we will procrastinate, hesitate and frustrate. In other words we limp our life. The lower values make us uncertain, doubtful and to offload decisions on to other places and people in authority. The child in us will always say : “I should, got to, have to and ought to”, where as an adult will say: “I want to”. For example I have no problem in listening to podcasts, writing, researching, eating, moving, reading or swimming but ask me to go retail shopping and I will always find an excuse.

We are taught to invest in consumables that depreciate in value rather than investing in products that bring us passive income. These outside authoritative beliefs push us to short term gratification rather than long term vision. The short term quick fixes are for our physical, mental and emotional body.

Find your highest value, and put leverage onto it. So if you want to lose weight, rather than look at the weight loss look at what it will enable you to do, how will it make you feel? That’s really what you want, it’s the emotional component.

Our body and habits always show where are values and priorities are. We are not here to put people onto a pedestal or in a pit. We are here to put people into our heart. Emerson famously quoted: “Envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide.” You are your own unique person. Dissolve the infatuation with others and learn to love yourself. Be inspired by the core values, perceptions, decisions and actions that you take, rather than choose the pedestal or pit. Come to a higher level, be your own leader, the executor and choose tasks that are high priority.

When we touch a fire we get burnt. This is the same as symptoms of pain and discomfort coming up in life. It is telling us that how we are living and relating to life is not working. We tend to go into our head rather than into our heart. Our head is full of noise and chaos. It creates a feedback mechanism. Going from order to disorder is returning to that amygdala. The Buddhist would call that being in your karmic wheel rather than your dharmic pot.

Nature is always working to get itself to a state of equanimity. We are always in a state of in and out of balance. We all want to be loved for who and what we are. By not navigating our emotions, this leaves us depleted and energy less. Find the blessing in every day life with gratitude, then you will be ‘on your way, rather than in the way’.