We All Live in the World of Our Own Making

How else could we live alongside others with profoundly different beliefs about so many subjects?

Let’s take one subject: healthy eating. I just read an article by a dietician stating that, for an experiment, she ate a diet of 80% ultra-processed foods for a month. By the end of her research, she said she felt great, slept better, and was happier than before.

This is so interesting because it flies in the face of current research. So why would this be her experience?

One explanation might be found in health traditions like Ayurveda. Eating in a pleasant atmosphere, without rushing, with enjoyable company and tasty food, will enhance any benefits found in the meal. Your body will be primed to maximize the assimilation of nutrients, water, and phytochemicals. Your feelings of satisfaction, happiness, and love for your companions will cause your body to flood with hormones beneficial to your immune system and, frankly, all systems, improving your health.

So, taking this example, we don’t know if this was the case with her; it may just illustrate how we need not be so militant about our eating and not fear when we err from our intentions to eat more healthily.

This can easily be extrapolated to other topics, from cultural beliefs to medical and political ones. The experience of life on this planet is plastic; our attention, interests, and beliefs converge to create our reality. That is the reality we pay attention to.

One person finds research pointing to the dangers of vaccines, whereas another person finds research proving their safety. Researchers also have built-in biases that affect the variables used in conducting the studies and the results.

Our biases will cause one opinion to make us balk and feel unsafe, whereas another causes us to agree comfortably. So certainly, we will move in the direction of those whose opinions we agree with, and our beliefs will be naturally reinforced.

Our beliefs and biases are structures manufactured by our ego. Think of the ego as the software of your mind; we’re born with a blank slate and built upon it throughout our lives. Most of it is completely underneath our awareness. Our likes and dislikes, judgments, and preferences create what we perceive.

As we evolve, we slowly become aware of this. Through our higher self, that which is beyond the temperamental ego, we actually begin to notice there are multiple ways of looking at things. And that there are many valid sides to an issue. We develop the ability to transcend those differing opinions and see their causes. This gives us choice and the ability to create our reality consciously.

It is funny how, in our systems, take health, and politics, for instance, leaders think that one size fits all. If this food, law, or assistance fits one, it will universally be best for all. But that does not work. We are more complex than that. One food may be suitable for one person and not for another. One treatment, drug, or new law may be helpful for one person but not another, and so on.

Essentially, it is more subjective.  Where one sees a world falling apart, another sees the light heralding a new emerging age. What is interesting is the behavior that results from these different views. While some gnash their teeth and complain, others may joyfully create new services and enterprises, finding new ways to help, enlighten, and heal people. Who do you think is more fulfilled and happier?

Let Your Life Flow Through You

What do you do when it seems as though the world is imploding? When all around you the scaffolding of your life that held your assumptions and stability seem to be slipping out from under you?
    Realize it was never there in the first place. Every day, when we awaken, we create our lives anew. When things around us fail it doesn’t mean we failed. The illusion is always shifting.
Nothing can stay the same. The very nature of reality is a continuous evolution.
     We all have a niche on something we do, are, create, or provide. We all are inspired when we feel passionate. With all that is going on, I see many of us losing touch with that passion.
    Passion is integral to a fulfilling life; it’s a natural expression of wellbeing.
    As I wrote about a few weeks ago, a friend asked me, “What are you excited about?”. Just posing that question led to more inquiries for myself. It shifted my whole mindset from the daily issues and problems to, Yeah, what am I going to create the rest of this year? And next year? Where do I want to be? How do I want to be? What do I really want?
    Once you begin this questioning you might feel blocked. It may have been so long since you stopped to ask yourself these questions. If so, don’t worry if answers don’t come right away. Ask, then sit gently, quietly, with eyes closed. Let it simmer in the depths of your being. Then let it go.
    It won’t be long before ideas begin to appear.
    Did you know more millionaires were made during the depression era than ever had before? More opportunities arose with cheaper labor and costs. Entrepreneurial spirit grew from need. And market needs change with the political, economic, and cultural changes. In our case, now with the pandemic, we have growing needs for services and products that provide ways to get together virtually, safe delivery of food and supplies, safe delivery of health care, education, entertainment, physical fitness, organizational needs, finances, career planning, life coaching and so on. Most needs can be met with adapting to the changing situations.
    Keep asking. When you pick up the mantle of your dreams, your life becomes strong and clear.
    You’ve got to let your life flow through you.
Andrew Neel, Unsplash