Monday, May 18, 2009

Do You Know the Inner You?
(I ask myself...)

So, how can one change the world if you have no controls on the world within?

If the outer YOU is nothing more than a 'persona', connected to the outer world through behavioral responses we like to call 'personality', then who or what is inside, driving this outer presentation shell?

Have you taken the quiet time to get to know that inner self?

Or is that "inner being" doing things in a reactive pre-programmed way? You know, -go to work, make money, pay the mortgage, buy food, meet Mr. or Mrs. Right, have children (fulfilling the prime objective), then get fancy by becoming competitive to see how much better than others one can be at growing our own little ball of dung and perhaps doing some traveling?

That stuff is there by default, part of the prime objective.

I suspect there is something more once we get to know the inner essence that drives the vehicle of our body.

Since the "thinking I " is the inner being, and not simply the ego sensor that perceives the world, the key would be to develop methods of being in control of this "I "; to minimize the reactive and accentuate the proactive. Say like knowing through our collected information that smoking is not good for the body.

Pro Active is actually being at the inner center of self and making positive healthy decisions that lead to positive healthy action. It is taking control of self.

Pro-active is overcoming the 'temptation' to have another chocolate chip cookie when no one is looking, or understanding that by smoking, one is simply a part of the cash flow equation for a cigarette company while slowly killing oneself.

Pro-active is deciding to get in shape and then taking the right actions.

Pro-active is taking one's life in hand and doing the best that one can do with it.

Pro-active is refusing to give in to the temptation that delusion offers -saying one is too old to lose excess weight, or "this is the way I am so if you don't like it bug off".

Pro-active is turning off the TV and writing the book, screen play, calling your relative who you know would love to hear from you, doing some simple stretching, or walking or training to run a marathon.

Pro-active is consciously acknowledging you have a habit of eating chips, drinking beer and then making the decision to stop.

The big problem is, that if we cannot take control of ourselves and save our own inner and outer world, how can we ever hope to change the the earth? The scientists and activated individuals cannot do it by themselves. We cannot just let others do it. We are all part of the greater whole.

What do we want to teach our children?
- That we inevitably are going to kill ourselves and our planet so get used to it?
Or is there something else we can do?
I suspect it begins with acheiveing the little things within the self.

Can you quit smoking? Can you exercise?
Can you control the temptation to say something bitchy or to laugh at someone else?
Can you stop the small habits that lead to big problems later?

I suspect that by setting these kinds of goals from the simple to the more demanding, we learn the power of "NO" with temptation and earn the discipline to take control of ourselves. I am inspired to run by the lesson my fifty-two year old sister Gaye has shown - running the Boston Marathon -twice! Up until a few years ago she never ran at all.



These are some of the things that I hope are being taught in school these days... understanding who and what the inner being is and the relationship that exists between it and the planet.

No comments: