You Must Think Like Me

When growing up, we were mind controlled every way.  From the fundamentalist church we went to and the family I grew up in, the unwritten rule and code of the day was YOU MUST THINK LIKE ME!

Now the inhabitants of the family and the church would never admit to this.  They would say I was crazy.  They would say I was brainwashed.  In fact, it isn't that they just would say these things, but they have already made sure our friends know that I"m crazy and brainwashed.  I've been ostracized by everyone that knew me.

You see, I didn't accept all of this belief any longer.  I challenged it.  I questioned it.  I didn't just subscribe to the mind control philosophy of YOU MUST THINK LIKE ME.

They didn't like that.  They tried further countermeasures but those didn't work.  They escalated the countermeasures through every means possible and yet those didn't work.  When they could not control and manipulate my mind anymore, they continued to pester me every day with hurtful assaults and comments.

I had to walk away...

In my case, I finally had to walk away from the family.  I had to leave it behind.  There was no way I was going to accept the mind control that they were forcing upon me.  I didn't want to subscribe to their views and beliefs that YOU MUST THINK LIKE ME!

Yet, today in this country and world, I see the continuation of the mind control methods being employed.  People look at one another and state, YOU MUST THINK LIKE ME or I won't be your friend or I won't have anything to do with you or I will ridicule you.

Off with your head...

It is epidemic that we have gotten to a place where we hate one another so much because of some position the other person holds.  It doesn't matter what position it is, there is no coming together and no balance.  It is all about thinking like what you believe, or off with your head!

Social media displays this far more than most things.  In fact, I think it is more efficient showing the hatred for one another than even the churches or mind controlling families like my own.  You see it every day and if you don't, you're not opening your eyes.

Why is it that our way is the only right way.  Why is it that YOU MUST THINK LIKE I DO or you are wrong?  Why is it that we cannot even begin to entertain something different than what we believe?

No way to learn from others...

There is no way to grow as a person if you only see things in one dimension.  There is no way to learn from others if you see all that hold different view points as the enemy or the losers or the ones that are horrible people and scum of the earth.  There is no way to rise to higher moments in our world if all we do is stand opposed to one another.

If what we believe and think is so solid, it will stand.  We will be able to accept differing viewpoints without harming our foundation.  Yet, if our foundation is something that is not strong or we do not have confidence in, then we will not feel as if we can stand with others who think differently.

Thinking differently and allowing ourselves to entertain those thoughts is essential to being human.  It is required for us to grow.  It is necessary for our survival.

When you look at life as "YOU MUST THINK LIKE ME", than you're limiting humanity and holding all of us in a prison of our own making.  May we shake this attitude that is so pervasive across all communities and peoples and see how we can come together for our common good.

If all of our ideas were right and all other ideas are wrong, will we ever make it into a new millennium or will we be the downfall of our own civilization.  We will destroy our own by thinking we know all and everyone else is wrong?

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Those Gossip Hour Prayer Meetings

I grew up in this and so I'm writing from my experiences.  While it is my experiences, I see plenty of evidence that it happens in many other places right under the noses of those who claim it does not.  Yes, I'm talking about those gossip hour prayer meetings.

Growing up, we'd be in church on Sunday morning.  Praising Jesus, sharing and fellow-shipping with one another and enjoying all that God had given us.  We were happy to help one another and be uplifting.  We would pray for the lost souls that had not found their way to Jesus.

As the music played and the minster spoke, we would fill our hearts with wonder and amazement at new insights presented to us based upon the scriptures.  We would walk out of the church feeling so wonderful and loved and blessed.

Then, it happened!

It was when we got in the car, that everything changed.  All of the sudden you would hear, "did you know Sam's brother was an alcoholic?"  "Did you know that Teresa and Joe were not married, but they have two kids together?"  "I was shocked to learn that the Donarays were struggling in their marriage!"  By all means, "the Jackson boy told his parents he was gay!"  (all names are fictional to illustrate a point)

These are only a few of the examples I would hear from my own parents and family.  We weren't alone, because as a kid I loved to listen to the adult conversations.  Heck, some of these people wouldn't even wait to leave the church before they shared their insights (a.k.a gossip).  As long as they were quietly whispering in the corner away from the individual they were talking about, it was fair game to gossip.

Of course, no one called it gossip.  No one would entertain the thought that it was gossip.  No one would admit to doing this.  Yet, they would push and solicit more information out of the individuals so they could better pray for them.  In fact, it was more, "keep me up-to-date" so I can pray better for the individual.  At least that's why my little ears heard beyond the words they said.

Keep me up-to-date stuff...

I'm sure they all meant well, or I hope they did.  However, this "keep me up-to-date stuff was more fodder for the gossip.  Yeah, I know, if I was standing on stage saying this, there's a good chance tomatoes would be thrown at me by now.  If they didn't throw tomatoes, they would be claiming that "my church" doesn't do this!  They would claim, I don't do this!  They would make sure you knew they were the self-righteous ones, not like all those other heathen churches.

This always made me feel icky inside as a kid.  Yet, I got so brainwashed in it that I thought it was how the world worked.  I would find out later, that it would take me years to start understanding just how brainwashed and deluded I was.  It would take years for me to undo the brainwashing that I had been forced into.

And according to my family, I'm the "brainwashed one" because I didn't obey their every brainwashing command!

As humans, if we're not careful, we do the complete opposite of what we think we do.  We blind ourselves to what we do as if we are the righteous ones, while others are the ones that need the help.  It is only through deep soul searching and awareness, that we discover who we truly are.

If you're not carefully evaluating yourself and going deep within to see what is in your innermost heart, than you're most likely part of the problem you despise.  Often we deflect the parts in our own life that we don't want to see by pointing the fingers at everyone else.  It is an easy and effective way of keeping the spotlight off of what is truly on the inside of us.

It is easy to say we have love in our words, but the hard part is showing that we truly do.

#LoveAndWords

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Don't Need Religion

These days, it seems like everyone has a little bit of it and too many have too much of it!  Wondering what I am talking about?  I'll tell you - it's religion!  Religion permeates every part of our society, our cultures, and our existence.  No matter what we want to believe or not believe, it impacts our life each and every day.  You can avoid it all you want, but it is still there doing its thing.

For those who know me, they know that religion is generally a 4 letter word in my mind.  After all, I had horrendous experiences with it from an early age until I got out of the church.  The first molester got me when I was just a few years old while going to the bathroom in a church.  I still remember hearing the congregation singing their hymns above us, as the molester was having fun with me in the downstairs basement bathroom.

Of course, it continued on to the caretakers of my life that told me how much God loved me and the way in which they were required to demonstrate that to me.  After all, how could anyone not want to be loved by God and in such a special way (insert sarcasm voice here).  The thing was, everyone turned their head to the emotional, physical and sexual abuse I was going through.  If they couldn't see what was happening, I'm sure it was just like the rest of our society who closes their eyes to the evil before them.

Judgment Is For Those That Want To Be Judged

Judgment Is For Those That Want To Be Judged - That's the first tweet I sent out on my new twitter account @mindbodythought . While it may seems pretty straight forward, there have been multiple instances lately where people felt it was their duty, responsibility and life mission to judge me. Yet, in most of the circumstances, I found it to be disrespectful and hurtful. These people did not see it that way of course.

I have been wondering with curiosity just why this same scenario has played out more than once. It seems peculiar to me and so I have stopped and let my mind think on this. Maybe it is just coincidence that it happened so many times all of the sudden but somehow, I believe when things like this repeat, there is a reason for it. In this case, it is either something I am supposed to learn or something I am clearing out from my life and moving on.

Growing up, we lived in a very judgmental house which went to a very judgmental church and just about everything I heard every day was in some way judging others. If it was not something one person was doing that my family did not like, it was some other instance or event or person, place or thing. It really did not matter what it was but it was almost like judging others around us was as important as breathing.

This of course carried on to church where the minister and people of the church sat in constant judgment of its members. You were taught to believe and act in certain ways lest ye not be judged! Yet, didn't the Bible say, "judge not, lest ye be judged". I guess that part of the bible must not have had as much importance. Oh sure, if you went in and confronted everyone about this, no one would acknowledge or understand that they were judging anyone. In fact, you would be the one feeling wrong and out of place if you ever attempted to bring this subject up.

You were taught not to question the authority in the church and to just accept it as if it was as true as the words you read in the bible. In many ways, how you viewed what was written in the bible and spoken in church was through the method of what the church said was right and anything you believed must match up to their interpretation of said beliefs. As much as the church wanted you to think that you were using your own free will and your own brain to evaluate things, those that did not believe and follow the church were not close with the rest of the members. It was very subtle but very profound in how this happened.

Many people do this very same thing today in our society. Often no one is even aware they are doing it because it is so common place for them. Churches do it without flinching and even the members of the church would not even recognize it if a billboard was placed up in front of their church. It of course carries over into politics, society, family, laws, friendships, relationships and just about anything that we do. It is such a part of our fabric and yet in many ways, when we judge others, we sit in judgment of ourselves.

I have even seen some new age philosophies and healing practices that have worked hard to not be the same as a church or to believe in what the church believes. However, these same people are doing some of the same things but they just give it different names and more enlightened subjects. Of course, if you tried to bring it to their attention, you would be met with a force and resistance like no one has ever seen. Much of these new age movements involve sitting in judgment of others but doing so through a very subtle way. They appear as if they hold the answers to what is going to happen or to how you should live your life or even what healing modalities that you should use. Unfortunately, because people have been so conditioned to being judged and not trusting their own brain, intuition and insight, they follow these new age leaders with passion.

It is not just church either. Take any of the news pundits on TV from any of the news channels. You will see dynamic, out spoken people that appear to be authorities on how you should view politics, the news and the world. They expound upon these ideals, write books, give speeches and are constantly critical of everything taking place they do not agree with. At no time, do you see these people truly sitting down and listening to another person's point of view that is opposing to their view. Sure, they all have some poll or evidence or passion to back up what they say but when you get down to it, there is a strong judgment being rendered against anyone who does not believe in the way that they do.

We all need to take a step back as individuals and as a society or even as a world and evaluate how we are judging others around us. It may be through our thoughts or actions. It might be through our words or our silence. We may feel it is our God given right to let people know how they are failing in life according to our standards and beliefs. Just because a person says nice things or says things that seem to have an element of truth to them does not necessarily make these statements worthy of giving away our power.

At the beginning of this, I said that sometimes when situations arise, it makes me go in and question it with curiosity. I'm not exactly sure why these situations keep arising for me but one thing I am learning is that I do not have to respond to them. If someone has been brainwashed into believing what they believe, you are not going to change their mind. They are fixated on these things and the forces within these belief systems is strong. Yes, I know there are times that I really want to respond but if I did so, I would end up doing nothing different than what these people are doing to me. If I do not want to be judged, than it makes sense that I should not sit there in judgment.

We all have to answer for our own lives and the choices or decisions we make. The more we question our beliefs and our actions in life, the more we will truly come to know who we are as humans and as individuals. The answers to our questions in life do not come from others who are charismatic or who seem to hold the answers. The answers come from within us. The answers are part of who we are and all we need to do is to seek them out. Of course, you can search for them in churches, in new age philosophies, in the media or in many other places but at the end of the day, what matters is what you find within your mind and your body and your spirit.


For Further Reading:
1) Ask Questions Within
2) Are You Brainwashed



Blog Post & Images (c) 1/21/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Validation Of Child Abuse

I was reading about some of this stuff from the minister dude in Atlanta, Georgia (Pastor & Bishop Eddie Long) that is accused of molesting some boys. That in itself makes me want to puke. However, that's not why i'm writing here.

Many of the things that I've been through, sometimes it seems like no one else has ever gone through it, or I just don't often hear about it. And so at times, I fall back into the old tapes that I'm crazy, I've been brainwashed, etc. These are all the things that my family said to me.

There was one part in some of what I read on this current news story about the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church story where the one boy stated (and I'm paraphrasing), "it started out with a neck massage and then led to further things." When I read that, it hit me so hard. It was like the story of someone I never met was validating what I already know has happened to me.

My father used to always have neck, head and back pain. He knew that I had a touch that could do a little back rub on him and he would feel better. I was only a young teenager at the time much like these boys were in this church. The only thing is, that the massages often led to him pulling his pants down and then off into the land of sexual abuse. Writing about this still almost makes me want to go puke right now. And I've moved way beyond so much of this but it still hits me deep.

Its one of the reasons I think that I still struggle to do massage (I am a licensed massage therapist) which I enjoy doing and so many tell me I'm very talented with. I know my touch isn't like many other massage therapists because I sense, feel and pick up things that most don't. Yet, I'm still triggered back to those days of a massage where the the message is so mixed and confused in my mind at times. It is like trying to split the good part of massage from the bad part of massage where my dad molested me. It is like dividing water or so it seems.

But hearing this in the news is tough. I feel for these boys. Like these boys, I too, went through all the justifications of the abuse because of some scripture or interpretation of this being what God wanted my father to do. I ache for these young guys because I know first hand how freaking hard it is to deal with this. The anger within me rises!

While it is rough, I know this is just an opportunity for me to heal further and go deeper into reclaiming all of these things. After all these years of work, it sometimes gets tough. It feels extremely tough and difficult right now but I know I can make it through this - I've already survived much worse!

(Above Picture taken at Fort Lauderdale, FL - (c) 02/15/01)

*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

Are You Brainwashed?

I am constantly amazed when I just observe people and humanity, just how much we follow things without question. Of course, if you're reading this, I'm sure the first reaction is, others do this but not me for I know when someone is trying to get one over on me. However, I think we all follow to some degree without question.

For me when I grew up, I was heavily brainwashed in the ways of one particular church denomination. Now it wasn't like someone strapped me to a table and put electrodes into my brain forcing me to follow what they said. It was more subtle than that. It was much more subtle than that. The brainwashing occurred in small and tiny little pieces that were almost too small to see with the naked eye. I'm not sure a microscope would have picked it up either. These things were cloaked around acceptance into the group. The acceptance into the group was not that anyone was allowed or not allowed in the doors, but that once they were allowed in the doors, there was a degree to which people were accepted or somewhat shunned in the group dynamics. Yes, there were things that were stated outright in many of the sermons, but they were the overall structure given to the brainwashing.

While you may be ready to say, I know of churches that do this and focus on the churches, this is not where brainwashing stops. We are involved in it every day of our life whether it is in an office we work or a job that we go to. It could be in some organization that we are a part of or it could be a community we are aligned with in some manner. While some of these may not necessarily denote a horrible ideal of brainwashing, they are in fact imposing some of the same things. It is up to each individual to not follow the unspoken truths of each source that I mentioned without pause but to question that which is presented as truth. Questioning these things through the sensing of our bodies can be one of the most important truth detectors for us.

Let's go one step further though in where you might find brainwashing. Have you ever stopped to think what the advertisements on the internet or on TV are doing to you? They have the right music, the right beat, the right images and emotions depicted to implant in your mind, the need to buy or use whatever it is that they are offering. What about the news? You know the source that tells you everything that is going on in the country and supposedly the world. Have you ever noticed though that the percentage of raw news facts is a fraction of the overall reported opinion by whichever news host you're listening to? If you haven't, put your critical glasses on and watch the news. Let me know what you see because I'm sure it will be different than what you have seen before.

Even in the new age enlightenment camps of our society, there is brainwashing. Maybe it doesn't appear that way but if you look closely you will see it. They often replace so many of the ideals and concepts in churches for a "more enlightened" version as they would say. However, as long as you follow their truths, and their origins, you'll be fine. The minute you start to question these things, it will be proclaimed that you are just not enlightened or you still have a ways to go on your journey. There can be a lot of good in these new age things but make sure you're just not following them blindly. It is ok to question, to ponder and not be in agreement with them. That is part of our human experience. It is part of our growth and our journey.

We can also look at governments from the United States to those around the world. Have you noticed how close Chavez is taking Venezuela to socialism? Some may disagree with that but there have been many changes Chavez has done all in the name of helping people and yet I feel the people are blindly being led down a road that is going to close in on them one of these days. Yet, our own government, The United States has in effect brainwashed us. From having our freedoms eroded day by day to looking to the government to solve our problems, we are following blindly to every bit and morsel they feed us. I'm not talking politics here either as I'm pointing out just how much the government gets away with. Again, put on your critical glasses and take another look. Let me know what you see because I'm sure it will be different than what you have seen before.

There are many examples around us and much of what I'm sharing or what I see comes out of my own personal experience growing up in a family where my father was a master manipulator. It was so subtle, yet so powerful. It has taken me years to rid myself of those things and begin seeing life through a much more clear set of lenses.

One important thing to remember is that if you are told something, taught something or asked to follow something, make sure it fits. What I mean by that is if it feels like you're trying to shove a round peg in a square hole, than question it. If you hear the words or thoughts and your first gut reaction is to say, that doesn't add up, than question it. If you are being taught something or fed an offer of some sort, check it out in your body. What does your body say about it? How does your body react? If you quietly listen, you will understand what your body is saying. The body is one of the best truth reactors there is, that is if the fears of the past are not standing in the way. So, in addition to listening to your body, work to rid the body of the fears that distort what you are able to see through the lens of your life.

While you may be questioning many things around, know that sometimes the process doesn't unfold immediately before your eyes. This is not about correcting yourself because you are wrong but learning more about yourself and allowing yourself the understanding of what you may or may not see in this moment. There is not necessarily right and wrong in concepts such as this but allowance and awareness in the understanding of them. Questioning is a healthy thing to do and awareness is the key to growth.