Everything Is Bad

I am always amazed at the doom and gloom blog posts and internet news stories.  Hopefully this isn't a doom and gloom one as well.  It bugs me though when places that really have a lot of good they can share, claim this product or that product, or this business or individual or practice is bad.  Everything is bad it seems like.

For awhile I was following Food Inc on Facebook.  At first I was like, this place has it going on.  Unfortunately, I began to read more and more of their articles they posted, and quickly realized that much of what they write, is inaccurate.  They skew it one way or the other but they write without having all the facts.  Some of these issues they write about, I know from a firsthand account.

I don't understand why people do this.  If you come to me and start telling me everything is bad, more than likely I'm going to stop listening to you.  It is almost like the boy who cried wolf and then when the wolf showed up, no one came to help him.  You can't claim everything is bad and then expect anyone to take you serious.

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.

Giving Away Our Power

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As a young child, I grew up with a family that attended church every Sunday, and usually a few times during the week. I remember going to many different churches and denominations of churches during my younger years. I’m not sure exactly why we went to so many different churches except that my parents were probably in the “searching” phase of their lives, and they were looking for the perfect church.

One of the last churches, a Baptist Church that I remember we went to, was while I was in high school. This was not just any Baptist church but one that was part of a group known as the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. Their acronym was GARBC, and today those letters still make me cringe. I won’t apologize if I’m offending anyone who attends these because this is my story. While my story may not be the same as your experiences with the GARBC, it is my story nevertheless.

In this church, it seemed there were more rules than there are laws in our country. Couples in church were not allowed, or discouraged from showing any affection while in church. This included not holding hands and any type of kissing or hugging. According to what my ears heard, the church was not the place for this type of thing. It was reserved for the bedroom only.

At church camp, the boys were not allowed to go swimming with the girls. It was explained to me that this could lead to unwanted acts between girls and boys, which of course were forbidden by the bible. When you did go swimming, though, especially if the opposite sex was present, you were required to wear not only appropriate length swim wear but a t-shirt that covered your upper half of the body. In addition, you were expected to wear a towel wrapped around your legs as you made your way to the water, only taking the towel off shortly before you got in the water. If you were out of the pool, you were expected to cover yourself up with a towel so as to not expose yourself to the opposite sex. The t-shirt you were wearing never came off even when you were in the water.

Other rules by the church included boys and girls, if they were dating, to not sit closer than 6 inches apart and to act “God Like” in everything they did. No dancing was allowed because that could lead to sex. You did not frequent any restaurants or establishments that served alcoholic beverages because you might cause your “brother” to stumble. See, if you were seen entering an establishment like this, an unbeliever, or non church sinner type person (as they referred to them) might think you were going into drink and it was ok. If you were tempted to take one drink of alcohol, then it would lead to being an alcoholic, according to what was being preached to us.

I could go on with example after example of the rules in this church, and even though I’m talking about one church in particular, all churches have their rules. Some believe in one thing while others don’t. Some require certain statements or schooling in order to become a member in their church. So while some of the examples I gave may seem extreme, I would argue that most churches have requirements and rules that are extreme. However, the people that are part of these churches do not see or understand this. It all seems normal and in fact a necessary part of life.

Some in our society have turned away from the mainstream churches, partly because there were too many rules. Many have turned to new age philosophies that seem to have the everyday, regular people answers for questions to life. And while both of these approaches may have some nice tidbits in them for everyday life, much of what become the central teachings are nothing more than their own derived form of beliefs.

We as humans have a strong need to understand and describe what happens around us. When there is tragedy or loss, people find words to describe why it may or may not have happened. When there are unexplained events, people describe it as luck, being fortunate, “The Secret” and abundance, being spiritual and so forth. There are so many things going on around us and happening all the time, but so many times in our attempt to understand and explain to others, we develop a completely new set of beliefs that may or may not serve us well in the long run. I believe it is part of our human experience to do this. However when we lose sight of what it is that took place or what we are trying to explain and share, then we’ve lost the experience. All of the derived practices, teachings, procedures and rules will not bring the experience back because it is as a conversation; once spoken, the conversation is gone. You can imitate the conversation or the experience, but you can never fully bring that particular conversation or experience back exactly as it was.

And yet, we as humans try to do this every day of our lives as well as in churches and new age movements. What is sad, though, is that we then lose the overall impact of the experience itself. The gift that was given to us has now been watered down.

In an attempt to understand that which we cannot explain, we often turn to others who seem to have more experience or knowledge in a particular subject matter that resonates with us. While there may be tidbits of wonderful enlightening truths in what they tell us, we begin to give the power of our own experiences up to someone other than ourselves. They then have the potential of becoming the sole authority on some truth in life for us, and what we learn has the potential of becoming a danger to our own journey of growth. If it is not a danger, it may sidetrack us, at least, on our journey.

As time goes, these people who have had “experiences” explained and reasoned and taught to them, go on to share these same tidbits of truth with others. For they are filled with joy that someone has explained to them why certain things happen and they are eager to share it with others. The only thing is we need to be careful as humans, because we need to be fully honest with ourselves that what we are sharing is a pure truth, and not a truth derived through our sense of what is going on. The ego is an anxious filter for our lives. The ego loves to explain that which we don’t know, but the ego should never be accepted without independent verification.

So by now, you may be wondering, how do I know what I should listen to or what truth is all about? Have you ever had a gut feeling about something? If you have, you know that no matter what someone tells you, that you realize deep down you just know what you’re experiencing is true for you. Have you ever had a moment when something miraculously happened in your life? No events or laws of nature or explanation could prove its existence, yet you knew that what you felt in your life about this was true. No one could tell you otherwise.

So too, what we experience in our bodies is a moment of truth for our lives like no other. There is no better judge of verification for what has taken place. For when you know deep down within you at the core of your being that something has taken place, then you have found the source of truth in your life.

I have often said that the answers we need lie within ourselves. That has so much truth in it because when we look outward from where we are at, we are denying ourselves. We are denying that which is so sacred and time tested. There is no better truth verifier than the deep core of our inmost being. We do not need to rely upon others for the power of knowing the truth in our own lives. For we have that process readily available within our own bodies.

So the next time you come across something that is hard to explain or that doesn’t make sense, take a moment to go deep inside of yourself and find the answers which you need. Be ready to listen to what comes forth in the way of thoughts, future experiences, and others that you meet. Always, though, go and check out everything within your body and see just how it feels. Does it make you feel safe and secure, or is there much fear and doubt as if to say, don’t go there? Does it feel as if you are looking forward to hope and possibility, or that if you do this, it will be more of the same despair and pain you’ve already been dealing with? Does your body feel more or less tense at the thought of what you are trying to understand? Listen to your body. It is your teacher.

And be careful that when you listen to others, you are not giving away your power by letting them be the truth for your lives. They can be there as teachers if you are completely honest with yourselves and objective, but anything beyond that is most likely not a healthy thing for you. Many people have many things to say, but take them and compare them to other events in your life as well. Pull out the tidbits of truth in everything and then see how it feels deep within. For when you do this, you will not only take back your own power, but you will be empowered in life as well.

Feeling Happy

On one of the Facebook groups I am a member of, the discussion was on "happy". So here's my response to what "happy" means to me. If you wish to check out the facebook group regarding this, the link is Enlightenment

I've had plenty of moments in life that I've been severely depressed, suicidal and then times that there was so much joy in my life that I was extremely happy. However, as I have been learning in life, feeling happy, sad, joyful, or many other ways is a state of where I'm at for that moment. It is a state of feeling, of emotion of connecting to things within me, around me or through me.

At one time I measured my life by these things and did things to make sure I could feel happy, etc. There was even a time in my life when I did not even understand what it meant to be happy and when I first started to feel "happy", I was fearful. I had no idea what it was and was so afraid of it. Can you imagine that, being afraid of being happy?

My focus now in life though is to understand myself more each day that I get to live on this life. I want to understand what makes me happy or doesn't make me happy. I want to understand just exactly what it really means to live in my body, fully and accepting it with all of its parts and functions and pain and freedom. Of course, it goes without saying that all of this involves feeling every moment of my life to the fullest through every cell of my body.