Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Some Choices that Are Really Illusions

Some Choices that Are Really Illusions

In my book Choices and Illusions, the idea that many so-called choices made by most are indeed between alternatives that have been scripted during our maturation. As such, we choose to do A instead of B or C but never consider that there is an entire alphabet of possibilities. We are blinded by our labels, definitions, thinking patterns and so forth. It is like we live in “thought boxes” that delimit our alternatives. Ellen Langer defines much of this “blindness” as context bound. In one of her examples, a friend comes to our door and explains that they are participating in a scavenger hunt and if we can give them a 4-foot by 7-foot slab of wood that they can win $10,000. They also offer to split the money with us. We think, "I don't have a woodpile," so we say, "sorry" and close our 4 by 7 wood door.

Our business is in large about our InnerTalk technology. The basis of this technology rests in changing our thoughts in ways that get us out of those “thought boxes.” This is done with positive scripts designed by mutually exclusive logic to eliminate the old negative programming. By design, it is more than affirmations but using the conscious mind to reprogram can be very helpful as well. Sometimes it seems futile and that is simply because our subconscious can and does often argue with those positive affirmations we choose to use. For example, many people have experienced using some prosperity affirmation like, “I am going to earn a million dollars,” only to have some self talk speak back something like, “Sure, what are you going to do—rob a bank?”

Arguable much of the benefit one gains from InnerTalk comes because it speaks directly to the subconscious, priming your self-talk. Still there are a host of ole negative scripts that you can watch and work on with or without an InnerTalk program. They’re scripts that trap you. Here are some simple examples:

Look out for number one.
Get evener not even.
My ______ is better than yours. (government, language, religion, etc.)
I have the only right way—or the only right truth.
Money is the root of all evil.
Charity begins at home.
Waste not—want not. (Clean up your plate).
The scraps go to the losers.
Life is not fair. (Life sucks and then you die).
The tiger is the last in the jungle to starve.
If it’s not broke don’t fix it.
You’re lucky---look at the less fortunate.

While sometimes enticing, the problem with all of these scripts is that they subtract from someone. In Choices, I refer to this as the subtraction game. Subtracting from someone is at the very least, the basis for subtracting from self. It is a dangerous and eventually self-sabotaging precedent.

For years I have taught that the “life sucks and then you die” stuff was insane, at least for those that wish to live long, happy and prosperous lives. I like something Louis Hay said the other day on Oprah, “I love life and life loves me!” If you really would like to see some magic in your life from just a few words, try starting your day with a “Thank you” and meeting each moment with the attitude, “I love life and life loves me!”

1 Comments:

Blogger  said...

If there were two magical buttons, one taking a person back to youth and giving them ALL the good things (minus any bad) that life has to offer – and – the other would bring about ‘never having existed,’ moi would push the latter.

Best Regards,
Tor

11:22 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home