This is entry four in my themed series of blog posts in which (as part of my ongoing quest for greater self awareness and my continued personal and professional development), I pick a key word and write about it for a set amount of time. It would be super cool if you left a comment on here with a new word for me to explore, or you could suggest one on Twitter.com – my username on there is @Iain_D_Stewart.
This week the key word is REALITY, and I’ll be writing for twenty minutes. Go!
With this being part four of a series of six, it’s been hard to not preconceive ideas in my head of what to write for these last few thought exercises. I know what the subject of the rest of them will be, so every time an idea for what to write in them pops into my head, I find myself shooing it away, not allowing it to grow. But still, they grow.
So, to be spontaneous and honour the premise of this exercise: the first thing that springs to mind is the guy from The Prodigy: Maxim Reality. What a name! I love The Prodigy, their music makes me feel so energized and aggressive. Really fires me up and gets me motivated to get stuff done.
The next thing that springs to mind is that reality is subjective. You make of it what you will. Perception is reality. That was from Fez, which was a cool videogame. I guess it is technically still a cool videogame. Anyway, how your senses understand what they perceive and how they then present to you what they have sensed is the mode of which you exist in reality. Everyone experiences reality in a different way, and these experiences are all related to themselves and how their personalities developed. For example, if someone grew up identifying assertiveness with being rude, and being rude was “bad”, they are, as adults, likely to be unassertive and somewhat passive. I would love to write in further detail about this in the future. Future keyword: Perception.
Do you believe in the Law of Attraction? I believe in the elasticity of the human brain. I believe that repeating affirmations causes new connections to be made in your brain, which alter your perceptions of reality in your favour. I believe this because I know the opposite is true. When I was depressed I would often get caught in negative mental feedback loops in my mind. I would just get stuck with negative thoughts about how useless I was and how I’d never amount to anything. I think I actually enjoyed feeling like a victim – it was easier than feeling empowered and that I had agency. I enjoyed wallowing in self-pity because it was easier than standing up, brushing myself off, and doing something worthwhile that would make me feel better in the long run. Unconscious negative affirmations were causing me to experience a reality in which I was unable to do anything worthwhile, they were creating connections in my brain that compounded my negativity. So of course I believe in the opposite.
If you tell yourself that you are capable and able to make a difference in this reality, then guess what? You are capable and can make a difference in this reality.
I am also aware of the way in which reality itself can work in your favour. The universe sends you messages all the time. It is up to you as to whether you notice them, but be aware that the universe is not subtle. Also, it is up to you as to whether you act upon the messages sent to you by the universe. You ever get a feeling that you’re in the right place at the right time? Make the most of it.