Turn Stress into Strength

Turn Stress into Strength

As mentioned in the previous post, conflicting ideas in our mind produce stress. This occurs when there are two conflicting goals, or programs. If one goal program is more desirable there is no problem, but when we can’t decide between the two (or more) we experience stress. We feel powerless.

We need a Master Program that will resolve major conflicts when they occur. When we discover/decide upon our life’s purpose, conflicts are resolved before they can occur in favor of the program that is aligned with the Master Program. We are empowered.

Unifying Purpose, and Harmony of Mind

When we are "of two minds", we are conflicted. We are pulled in two different directions, whether it be between two positive goals, or by one goal that both attracts and repels us. This puts us in a quandary, and we experience Stress.

The problem is that we are pulled in two directions, and we are Stuck.

Our salvation comes when we discover our Purpose, and we act in accordance with it. We can resolve our conflicts in accordance with what we have chosen/discovered to be our Greater Purpose.

The Society of Mind

The Society of Mind

Marvin Minsky, in his book by the same title, suggests that our mind is not just a stimulus-response mind, but more like a Society of Mind. In his work on artificial intelligence, he develops a theory of agents within the brain, that working together as a whole (a society) produces the natural intelligence we humans possess. For more information see: http://web.media.mit.edu/~push/ExaminingSOM.html

The model of the mind presented in The Psychology of Positive Thinking similarly suggests that there are an infinite number of agents (neuron cell assemblies and cell assembly programs) that in themselves have no consciousness but together, as a Society, produce the effect that is our stream of consciousness, our mind.

What forms these agents, these neuron networks? The information we focus on through our senses. Thus it behooves us to attend to positive influences. As a man thinketh, so is he! (Proverbs 23:7)

The Power of Now, Purpose and Prayer

As we discussed in the previous post, we can become trapped in our past. Our stream of consciousness can become an instant replay of past life experiences, and we relate everything to the past. We begin to relive past painful experiences. We develop a negative outlook and focus on avoiding pain. We can become negative thinkers.

We become empowered when we raise our level of consciousness from the past to the present and future. Therein resides the power of positive thinking! There is no power to be had in the past; there is Power in the Present, in the Now. In the Present we are able to accomplish things. How do we get there?

There is Power in having Purpose. By finding a purpose that we wish to pursue, we focus on something positive, beyond our own self. We point ourselves toward the future, not the past. But not just a purpose-- a Purpose! Something that will draw us and keep us oriented forward over the long haul.

Finding a Purpose is an adventure in itself. This Purpose cannot be something within your grasp. It must be impossible at present. And BIG. Something outside your power, that will require a Higher Power to accomplish. Consult your Higher Power to discover your Higher Purpose.

There is Power in Prayer. Pray for guidance to discover this Higher Purpose. Ask God to reveal to you what His plan for you might be. And listen. Hopefully it will strike you as absurd for you to contemplate such a grand Purpose. That’s how you will know you are on the right Path.

A New Level of Consciousness

We have spent our life up to this point in time, creating the person we have become. We have likewise created the reality we find ourselves in. Our consciousness itself- our “egoic mind”- is largely dependant these experiences of the past. Our stream of consciousness (see previous entry about the 7 +/- 2 bits of information) is often lost in this past, becoming awake in the NOW only occasionally.

This power of NOW that Eckhart Tolle and others find so miraculous creates in us a New Level of Consciousness. We become empowered because we are no longer trapped in the dead past. Here are some suggestions for ways to break free from the past:
• Prayer
• Meditation
• Self-observation/self awareness
• Goal Setting

Perhaps you have other ways of breaking free. Please add them to the list.

In the Zone, and out of the the Thinking Rut

Current neuro-science tells us that there are more than a hundred billion neurons in the brain, and that each of them is interconnected with many thousands of fellow neurons. These form networks- we have an unlimited, virtually infinite number of neuron networks in our brain. See the following article by Robert Stufflebeam:

http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/neurons_intro/neurons_intro.php

The model of the mind, proposed in The Psychology of Positive Thinking, proposes that these networks are programs that store the vast amount of information that has been presented to us by our senses over our life time.

What is much more limited, however, is the amount of information we can store in immediate memory at one time; in our stream of consciousness, if you will. George A. Miller discovered this to be The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two bits of information. He proposed this in his now classic article by the same name in The Psychological Review.

Thus we have available a nearly infinite amount of information- this would correspond to all our memories, all our experiences to this point in time. The Complete Past exists in our mind in the form of these programs. What a great resource this is! Billions upon billions of bits of information! But it is also a trap. Remember, we are limited to about 7 “bits” of information in immediate consciousness to go exploring our infinitely vast stored information. We can also lose ourselves in it!

This may happen all too often, and we get trapped in the past. Eckhart Tolle calls this the Egoic Mind. And while this could be a pleasant, or an unpleasant past, we are still trapped in it. Tolle, Robert Anthony, and many mental health professionals suggest self observation, and self awareness as ways to come out of this imprisonment trance we find ourselves in. Another way to escape this trap is meditation. Meditation helps quiet the “mind chatter” when our thought processes take us echoing around the vast programming storehouse of our “egoic” mind.

Oprah, who has joined forces with Eckhart and other spiritual leaders, has posted on her website a link to a meditation exercise called the “ten minute mind spa.” A link to that website is also posted here. This exercise not only frees us from being trapped in the past, but also helps develop self-awareness and brings us into the Now, and in the zone.