We are pattern-seeking, meaning-making machines… and then we automate that in order to be as effective and efficient as possible…

…because the operation of “being” requires an enormous amount of energy to maintain homeostasis. 1

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It doesn’t matter what you believe, except that what you believe works for you and against you according to how you believe it.

While we’re here… let’s address this “belief” thing.

You don’t have “negative” beliefs, nor do you have “false” beliefs.

Though, many a guru would like you to “believe” that…

You have “conclusions” – a small but meaningful distinction at the definition level of the two words. (The importance of that is more significant than many realize. We’ll come back to that shortly.)

The point is your “beliefs” are conclusions, and those “conclusions” work perfectly to achieve exactly what they are designed for…

To keep you “safe” and progressing forward.

As the only thing that actually matters in order for the game to continue… is your continuation… to “be” and “have experience,” which sets the two foundational rules of eating and screwing firmly in place… a lovely way to put it, me thinks.

Moving on…

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You are the culmination of everything you’ve concluded about yourself, the world and how it works, and what it’s like to be you in that world…

(…that forms your perspective. And to the extent that your perspective holds true, meaning you don’t encounter information to the contrary strong enough to change your mind, you act like your perspective is the truth…)

…and then behave accordingly.

Our brains are wired to take in information and process that information into recognized patterns as quickly as possible in order to progress from one moment to the next.

Even at our age (everyone north of their late twenties), our current patterns are simply extensions of the most basic patterns we “picked up” early in life… which are:

1. This is good
2. That is bad
3. This is right
4. That is wrong
5. We’re like this
6. They’re like that
7. This is allowed
8. That is not
9. I can… or,
10. I cannot

If you’re reading between the lines, these are all slight variations on the first two, “Good” or “Bad.”

And for good reason. When we encounter information, the first process (Program) that occurs is a reaction, a full-being reaction (almost so subtle we’re not even aware of it, in fact, many of us have lost touch with ourselves enough to notice it at all)…

Followed immediately by a second process (Program), one of judgment… “Is this Good or Bad?”

As we get older and practice this process, it becomes nuanced, and while the nuances are subtle, they are critically important to the strength of the rules we have put in place.

(Notice that? “We… put in place”… That’s important. Park it in your brain somewhere safe. We’ll return for it later.)

We’ve added those nuances by giving meaning to events and circumstances and what they meant to us, for us, and about us.

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Neuroscience has learned that our thoughts, feelings, and actions cause or create AND/OR are a response to a sequence of “firing” in the brain at a cellular level.

You’ve undoubtedly heard the “neurons that fire together wire together…” 2 and while that’s accurate, it doesn’t tell the full story, at least not yet. 3

(Talk about a rabbit hole… neuroscience…)

And, there are other as-of-yet unknown aspects to this puzzle we “extremely intelligent monkeys” have yet to deduce… we do, however, have enough information to support the idea that the more your brain does a thing, the better, stronger, faster, and more automatic it becomes.

Use chopsticks often? How about a fork?

Needed any help taking a drink from a glass lately?

How about telling off a solicitor (politely, of course, what are we animals?) when they’ve interrupted dinner and won’t take the hint and ‘fuck off!’?

Right. Autopilot.

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What we’re talking about here is the easier-to-prove, easier-to-become-aware-of, and for some of us, the seemingly difficult task of changing “what gets fired” and, most importantly, the “what happens next” when we become (dare I even use the term????…) ‘triggered‘ by something.

It’s simple.

You are/were designed to, or have evolved to, learn that some things in your environment are dangerous, and along with that, you now have systems in place to notify you of those things and how to deal with them if and when they occur.

Simple.

We’re not talking about rocket science here, and certainly not brain surgery… in that sense anyway.

We’re talking about a complex organism that has the ability to cope with the right here, right now, real-time nature of existence.

The problem?

That tool is the proverbial “hammer”… not everything is a nail, though; we essentially treat every “problem” as though it were… whether that problem is real or merely perceived as real.

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The gist?

For better and for worse, you are programmable, have become programmed to operate (behave) in certain and specific-to-you ways that shape your experience and your encounter with it… even your thoughts and feelings and opinions about it — it being your life and what it’s like to be you.

As I’ve said… if you only knew what you were doing and how it worked.

Yep, I will repeat that a total of 42 times before we’re done… how many was that thus far???

Anyhoo…

Burn it into your brain so that when you know the answer, you never forget it or how to do it.

I’ve also said we’re always seeking the “How,” and that’s part of the problem… You already know how, silly.

What you need to understand is “The What.” When you understand “The What,” the how becomes obvious.

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Where to next?

→ The Survival Guide — A map for the terrain ahead.

→ Parts, Pieces & Paradigms — The What.

→ Dig — A side quest perhaps?