Fact or Sensory Illusion? (Repost)

Have you ever wondered if others see and hear the same things you do? After all, images and sounds are picked up by our senses, and then transferred to our brain for processing.

What if our brain - conditioned by previous experiences and teachings - decodes information in a bias fashion? Could a person say one thing and we hear another?

That would certainly explain why people don't seem to find a common ground, at times, or why some find a particular person or thing beautiful while others consider the same thing unattractive or unpleasant. In my personal experience, I know there have been situations when I said one thing and others understood something completely different; it was like we were on entirely different agendas.

What about those cases when the same thing is observed or heard by multiple individuals? Could it be that the response we hear from others is also biased and "produced" by our brain? Is it possible that we "decide" what we are going to hear from others, and selectively choose who will agree with us and who won't?

The hidden triggers in our subconscious have the power to affect our actions and the way we personally approach things, so it would only make sense that they have an impact on the way we see or hear.

What's your opinion?

The Roles We Play (repost)

It’s funny how humans thrive on drama. No matter what issue arises, we look for things to argue about, which will cause a stir. We can observe this flaw in the political arena, in religion, in life itself.

Of course, when we stand by a certain point - and look for confirmation through facts - we are likely to seek those corroborating facts from sources that share our point of view and look at the issue from the same angle we are. Everyone is going to have different opinions, different facts to quote, and different outlooks directly related to personal experiences and taught values.

It is very amusing to watch talk shows. Producers make a living from human drama, and saturate our media with a circus of flaring emotions and half-baked truths. Soap operas last for decades and hook staggering numbers of people through glittering drama, often exposing human flaws that nobody wants to recognize in themselves, yet are present in most of us.

We thrive on the negative, and several studies have shown that negative messages are more easily implanted in the subconscious than positive ones. That’s what political campaigns and organized religions thrive on to get their point across.

So, why do we thrive on negativity and drama? No matter what our religious affiliation, anyone at all comfortable with spiritual truth halfway believes that we are here for a reason, and we came to earth to learn something.

Our soul is here to learn basic lessons of compassion, forgiveness, unity, and tolerance, and we are all actors on the great stage life. By acting out our roles we understand the nuances behind the human drama, and learn our lessons throughout. Sadly, most of us forget we are the actors and blindly become the part we came to play. We become so engrossed in our role that we blend our identity with the character we impersonate. We all forget who we truly are, until something devastating in our lives knocks down our ego and reminds us of what is truly important.

Regardless of the fact that some believe in reincarnation and some don’t, we all agree that we only have one life at a time to be in, and we need to make the most of our time while we are here.

Focusing on the present, and choosing to overcome the drama we so easily become attached to, can free us from the chains of erroneous earthly perception and give us an edge in understanding who we truly are.

The Power of Taking the First Step

“Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.” ~ Robert Collier



Whenever it is time to face laundry in my house I understand how Ulysses felt when he found himself in front of the Cyclops - with three children, two of which are teenagers, laundry at my house easily falls into the categories of scary and overwhelming.

Yesterday was laundry day. With five baskets sitting in the way, and coats the kids had shed after school piled up on top of the washing machine, the laundry room was filled to capacity; just looking at all the work ahead was enough to make me want to grab my car keys and run.

I began by separating the colors from the whites and organizing them in separate baskets. Once that was done, and the first load was started, things immediately looked less daunting. By the time the first load ended up in the dryer, and the second one was on its way to being washed, I was ready to take a breath of relief.

It is quite normal to feel helpless when facing an overwhelming task; whatever is in front of us feels so big that we feel powerless in its presence, and it is natural to become frozen on the spot, scared to do anything that will cause the dominoes to fall. Taking the first step appears as a Herculean task, and we come up with countless excuses to delay the inevitable. Taking the first step is all we need to do. Once we get started, a second step quickly follows the first, and then a third lines up before a fourth; before we know it, everything is done and we are back in control.

This concept applies to many things we face on a daily basis, but it particularly applies to change. We are afraid of the unknown, and worry that the approaching wave will pick us up and thrust us toward unfamiliar waters; and, while we are so absorbed by our fears, we forget that we do know how to swim.

So, no matter what awaits out there, know that you can do it. You might feel that you are in front of something huge and overwhelming, but quite often the fear of the monster is much bigger than the monster itself. Once the light of reason shines on its shadow, we gladly see that the monster can be easily slain. It all starts with the first step of choosing to win.