Mad Lib
Did you ever see those books called, Mad Libs that keep children from asking “Are we there yet?” on long car rides? The objective is to fill in the blanks that are left in certain parts of a prefabricated story with a certain word to make the story funny or more entertaining. The real fun begins when you read the story aloud and the laughter begins.
I was preparing for a worldwide class that’s being held tonight on the internet hosted by Oprah Winfrey and featuring spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle. Part of our homework assignment was to read Chapter 1 of Tolle’s latest book, A NEW EARTH and find a favorite quote. I had already read the book but hadn’t selected a quote, so I went back and re-read Chapter 1 and found this gem:
“You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge.”
As I wrote it down, it became clear to me that any desired outcome could be substituted for the word “Good” and the adage remains just as profound. The framework of the quote acts as a cosmic Mad Lib. For example, you could substitute these words: “Happy,” “Joyous,” “Rich,” “Sexy,” “Insightful,” “Loving,” “Caring,” “Fulfilled,” etc. for the word “Good” and the source of emergence is always the same.
This is another way of saying the answer is always present and it’s within. We have been so conditioned to look outside for answers. The source is not out there. The source may lead you to something or someone out there that can assist you in your desired accomplishments but the spark always comes from the inside. If your car won’t start, you may ask someone for a jump. Sometimes we need a spark from someone else to restart our internal engine. A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle is like AAA for the spirit.
There is a psychological principle called, “Projection.” It’s when we project an unacceptable quality that we have on to another. We may say, “You are always so (fill in the blank).” Oftentimes, we are attributing our own subconscious behavior to another – making it about them rather than about us. We don’t recognize the behavior in ourselves – so we project it outside and assign it to another. We don’t recognize that all is within.
So the question is how do we get what we want to emerge and what we don’t want to melt and fade away? It’s a familiar answer – recognition.
Recognize that you already own the desired quality within. How you get this quality to come out to play is to interrupt and observe the internal conversation that says it’s not available to you. The observation of this repeated thought loop will cause it to lose its grip and, with practice, room will be made for this quality’s emergence. The same is true for a habit pattern that you want to outgrow. Train yourself to notice the pattern while it’s happening and observe it non-judgementally. Simply notice that you are engaged in a counter-productive internal conversation or outward behavior. Just the passive noticing will have the behavior show up less and less until you completely outgrow it.
So get curious about finding the (fill in the blank) that’s already within you and using your power of recognition to allow it to emerge. This practice will change your question of “Are we there yet?” to a statement of “We are arriving now.”
All the best,
John
http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan
http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301
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