"We live our life by reference," said the wise Dr. Dave Dobson. What he meant was that we reference and react to something that already happened, (a memory) rather than to what is really going on now.

Our patterns of behavior are memories that influence a memory yet to be made. That's a fancy way of saying we will repeat our patterns over and over again.

Dr. Bruce Lipton, a cellular biologist, in his groundbreaking book The Biology of Belief gives us evidence that the same phenomenon of memory happens at the cellular level. He writes, "Genes are physical memories of an organism's learned experience."

Your genes act in accordance with their memories as do your patterns of behavior.

We believe we are reacting to the "here and now," but most often we are reacting to "there and then." Our memory, not us, is interacting with the present moment and delivering outdated reactions.

It is so tempting to rely on what has worked in the past until it's not working anymore.

Back to Dr. Dave Dobson . . . He opened my eyes to the fact that patterns are purposeful - they were formed for a purpose. A great example is the pattern of smoking. I have presented my Stop Smoking Forever program to hundreds of thousands of people and can attest that people began smoking for a purpose - to appear to be older, cooler, sophisticated, tougher, etc. What smokers don't realize is that it's that outdated memory (purpose) that keeps them lighting up today.

Outdated patterns are purposeful memories that don't get updated.

Patterns, like memories, are stuck in time. Many of them no longer serve a purpose but, in most cases, we have yet to recognize that.

We act out our memories every day. The key to outgrowing a patterned memory is to recognize it as a memory rather than as a present day reality.

Recognize that the purpose your pattern was formed for is no longer relevant. For example, many people who have experienced some form of early-on, sexual abuse developed a pattern to insulate themselves from that pain happening again. The pattern was purposeful. The problem is that the pattern formed "then" may be interfering with their sexual enjoyment "now."

Recognizing that a pattern is a memory is the first step in outgrowing a pattern. The second step is interruption of that pattern every time you notice it. If you interrupt the pattern by simply noticing that you are running it, that will water down the frequency of that pattern and the effect of the memory will fade.

Recognition and interruption are self directed methods of updating a memory and outgrowing a pattern. You may need professional help to get you separated from the effect of a memory, but the mechanics are the same - recognition and interruption.

The Grasshopper has already reminded us that, "Living in the past is like dancing with a corpse." A slight revision to that reminder is: "Dancing with a memory uses outdated dance steps that keep you dead on your feet."

All the best,

John

 

P.S. Here is a simple, blunt question that will predict your future with laser like accuracy - HAS THE WAY YOU'VE BEEN USING YOUR MIND HELPED YOU OR HURT YOU?

Only you know how you are currently using your mind; the only question now is: Would you like to use it to your best advantage? You can download the MIND RELIEF MANUSCRIPT absolutely FREE by clicking on this link:

The MIND RELIEF MANUSCRIPT is from my friend, Jerry Stocking who is one of the greatest, living teachers on earth. Reading through this manual, you will get reacquainted with your creativity as you learn how to quiet your mind. I request that you download it now at