Tag: Perception

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Stop, Look, and Listen – Then What?

I am participating in a 28 Day Shift program called The 28 Day Shift To Wealth, by Beca Lewis. It is a wonderful program for me; because I love the daily bite of perception Shifting that keeps me on track for the rest of the day. Five or ten minutes of pushing the “reset switch” on my point of view, and I have a better chance of staying in the proper state of mind for the rest of the day.

More than five or ten minutes, every day, my attention starts to wander. Sundays are my day for hours and hours of Shifting, luxuriating in the Wonder of it all. Hence, the Sunday Morning Sermon. (I digress – my apologies. Back to the point.)

I am currently on Day Ten. Day Ten focuses on Angel Ideas. Day Ten focuses on how to tell the difference between Angel Ideas and thoughts. Here is what I noticed this morning during my reading.
We have a tool that Del and Beca taught us in The Shift – it is called POL. Pause, Observe, Listen. Rather like Stop, Look, and Listen that Dick and Jane taught us as children (well, some of us, anyway! I hear Dick and Jane have been replaced in kindergarten and 1st grade.)

So here’s the deal – what if we walk up the sidewalk to the street crossing and Stop, Look, and Listen? What if we stand there and Stop, Look, and Listen? What if we stay there? How does that work? Yes, we have paid attention. Yes, we have observed. Yes, we have listened for oncoming traffic. Well, once we pause, look both ways, and listen for oncoming traffic, aren’t we supposed to do something with that? As in, cross the street safely? Wasn’t that the purpose of that particular instance of Stop, Look, and Listen?

There is an additional word at the end of POL and Stop, Look, and Listen. ACT. Angel Ideas, and the A in WEALTH, stand for Action. In the assignment, Beca says, “…You are also writing how you feel about each Angel Idea or thought…” That’s the key, I think. The Action required is to observe how you feel about each Angel Idea or thought, which will identify which one it is, and which will Allow you to follow through with the appropriate Action. Or not. The key, for me, is how I feel about that idea or thought.

Which means, I had an idea; I wasn’t sure whether it was an Angel Idea or a thought; I Paused, Observed how I felt about that idea, I Listened for my knee jerk reaction, and realized that it is an Angel Idea, and I took Action by writing about it!

If you are interested in reading The 28 Day Shift to Wealth, go here.

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Why We Miss The Mark Sometimes

“Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.” Stephen King

I am a results oriented person. My preference is to see the outcome of something in order to understand its significance, or my contribution to its significance. I need a reason. I need to see what is commonly called tangible results in order to feel like I am actually doing something at all useful.

There is so much clear, irrefutable evidence today to support the scientific theory of thought based reality, that we must reasonably consider it as the truth of our being. That’s a problem for me. Even though I believe it.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Napoleon Hill

One of my earliest mantras, that. And in recent years, I have learned a new one, that speaks to me as nothing ever before;

“What we perceive to be reality magnifies.” Beca Lewis

That’s a problem for me. Even though I believe it and agree with it.

In times of confusion or stress, I often find myself going back to old reading material to give myself a starting point to clarity. I’ve been studying philosophies of life for more than thirty years, so I have a LOT of old, valued reading material. And when it comes to books, I’m kind of a collector – my library accepts deposits, but doesn’t allow withdrawals!

So why is that? Not about the book collecting; I get that! But why do I go back to my old reading material sometimes?

Because, my friend, I am a results oriented person. And when I agree and believe that the world is thought based, there is nothing ‘tangible.’ There is nothing to see, nothing to blame, nothing to heal, and nowhere to turn except to my own reflection for ‘results.’ And that is, sometimes, very often, quite often, usually, difficult to accept.

When I know that what I perceive to be reality magnifies, I know that literally everything around me and everything I am feeling is generated from my own point of view. These are the results. What is going on is the result. Therefore, there is really nothing to heal, nothing to blame, nowhere to turn except to the actual view I am seeing. The view is the result.

Quite a reversal for me, the results oriented person.

Because if everything is the result, then what do I do????

That’s when I go back to the old reading. Look at some of the stuff that is the “dangerous resemblance” of reality just to have something to object to! I read, I love what I’m reading and then all of a sudden I realize, “Hey, that’s not true! It’s close, it’s wonderful, I would love it to be true, but it’s not, because it gives me something outside of myself to do, and that’s not where it’s at!

Turn it around, Turn it around, Turn it around!

So, I am still a results oriented person. My new exercise is giving up self-blame. Because the new illusion that crops up is, if everything is thought based, then I’m responsible for everything.

Ah, a new thing to stroke my results oriented ego! Feels pretty good, feeling that miserable! Or, it feels pretty good, feeling that wonderful! Depends on what the world is looking like today!

So go back to the old reading. “It’s not your fault,” I read. So it must be somebody else’s? No, wait, there is no one else, there is Only One. Oh dear, it must be my fault!

And then, I see it. Again. If only for a flash of a moment. There is no fault. There only Is.

“What we perceive to be reality magnifies.” Beca Lewis

Perceive, not create. Perceive, not believe. Perceive, as in think up, which we do based on what we already know, which is putting a spin on what we see, which is what we believe.

I am a results oriented person. I like the opportunity to stand back and enjoy the result of what I have done, either myself or as a team member.

So the only thing I can do is stand back and look at my world, recognize that it is all in my head, and enjoy it. And keep practicing.

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
…. [Dumbledore] “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

And if it means occasionally looking at the old “dangerous resemblance,” well then, so be it!

PS – some of these terms new to you? Visit perceptionu.com for information on how to join us at The Shift!