Perception is Everything

Where would you like to see some improvement in your life? Do you read self help books because you want to make some changes? How could you make it happen?

For hundreds of years scientists separated mind from body. We are now in the midst of a medical revolution that proves exactly the opposite, with an entirely new perspective on how the mind and body interact. When you understand the information you can use it to change your life in a very positive way.

I could say that" perception is everything". Why? Because our "read" on something steers how we feel about it and how we respond to it quite literally and powerfully. We have within us the ability to change our emotional state.(Counting to ten, that sort of thing to simplify the example.) Following that line of reasoning, when we alter our emotional state we can positively affect our immune system, if we were to look at just a physical example. Norman Cousins put it this way, " If what one thinks can affect one's internal organs and tissues under ordinary circumstances, how can mental processes be put to use under circumstances of need or challenge? Emotions and attitudes -positive or negative - can affect health and the treatment of disease."

Not only can we stop the course of disease by the understanding of the working of our mind, we can make changes in the programming of all aspects of our being - emotions and perceptions are key.



Emotions are felt and attitudes are formed within the mind.



I invite you to ponder several congruent aspects of the mind. The mind and body are intimately attuned, working together as one for they are one. We are geared to survive; this occurs automatically, without having to think about it. The mind-body is self-healing and self-protective. All the senses constantly scan the environment and send messages to the brain, including those cues which may threaten safety and survival. We cannot override this system, although we may try to ignore it.

Because survival is ultimate, the cues which come in form the external as well as internal environment need to be read and acted on in a timely fashion. We can't afford to configure the speed of a car coming directly at us, the distance across the street, etc - we need to jump out of the way automatically. In order to do so the brain has a shortcut, which essentially leaves out the part of the process that meticulously and laboriously weighs factors (thinks about it logically and systematically).This is not done in a haphazard manner, however. Remember the mind also has stored prior representations of information and does what is called a "state-dependent" match to those cues. It is as if we instantly check files that have the same labels in order to expedite the process. An example would be that we read the cues and " automatically" duck when an object comes flying at our face. Or to step back on the curb when we see a car going much too fast. That is how the process works and the examples are obvious.We know this from past experience.



But the process also has worked, or at least your mind will believe it has, if you emotionally duck out of relationships because your old files read relationships to be hurtful and potentially harmful. I've known people whose relationship files are labeled "will end in failure" or "danger, you will be used". So in order to survive emotionally, guess what they do? You got it, they avoid all potential relationships, including the very ones that may be richly rewarding.

The past impacts the present without our even being aware of it. In our early stages of development, before we had the capacity to soundly judge the cues and prior to having a full range of options of response,(what three year old has a lot of choices or awareness for that matter? He wants to chase the ball into the street, not mindful of the potential dangers. ) -- we built those very files that we depend on in the present to make our judgments and quite virtually, to run our life. In other words, we may unknowingly be making decisions about how to relate to one another, how to live life, based on what happened to us as a very young child. That was when we built our perceptions of reality. That is what is meant by the common phrase that everything is learned by the time we are five years old.

Interesting, huh?

Herein lies the answer to some of the most puzzling aspects of our individual life: why an otherwise highly functioning person may repeatedly participate in a self-defeating activity. So if you have always wondered why you could not succeed in some way, chose partners who ended up being wrong for you, could not seem to find your way in a certain area of life, became addicted to a substance, have low self-esteem even though everyone seems to adore you, (just to name a few examples) I invite you to consider that your internal "files" may be at fault. Remember, what you believe to true, in effect, IS true. So if you believe that when _________________________ of course __________________ will happen, you can bet it will! That is what "self-fulfilling prophesy is all about.

Maybe it is time to look at some of your files, realize they don't fit what you want in life, even who you are - and determine to change the labels.

In future blogs I will continue to share information about the magic of the mind including this phenomenon. But if you want to begin now, read thru past blogs, as therein lie the keys to making your life what you choose it to be. There is no reason to live an unhappy, unsuccessful life. You deserve to be happy, but your happiness is in your own hands, and literally in your belief system , which thankfully can be changed.

When someone "gets" it in regard to this information, it is shocking (in a good way) to see how their life changes. That person can be you.



Remember, you are guided, protected and loved.



Until next time,

Dr. DyAnn