“Black Hat?” or “White Hat?”
BREATHE!
Albert Einstein said, "The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe".
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Imagine cleaning your body-mind connection FIVE TIMES A DAY. That's what you can do, you know! Once you have the "Five Minute Miracle" integrated into your daily habits, DELIBERATELY focus on all you have to be grateful for, and DELIBERATELY release your tension. "Release tension, set intension" is a great mantra to chant as you do this.
Remember: the meaning of life is to escape suffering, embrace joy, and be of service. All philosophies and religions, all survival or social rules and patterns relate to this, one way or another. It is useful to look at it directly, and see how ALL your actions have been attempts to move away from pain toward pleasure. And once you can see that, look to see how the same is true of those closest in your life. However clumsy or confused some of those actions are, that's all anyone has ever tried to do.
If you forgive, and accept, you can see how a major secret of life is to align your thoughts and actions with the world AS IT IS, so that we can be a part of its evolution. All you have to do is exemplify the change you wish to see, succeed in your positive life, and you will automatically attract people seeking to escape suffering.
They may fight you, HARD, but remember that on some deep level, they are hoping you are right. Yeah, they are. Because on some level they feel trapped. They fear the world is a hostile place, and that they have to be hard and hostile to survive. So every person who triggers their belly brain for survival, THEN opens their hearts for love, THEN refines their reality map for success ("the progressive realization of a worthy goal") will AUTOMATICALLY attract people. This, by the way, is a secret of the "Soulmate Process."
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I recently read someone saying that a certain candidate was "an awful, awful person…but I'm voting for them anyway."
What kind of human being is this? One who believes their values can only be represented by "an awful, awful person"? What must they think of humanity?
That people are awful? Then deep inside, they have to loathe themselves, OR consider themselves superior to "the masses."
Is it reasonable to think they consider the universe hostile? And that therefore we must be beasts? They probably look at open-hearted people (who are not anchored to survival) and see how life can chew them up and spit them out. That is PAIN. Get that? Love = Pain.
Holy #$%%. Can you imagine the deep world view of such a person? Tananarive and I have never, ever, voted for someone we thought "awful." Human, yes. Flawed like the rest of us, yes. But if you think only the evil seek power, but see how power affects our lives, does that not mean there are no wise, good people who seek to offer service?
What a terrible way to live. Seriously.
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MARKETING and SALES is the science of finding the people who need your product or service to either relieve pain or gain pleasure, then convincing them to act NOW to achieve either goal. "White Hat" and "Black Hat" marketing concepts are all about this: "white hat" marketing is connecting people primarily to joy, but being scrupulously honest if you are addressing pain. You don't make up crap about how you need secret X-17 to avoid social embarrassment. "Black hat" marketing stimulates PAIN and FEAR in your audience, often, again, a load of crap, stimulating fear for the sake of making money.
This is a dangerous road, because sometime we DO need to exaggerate potential pain in order to get our butts off the couch. Last week Jason talked about looking at a decision and exaggerating the pain and punishment for NOT doing it, and the pleasure for accomplishing it.
This is mature stuff. Future pacing. Seeing where you will end up in a day or week or year or decade if you continue down a given path. If you anchor enough pain there ("Daddy, please stop smoking or you'll die!") you can often interrupt the negative pattern. Then, you can imagine the positive results (Dancing at your granddaughter's wedding) and make the behavioral change.
But remember the "influence" pattern?
Achieve rapport
Interrupt the pattern
Anchor the new behavior to your own higher goals.
If you learn to do this with yourself, you will have the key to helping your friends and family, with integrity. You will also understand sales and marketing such that you see the need to communicate the value of your product or service. And you will also see how people try to manipulate YOU.
If they love you, and believe in their service or product, they will focus on "white hat": honest evaluations of the situation, communicating real concern and love, painting a better future while also warning of the failure of "Right Action."
Or do they focus on pain pain pain. Fear fear fear. Hate hate hate?
THAT is a person who sees a hostile universe, who sees human beings as negative beings or "sheep." But they need your dollars/vote to get what they want. So they will stimulate fear, try to get you to mistake short-term pleasure for lasting joy, and try to exploit your love of family and community.
Remember that anger is fear. If they try to make you angry, ask what they are afraid of. Unless you feel the answer is in alignment with your values (it will always be something about personal, genetic, or social survival) beware.
If the universe is neutral or positive, aligning yourself with it for greater health, love, and success is a wonderful goal. The notion that we can just "chop wood, carry water" and make a good life for ourselves and our families is a beautiful thing. ONLY if you see the universe as a negative place is there a NEED to be dishonest or cruel to be "useful."
Learn to look deeply into yourself. And those around you, and those who would influence you. WHAT PATH ARE THEY WALKING? WHAT DESTINATION will they reach?
Unless that path, and that destination, are aligned with survival, love, and growth…beware.
Namaste
Steve
