Could the “Child” self be primary?
The 90-Day Love Feast. 22 days into the second round, which will last until Jan 1st. The emphasis is on SELF LOVE. There are a few techniques that really address this, but the question is: what is the outcome? If the WHAT is self love, what is the WHY?
Well, I'm considering the possibility, just the possibility, that aiming at a 1% increase in integrity and strength of the "Child" self, creating a loving, safe "nest" for him, will generatively improve the other major arenas.
On the surface, it seems reasonable.
BODY. Health and Fitness are hugely impacted by our choices, and our choices are motivated by pain and pleasure related to our major concerns. In addition, connecting with your survival drive is easy if you hold yourself as being truly precious. That "tear a tiger's throat out with my teeth" feeling healthy parents have toward protecting their children is what we're looking for. That ferocity can easily motivate you to work out and fast, or whatever you choose to stay on your path of energy and aliveness (as well as feeling and looking sexy by your own standards).
HEART. Loving the "inner child" is stupendously powerful. BELIEVING in his potential can counter any level of external stress. Faith and love are the antidote for fear, guilt, grief, and anger. Negative emotions are useful to get your attention, but you don't NEED them. The raw survival drive is a meld of love and fear, the "white light" of emotion before they hit the prism of experience. "Real emotional content…NOT ANGER" as Bruce said.
Now, try again.
HEAD. The domain of strategy and tactics. Education. Creativity. The "Child" self has the raw curiosity to keep you constantly learning and seeking. MENTORS are critical, as the most important thing you can do AFTER YOU HAVE YOUR MOTIVATED ENERGY is to use it effectively and efficiently. And this means constant observation of your results. Did doing X get you closer to Y or further away? You need to evaluate this as often as possible. DAILY is great, looking at micro-actions in the light of your overall life.
How in the @#$$ do you do this every day? It takes OBSESSION. And kids are GREAT at obsession…they simply don't obsess over the things you WISH they'd obsess over. They do it for their own reasons…HEART reasons. So the "why" of learning is to decrease pain and increase pleasure, but the HOW involves lots and lots of head stuff. This can lead to disconnection from emotions and body, so grounding every day in the "Child" self, Body, Heart, and Head, keeps you rooted, as well as giving you the feed-back you need to distinguish between cause and effect, effective and ineffective. Something that SOUNDS great, but actually makes no sense.
I remember that my mom sold World Book Encyclopedias so that we'd have a new set every year. And they had a kids' learning club, the "Lookies". And their motto: "we never guess: we look it up!"
Once the "Child" thinks learning is fun…you're in the game.
Once the "Child" understands love and fear…you're in the game
Once the "Child" thinks their body is a wonderful toy to play with every day…you're in the game.
I think it is worth while to investigate this more carefully. I'm looking for downsides.
Got one?
Namaste
Steve
