A Matter of Choice ... Or Not? [Subconsciously diven behavior; Emotional eating; Addiction]/ (WAS: Listening to our bodies...Cracking down.....)

[Guest guest]

This is a long post.

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Hi Jeannie and all,

 

I appreciate your heartfelt description of driving around, feeling attracted

to all those foods that are " bad " for you. I realize that, if you had that

post to write again, you might have chosen different words, and one or two

people have certainly jumped all over the words you used. Yet these people

have missed your point entirely, in my opinion. So here is a very different

perspective.

 

People have shared, among other ideas, that:

 

- Addictions are hard to break.

- Addictions are a matter of realism.

- Addictions are a matter of choice.

- Addictions are a matter beyond choice.

- I'm just listening to my body.

- Let your mind lead your body.

- Let your body lead your mind.

- Just change the focus of your attention. (Think about something

different.)

- I take this one day at a time, that is the only way that works. Otherwise,

down I go.

 

Obviously, not all of these perspectives can be correct. What I suggest here

is that none of these perspectives is correct, and in fact that all of these

perspectives are downright harmful. For MUCH more information than I provide

here, I recommend listening to the free audio program entitled " Do I Have

Two Minds, Or What? !! " , provided by the Path of Health Community.

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We humans possess, by design, many capacities for awareness. Among these,

for example, are cognition, feelings, sensory awareness. intuition,

instinct, and so forth. Unfortunately , we have become very enamored with

our intellect, and with our conscious awareness in general. We love to

" explain things " , to " figure things out " . And in certain respects, we have

become quite good at it.

 

But we have done so at a very high cost: we have shut down, to a great

degree, much of the rest of our capacity for self-awareness and for

awareness in general. And we have allowed ourselves to believe that our

conscious awareness is almost our entire awareness. It is not.

 

We have created for ourselves, in the mainstream, a lifestyle that supports

and nurtures this alienation from ourselves. Almost all the choices

available to us ... foods, recreation, reading material, work, and the like

.... numb us, guide our perceptions, and so forth. Most of us have no earthly

idea what we feel, what we believe and value, what messages our physical

body is sending us ... we really have become that disconnected from

ourselves and from all that surrounds us. To a remarkable extent, we have

lost our capacity even to ask questions and formulate innovative options. We

have, therefore, lost much of our sense of choice in most things. And all

across the land, there hangs a cloud of confusion, uncertainty, and fear,

built upon a profound lack of external knowledge and internal awareness.

 

Yet underneath all this mess lies our inborn innate intelligence, that

capacity, inherent in our very existence, by which we may safely, clearly,

and easily discern many things. And certainly figuring out what to eat is

among these.

 

In addition, we make conscious choices about how to live, how to eat, with

whom to socialize, etc. And yet, most of us act differently than these

choices would suggest. For example, we choose to consume a raw vegan diet,

yet we are eating a pizza. We choose to create a new business, yet, we never

seem to " get past square one " . We commit, from the bottom of our heart, to

become more active, to exercise more ... yet we do not. We choose to get

organized, yet ... well, you get the picture.

 

Question 1: How can we reconnect with who we really are?

 

Question #2: How can we reconnect with, and relearn to trust and rely upon,

our innate intelligence?

 

Question #3: How can we bring our consciously chosen values, beliefs, and

choices to fruition in our actions?

 

Question #4: How can we accomplish all of these things in ways that do NOT

require constant effort and vigilance? In other words, can't this all be

easy?

 

To begin, let's distinguish the idea we call " will power " . This is this

notion that says " try harder " , " if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try

again, " and so forth. Underneath the idea of will power is the idea that

every action we undertake is a matter of conscious choice, and that we

therefore possess the capacity to choose any new course of action at any

point in time.

 

I have learned that this whole way of thinking is utterly false--and very

debilitating. Why do I say this?

 

We all have certain areas where we seem to make and carry out choices with

predictability and ease. And we all have other areas of our lives where se

seem to make choices and do something entirely different, with equal

predictability and ease. I have never met a single living human for whom

this was not so.

 

Why, then, do we find it so easy to live by conscious choice in some areas,

yet almost completely impossible to do so in others?

 

A large part of the answer lies in better comprehending the nature and

operation of the human mind. We possess various forms of conscious

awareness, as mentioned above, and we also possess subconscious functions,

which I call the " subconscious mind " . When the two conflict, whatever

" programming " is held in the subconscious mind " wins " almost 100% of the

time. Why? Because the subconscious mind is faster, carries out more

processes concurrently, and possesses far more memory than the conscious

awareness.

 

Example: You consciously choose to start a new business to better provide

for your family, to gain independence, etc. Yet, your subconscious

programming includes, among other things, the beliefs that " Money is hard to

get and hard to keep " and " You can't trust rich people. " Guess how long it

will take you to create AND SUSTAIN a successful business that accomplishes

your goals? Answer: it will probably never happen. You'll either never

start, start, then stop, start and fail, or start, succeed, but succeed in

such a way that you become enslaved to the very business that was supposed

to bring your more freedom.

 

Example: You consciously choose to eat a 100% raw, vegan diet. You began on

Sunday. You did great for 3 days, and now it's the day 4, and you are

attending a party. You are surrounded by cakes and cookies and pasta and

whatever other cooked foods you customarily love. You break down, pig out,

go home, " forgive yourself " , and decide to start again tomorrow with renewed

commitment, certain that you have " learned " from your experience. Three

days later you do the same thing.

 

Example: You've been struggling to eat all-raw for 6 months. A month ago,

your husband/wife decided to join you in it, and he just did it, no fuss, no

muss. You could just SCREAM!!! And at the same time, you wish to support

him/her all the way.

 

What lies beneath such seeming contradictions? Are we stupid? Are we

incompetent? Are we broken?

 

What's going on???

 

To a great extent, the answer lies in the relationship between our conscious

choices and our subconscious programming. Whenever we make a conscious

choice and have no subconscious resistance to that choice, we are likely to

move forward. But whenever we make a conscious choice and we DO have

subconscious resistance to that choice, we're going nowhere, and/or we're

going forward, but only with continual effort and vigilance ... in other

words, we are doomed to " trying hard " , to living from " will power " .

 

But will power is nothing more than our conscious attempt to override our

own subconscious programming by force ( " determination " ). And as with all

acts of force against ourselves, our attempts to move forward on the basis

of will power almost invariably fail. And then we feel despondence,

hopelessness, despair, powerlessness, etc.

 

What's the solution? Rewrite our subconscious programming.

Can we really do this? Yes.

 

How can I learn more? Listen to that free audio program, mentioned above.

Then, if you are interested, post questions here, write to me privately,

whatever you wish. I'll be happy to share more.

 

Later this year, we will rerun the " Two Minds " program mentioned above, and

follow it with another program called " The Empowered Mind " . We ran both of

these programs a few months ago, with great success for those involved. (And

just to say so up front, since a few here seem hypersensitive about money,

I'll just say right now that the " Two Minds " program will be free and " The

Empowered Mind " program will not be free. But regardless, simply having a

greater understanding about how your own mind works can be very liberating,

for at the very, very least, such knowledge can help you to let go of

self-blame and hopelessness.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan