The Freedom to Make Your Own Meaning

My first thoughts this morning were a bit random but also are bringing me some really good feelings, so I wanted to capture them and share before they disappear into the process of getting ready for work.

Science observes that we are essentially a complex, self-aware set of neural impulses. These impulses begin at birth with genetic presets, which are then modified over time by our experiences, as we attempt to get our needs met. Day to day, what we experience is a blend of genetics and everything we have experienced so far. We are then said to have a "personality", and along with it come some "issues", because these neural impulses can begin to interact in ways which make us miserable, as easily as they make us happy.

These impulses would never get us past the baby stage unless we had some way of relating to them, which is part of the complex biofeedback mechanism we call "consciousness". Therefore, we have to "wrap" our feeling-impulses in thoughts and layers of meaning. Since these thoughts and meanings are generated by not only our own brain impulses interacting with each other, but by how the environment (including other people) react to us, basically we're just being pushed around by the inner and outer world as it were, UNLESS ... we become highly aware of what's going on. We have both the right and the obligation to GENERATE OUR OWN SELVES.

This is good news, because this gives us a degree of freedom, and also of HOPE. As difficult as it is to manage our own brain impulses, experiences and memories, this capacity to DEFINE AND REGULATE OUR OWN SELVES must be the only hope each of us has to lead with our strengths, overcome our weaknesses, and become the masters of our own lives. Think of the implications for a moment ... psychiatry attempts to help by modulating these brain impulses chemically, psychology attempts to teach us how to regulate them at will, and sociology seeks to understand how each person affects every other person within a larger group. I don't want to leave spirituality out of this ... to my mind, spirituality is another way of pulling all your experiences together in a way which makes you a better person, by whatever set of rules and meanings which makes sense to you personally.

Why are there so many different ways of approaching our problems then, even within the same discipline like psychology, to name just one? The answer surely is that we are NOT all clones, we have genetic drift and differences in experiences, all of which make us unique individuals psychologically and biologically. Therefore, we each have to find ways of figuring out our lives and our conflicts (both inner and outer) in ways which blend our neural impulses together in an answer which works best for us.

We exist in a "sea" of thoughts and feelings. This is a blend of genetics, memories, and interpersonal relationships (don't forget the impact of what the rest of the human race is telling you every day, including media, other face-to-face encounters, online interactions, etc.), plus the awareness of our own existence and others' existence. Therefore, the importance of mastering our own selves (self-mastery does NOT mean self-punishment or pushing ourselves around by the way - these toxic thoughts make the rounds like a sort of mental flu!), being aware of our own needs, being very mindful of how we treat other people, how they treat us, and how everyone's psychology interacts is surely the only way we possess to craft a life of meaning, a life which makes us happy rather than miserable, a life where we truly have personal choice and freedom? This implies mindfulness, self-acceptance and self-mastery.

Living is an ACT. It doesn't just happen to you. Early on though, yes it did, you had whatever confusing and painful experiences in life which triggered any problems which are now chronic or recurring. You weren't bad, you weren't stupid, you weren't defective, you just didn't know how to recover yet, the first times you stumbled or life pushed you into a corner. Freedom comes from realizing you can have control over it now, you are not doomed to be helpless after all. You CAN "rise above". It isn't easy and it isn't quick, but yes it IS possible.

One last thought - I am aware of a need to interact with others and myself in a way which promotes harmony and contentment. After a night of fractured sleep, I awoke to disturbing mental images of innocent people being made to suffer. Rather than brood about it or simply sit quivering in bed, I made a conscious choice to make meaning out of it, to control the experience rather than be controlled by it. I too often feel like a helpless observer both here on PC and in daily life. This is not acceptable to me. I want to help people, and in doing so I help myself. It is painful to me to witness pain and not intervene, to see potential wasted, to see fear win out over greater aspirations.

I wish you the mindfulness to be fully self-aware today, so you can live your life consciously and empowered.

Thanks for these thoughts today

I know that feeling sometimes in the morning, between waking and sleeping, for just a few minutes I have a clarity like never before, when yesterdays thoughts are put aside for the moment, and things make sense, and I chase the thoughts around in my head trying to pin them down before they escape me. Good job on capturing this before it got away. Its lucid and deep and has powerful truths.

This is an inspiring thread, thank you for sharing.
warm regards
Jade

What if you feel like "crap" most of the time?

Thank you for this thread!

You have put so much in words, things i am yet struggling to, and writing always does make a blurred picture, if not much, slightly clearer, everything seems more logical than it did, helps deal with all the crowding and confusion in the mind better... thank you!

Do you have any idea why this is? I think it pays (even if difficult) to wonder why, about all kinds of things. For instance, have you been told a lot that you were "crap" ?

You are free to feel like crap. One person's crap is another person's fertilizer, fuel, or building material. It's all in one's desires and/or perception.