Pathwalking 264
Carl Jung stated, “What you resist persists.”
This was talking about avoiding or denying aspects of the self, but it is still completely applicable to consciousness creating reality, and overly focusing on what you do not want.
One of the important aspects of Pathwalking in Practice is awareness. What am I aware of right now? Beyond that, and possibly more importantly, what am I thinking about right now?
Subconsciously, we may be chewing on something we read, we may be focused on that conversation we had or overhead, we may be thinking about a thing we actually DO NOT WANT. Part of this comes from general human nature, I presume, but I think a lot of it actually comes from our society.
We live in a society where the truth is now considered less important than opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and they feel they can maintain it even when faced with an opposite truth. Entitled, by the way, IS the correct word for this. “I believe ‘x’, so despite the irrefutable proof that ‘x’ is untrue, I will continue to believe and you can take a hike. Proof? Whatever, I believe in ‘x’, my belief is stronger than your ‘proof’, so go away before I get violent.”
Further, we are constantly inundated with messages of opposites. Look at elections. How often do we only see the candidates go off on the awfulness of their opponent and why you should not vote for them, rather than tell us something constructive and useful about themselves and their policies?
It should be no wonder that we wind up with our focus on what we DO NOT WANT, far more often than actually looking to what we DO want.
So what? It’s what I don’t want, so that’s what I am focusing on. The problem with this is that while our intent may be to NOT create that thing we’re being conscious of, the Universe only receives the focal point. Ergo, what you resist persists applies, and while you focused on not creating that terrible thing, lo and behold now the thing you didn’t want is manifest.
Focus is focus. This is why it is so vitally important to be AWARE of the world around you, but more than that to be AWARE of your own mind, your own thoughts, your own beliefs. This is why asking yourself “How am I?” and “What am I thinking?” and “What am I feeling?” whenever you can is hugely important.
Yes, it can feel like an absolutely ginormous amount of work to have to monitor your thoughts and feelings so closely. I know that everyone has times of the day and moments where they are doing something that just carries them along and work gets done and such. However, once you leave that mode, do you ask yourself any of these three questions, or do you just keep going on? Chances are you don’t inquire, so you do find yourself just keeping on.
Why does that matter? Because if you read something that made you angry, or took part in a conversation that was upsetting before you began whatever it was that set you into automatic mode without need of much thought, your subconscious likely has been chewing on it the whole time. If you resume being more present, but don’t question your own awareness at all, chances are you will continue to give thought and focus and energy to a thing you don’t want.
This has always been a challenge for me, personally. I get caught up in my own head. I want to stay informed, because it’s important to me to know what is going on, even when it involves things that get me feeling angry or otherwise negative. The trouble is, if I don’t question “How am I?” or “What am I thinking?” or “What am I feeling?” that thing I don’t want has lodged itself into my subconscious. Hours or more later, I wonder why I feel anxious or blue or discontent or flustered, and because I can’t readily recall what it was that began me down this path, I become more distraught with feeling this way and not knowing the how and why.
As a part of Pathwalking in Practice, one of the things that must be implemented is taking more time to ask yourself “How am I?” and “What am I thinking?” and “What am I feeling?” In doing this, you pull yourself into the moment, and you become more aware. When you are more aware, you can do better with getting ahold of your thoughts, and from your thoughts get ahold of your feelings, which will invariably lead to allowing you to be in control of your actions.
As a matter of practicing what I am preaching, the how of this will work as such: Not long after waking up, I need to question myself about my state of being, my thoughts and my current feelings, with the three questions of “How am I?” and “What am I thinking?” and “What am I feeling?”. Again, around lunch time, I need to ask these questions. Dinner time, round three. Lastly, and in many respects most importantly, right before I go to bed the questions must be asked.
To further empower this practice – for the first week of this, I need to WRITE THE ANSWERS DOWN. This will also help me to see if there is any particularly dominant thought, feeling or state of being I am experiencing. This, in turn, will help me to see where I am currently at, and if I am helping myself along this path to go where I want to go, or if my thoughts, feelings and state-of-being might actually be sabotaging me.
Pathwalking in Practice – simple questions and answers, and putting them on the page for accountability of the process. Care to join me with this challenge?
This is the two-hundred sixty-fourth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
If you enjoy Pathwalking, you may also want to read my Five Easy Steps to Change the World for the Better.
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