i've agonized over this for a long time to finally reach a solution. life's all about the grace in which we handle gateways. if we don't live up to our potential no one will ever know what might have happened.
before any act there must be an intent. before every intent must be a potential. that's what it's all about, existance is potential, to be. something, anything. and we are to be judged on our propensities and choices.
that is at some level we don't consciously choose how our bones grow or our hearts beat. we do choose how we support them by eating healthy. but before any of that happens there must be the cellular level potential for it to happen.
while we can't control that deeper level of growth, we are bound in such a tight biofeedback that no one else can be respons-able for its care. imagine one day waking up to find that you have given yourself a wonderful gift that no one else can give you. it feels so right, so well cared for (or not), so filled with memories and it fits just right. it's you! there's a movie all about this.
the temptation to become narcissistic or self-centered is overwhelming, but that would destroy the bandwidth (potential) of the gateway. instead excersize the focus. preserverating is an old sales trick: selling your shortcomings or more commonly known as 'acting out' or mania.
everone does this to some degree. it's the old scientific trick of trial and error, the basis for the western world. it is a learned response to cognative dissonance.
try parsing the word "incongruity." it's an oxymoron george carlin would be worthy of.
when faced with a situation never before encountered there are many responses.one creative one is learning how to learn. unfortunately there are two other prevalent alternatives:: abandonment and unhealthy chemical response.
learning how to learn is like flying without instruments. everything is in relation to everything else. it is not 'this tree' is 100' from 'that tree', it is 'this tree' is 100' from 'me'.
avoidance is not necessarily self-centered or oblivious. it's deciding without participating. like changing channels on the tv constantly.
chemical response is completely different. it's a snowball effect. because it's dealing with an unknown potential, once it gets started it's easy to get out of control. by some disorder from birth or nurture, the brain's chemicals become unbalanced producing a manic effect. telling a manic depressive to "get over it" is like telling a blind man to read or a lame man to run. until a balance is achived there's nothing they can do to change the situation.
still no good analogy ? imagine a talking parrot. does the parrot know english or does he know that the sounds he speaks evoke a response in you ? or is that the definition of a language ?
everyone has these tendencies to some degree. everyone displays inappropriate reactions. it's the degree of controlability of these reactions and how unstable the responses that should be observed.
key things to check are high tests for potential but low scores on implementation. migraines. 'mixed signals.'
what does someone with a chemical challenged life do ? they just have to remember that adopting a posture of humility or pride alters the exposure of the experience of life.
