February 1st, 2011
Had a great trip through the Snowy Mountains. Kinda hairy driving at times but stunning. Can see lake Jindabyne out the front door as I sit here typing.
Went for a swim in a beautiful reservoir – FREEZING
Really looking fwd to interviewing some great people in Canberra and meeting the Laos community. Many of whom have incredible Life Change stories escaping from a communist country.
ARE YOU A REALISTS ?
Interestingly a few people here have been complaining about the ‘inspirational video’s’ we have posted on the site. They say we should be REALISTS and not get people’s hopes up.
Funnily enough my ‘Think Blog’ today explains that I used to think exactly the same thing (weird how the very day I write about it someone posts a complaint)
http://www.thelifechangeexperiment.com/featured/where-ever-you-are-youre-always-there/
Anyway it’s a REALLY valid point. One that took me years to get a perspective on.
It wasn’t until I realised 2 things, that I was able to let go of the illusion of being a realist. Quite funny actually when I think back to the ways my brain used to keep me from stepping outside my comfort zones.
1) Nothing GREAT was ever achieved by a REALIST!….. Thinking outside the box is the prerequisite to new inventions, new ideas, art, negotiations, politics, love and numerous other things that require we suspend ‘reality’ to succeed at them!
2) REALITY, as science will tell us, is a very flexible. Ask a physicist. There is nothing much real about reality!! If that’s the case for the nuts n bolts of matter how much more so for the ethereal world of our minds!
Since reality is in general a perception. The concept of being a ‘realist’ is an oxymoron.
You can’t be a REALIST about a REALITY that by nature is not fixedly REAL
At best we can be a ‘perceptionaly based generalist’ or a ‘materially based perceptional realist’ ha ha -
Lets face it – When it comes to climbing everest this thinking will ensure your safety. That you have the right equipment and take the right route. But it WONT get you to the top.
So since it’s an illusion to say anything is possible. And it’s an illusion to say it’s not. I choose the one that is most likely to improve the quality of my life :- )
COOMA TODAY – CANBERRA TOMORROW
Let us know if you are in these areas . We would love to meet more of you and hopefully get to help a few people out as well.
3 Comments on "Snowy Mountains & a Reality Check"
Another awesome post – I won’t complain Geoff – we are both on the same page – for me Reality is whatever I believe it to be. My reality is often different to anothers reality and I am ok with that. If one person wants to believe something that I personally don’t agree with – thats ok – it doesn’t mean I will change my belief & I think thats the biggest part of it – your belief and my belief are “our own” and are whatever we want them to be. I will not ask you to “Believe my reality” so do not ask me to “Believe your reality”
To those who want to share their reality with me – I will always be interested in what you believe and I respect that you have your beliefs. Please grant me the same respect back.
Love & Light
Jayc
I once sat in a filthy communist prison in Laos after my husband had been taken hostage and I was supposedly the bait to make him crack… all the while waiting for our government to come to our rescue. We got this Australian lawyer who told me 19 times over the space of a year that I was going home to our children. Each time he told me this, I felt my world shatter when it didn’t happen. I begged him to stop telling me that I was going home and instead, just get me home! It really did my head in. When eventually we were freed through unprecedented diplomatic intervention, I asked him why he kept torturing me in that way. He said that because in his mind, he believed 100% in the reality of what he was saying. He was 100% optimistic. At the time I didn’t appreciate his reality/optimism…. because it felt to me as if I were riding some horrible rollercoaster of emotion. I just wanted to be told the truth… not what someone was hoping for.
The reality was actually just a mis-communication. What he really meant was that he would stay in Laos no matter what, until the day we were free… that he would never give up on us… that he didn’t ever see himself giving up on us… that he truly believed that we would go home to our children. He had convinced himself of this in order to make sure he remained steadfast.
Despite the torture, ill treatment and mock executions, my reality was just a simple desire to survive.
Great post Kay – Thanks.
I remember how you said the life’rs had to have their own reality to survive. Being a realist about 30 years and the death in a dirty Laos jail is not much to work with when u get up in the morning
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