Dear friends,
If you couldn’t see your coffee, would you know it was brown? Take a sip with your eyes closed, it has no taste other than of hot water with a little flavoring. Seeing the rich dark color seems to make it better. People have their favorite beverages but when asked to do blind taste tests they often pick another brand as the best tasting. This happened with a group of folks who were devotees of a particular brand of vodka. They swore it was the only one worth consuming. In a blind taste test with several brands involved, they vehemently declared it to be the worst tasting one! They had a hard time believing the results. They insisted they had been tricked. Perception is very tricky.
We can be so invested in a perception that we will fight for it even when it has been proven wrong. Often we have become so attached to the idea that somehow our very self-worth gets involved. “Wait a minute”, the mind argues, ”if my beliefs about ‘them’ were completely false, what does that say about me?” Fanatics will defend their position even when they no longer actually believe in the original premise. The question arises “what else have I been wrong about?” The ego mind does not want to hear the answer to that.
Spiritual courage is revealed in the one who can honestly say “I got that all wrong.” We are able to do it when we have a clearer perception of ourselves. If our essential self is always intact, then our ideas do not define us. Therefore, we can change our mind and not fear the loss of anything real. Ideas come and go. The I am remains. Perceptions are temporary. Updating them is always possible. That is the secret to emotional maturity and mental freedom.
Affirm: “I let old ideas that limit me or anyone else, float away gently. No harm, no foul.”
Stay tuned in,
Carol Carnes www.carol-carnes.com
