Years ago, I used to have a copy the I Ching, or the Book of Changes, with a forward written by Carl Jung. I never got through the book itself, but the forward I read many times. It was one of the first pieces of work I read dealing with the relationship between the world within (microcosm) and the world without (macrocosm), and the relationship between the two.
This is an important theme in my book, The Nature of Trees, because in order to find a balance between yourself and the world around you, you need to be able to discern the relationship between the two.
This isn’t merely mysticism. Neuroscience tells us that the human brain is capable of registering 36,000 visual images per hour. That’s just from the eyes! Now add to that number the input that comes from your other senses and you’ll see very quickly that at any given moment your brain is being bombarded by sensory input.
What our brains choose to either focus on or ignore is based on a number of factors, many of which are doubtfully under our control. The pulse of blood in our ears, for example, is something that is usually filtered out from conscious attention, as is the white space between the letters you are reading right now.
Our brain comes pre-wired with pattern recognition software.
In the raging sea of constant stimuli, the brain is also fond of identifying patterns. We are adept at instantly recognizing faces, for example. Even where no face exists, as with the famous “face” discovered in the rock formations on Mars.
That the human brain tends to see human faces whenever there are three lines and a dot, or two lines and a dot, or even just three dots, says more about the human brain itself than it does about the lines and dots. It says something actually quite profound if you ponder it for a few moments – we are creatures with faces, who have evolved, survived, and thrived, by recognizing fellow-faced creatures like ourselves.
It also tells us that the brain prefers predictable stimuli over the unpredictable, because it saves time and energy. Patterns are a great way of simplifying data.
Now in the Nature of Trees, I use one pattern as a metaphor for one’s life path – that is driving down a street one day and encountering one green light after another, compared to a day of encountering only red lights. A day of green lights can be seen as a sign that we are completely synchronized with the world around us, and that we are in the place, or going to the place, we are meant to be. And on the day we encounter only red light after another, is a day when we are not really in synch with the world (or universe) at all.
But what is important about any signs we see during our life’s journey is that the signs actually tell us more about our state of mind than they do about what the universe, or God, wants us to do. When you notice green lights in your life, pause for a moment, and ask yourself, “How was my perspective on this day before I noticed the signs.” In nearly ever instance, you’ll discover that you were already pre-wired for optimism. And the same goes for the day you are finding troublesome signs – you’ll discover you were already anticipating turmoil.
Try Flipping a Coin
A great way of demonstrating this, and discerning your state of mind about any decision you need to make is a simple coin toss. The next time you have a difficult decision to make, try flipping a coin. But don’t let the coin determine your decision. Instead, observe your reaction to how the coin lands. Upon seeing the result, do you feel yourself sighing with relief? Feel a surge of excitement? Or do you feel the slight pang of dread? That reaction alone should tell you what decision to make.
Often, regardless of our feelings about a decision, we need to take the tougher choice. The problem with using signs to help us make these decisions, is that we often tend to lean on them to take the easier course of action (or inaction). Very often, what we perceive as “bad” signs, are not really bad at all. Our own minds are merely indicating to us that changes are ahead, and beloved patterns are going to be broken as a result.
When we see troublesome signs, like rejection, red lights, delays, breakdowns in our plans, and you are tempted to give up, first ask yourself why you are seeing these patterns.
Or, to put it another way, as my friend Darren Monroe recently said, “When is the last time the devil gave you issues for going in the wrong direction?”
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As someone with an MA in counseling, I find this post to be extremely interesting. I call it the victim syndrome. or the Eeyore example. Unofficially, not an actual DSM term! We see what we expect to see. And here is what I see – you are very smart in a whole bunch of areas. I imagine you were easily bored in school!
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