Positive Change

(photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash)

Hypothetically, if we took two identical twins that have the same DNA and separate them at birth with one twin placed with dysfunctional parents and the other twin placed in a nurturing home environment with mentally and physically healthy parents, would the twins’ personalities remain the same or would significant differences take place?  Based on the scientific field of epigenetics, the environment we live in is crucial to the healthy development and growth of our bodies and minds.  Thus, the twin brought up in the unhealthy environment would have a greater chance of certain negative genes being turned on that may lead to mental and physical disease.  On the other hand, the twin brought up in a healthy environment would have a greater chance of more positive genes activated with less negative genes turned on, leaving this individual with a greater chance of a happier and healthier life.

The key point to recognize is that we do have the power within ourselves to make positive changes to our lives by directing our mind on purpose.  This is a difficult concept to practice at first and does take time to master, but it can be done by anyone who is willing to make necessary changes and a drive to take appropriate actions over-and-over again until new healthy habits are formed and stick.  There are many ways to achieve results, including meditation, visualization and diaphragmatic breathing, just to name a few practices.  By experimenting with a variety of processes, you can identify those that work best for you.  By doing new habits at the same time each day, you will program yourself to expect that you’ll be doing this on a regular basis going forward.  Consistent repetition will produce results as we gain familiarity with these new practices and ultimately when these tasks get imbedded into our unconscious minds.  Because the unconscious mind is much more powerful than the conscious mind, we must utilize methods to help ourselves transfer these new teachings from our conscious mind to our unconscious mind.  I have found that playing self-help CDs over-and-over again as I drive has helped considerably in overwriting old, outdated information currently stored in my unconscious mind.  We live in a society where we are constantly bombarded with “brainwashing” from radio and television commercials, shows and news broadcasts.  Why not brainwash ourselves with information that lifts up our energy, instead of being brought down by negative advertising created by other people solely for their desire to make money off of us.

It is worth the initial challenges that will meet us head on as we begin to implement new habits.  Going against society at large can be more daunting at first then just going along with the crowd.  We owe it to ourselves to pay attention to our inner selves, uncover what makes us tick, and take actions that move us in this direction.  There is a balance between doing something for immediate gratification versus striving for long-term goals that require more determination and effort to achieve.  If it was easy to change than everyone would change for the better.  But that is not the case.  None of us have control over what part of the world we are born, who our family members are, or our status in the community.  And as children we are limited by the rules of adults until we know better, gain experience and gain independence.  Then we become free to live our lives fully and completely on our terms, within certain confines of course.  How do you choose to live your life?  Do you want to bring the consciousness of society up or down?

We can take an active role in helping shift the consciousness of the world by improving our own environments.  The contents of our inner world ultimately get expressed outwardly to the rest of the world.  If our inner world is still in turmoil, this negativity will permeate into our outer world.  We need to clean up our own mess first in order for worldly change to occur.  This does not mean that we are eliminating our problems and negative life situations.  As human beings we will continue to experience ups and downs in life.  What is referred to here, relating to cleaning up our inner world, is to learn how to move beyond the over-thinking mind and pay attention to what is underneath, the real you.  Pay attention to the real you, listen for clues, and then take action on the ideas that pop up.  You know best!