Conscious Growth.com

May 6th, 2008

Your mind maintains your survival by creating a perception of what is good and bad. Each judgment includes an unspoken context of meaning and value which energizes and directs focus into action and behavior. These “maps” help you navigate the territory of life. Without them, you wouldn’t last for more than a few hours or days.

The challenge with mental maps is their accuracy. Each map is limited by context; each a relative truth. To help you understand this, look at the picture of square boxes. As you can see, it’s a random grouping of red, blue, and green squares. When you create a meaning (or map) for an event, the first limitation is holding a narrow context; focusing attention on only one color. For example, a traffic jam might create sadness and depression (blue) for you, anger or frustration for me (red), and a peaceful opportunity to listen to a personal development book (green) for someone else. A narrow context feels experientially true because it focuses attention on the details that validate it.

The second limitation is an out-dated map. With life, the order of the squares change with new colors being introduced. An out-dated map creates the experience that the map should be the territory; the blue box should have been there.

Improving Accuracy

Suspend Judgment - To improve accuracy, suspend your judgments (old maps) long enough to experience the territory. What exactly is happening at this moment? Many people only see the past in the present. They look through old, out-dated maps that no longer represent the territory of life. They are quick to label people and situations; giving advice without fully listening or understanding the problem. Be present enough to embrace what is happening.

Take Action - Once you have a good understanding, take action. Even if you act from a poor map, you’ll know if it was effective or not. You are guaranteed results. The real value is not to hit the bulls eye, but to improve the aim. The more choices you make, the more consistent and accurate you become. So take action, observe the results, adjust your maps, and repeat the process.

Have Humility - Even when your perception seems accurate, have a little humility. Recognize that your knowledge and experience isn’t comprehensive. It is a small slice of the pie. By doing so, you make room for ignorance and the potential of tomorrow. Even if your judgment is right today, will it be true tomorrow? How do you that know for certain? Truth is only relative in the moment. Humility helps us embrace change.

Equal Opportunity - A map is most effective when applied correctly. The point is not to “think positively” and only see the green squares in life. It’s about developing the wisdom to know what to apply. Sometimes, feeling fear, anger or sadness is the perfect response. So no map is wrong; just less effective for the situation.

Why is this So Difficult?

In order to act with absolute accuracy, you’d need two things: to know all the information that exists (omniscience) and have the means to comprehend it (omnipotence). In other words, you’d need be God. Since you are limited in both areas, conscious growth is the next best thing. And when you embrace the adventure of conscious choice, you begin to experience your own potential.

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