Intuition - The Limits To Self Examination

Plato said "Know Thyself.

I would say that was the beginning of the "Self Help Movement". A first step towards harnessing your Intuition and Intuitive Powers

But there are limits to  self examination.  And I don't want to sound like a spoilsport, but like so many  and ancient  sayings that have drilled into our modern minds  its familiarity outweighs it's real usefulness.

Take "The Diary"   Recording your every thought and action and desire and questions (really judgments) into a daily exercise or meditation for the day or week is supposed to give you insight into your life.  And reveal your real self.  It's another example of a widely recommended "self help resource" that can really add more confusion to your life

The facts:  If you're confused, and keep writing about all the confusing things going on you can get even more confused. 

If you are mentally off base, and you keep writing about your mental health problems, it can  make things worse because you're focusing on the problem.

If you are emotionally distraught and upset, and you keep writing about how terrible the world is, and how terrible life is...and how hopeless everything is...what frame of mind do you think that will keep you in?

So, if you spend all your time meditating on your problems, you'll get more rooted in them.

Two Different Types of Writing  Choose The One That's Best For You At The Time

Now, there are two different purposes for writing. 

The First: Writing is a way for you to "let things out".  As you write, your emotions can clean themselves out...sort themselves out.  By writing, you are adding a clarity to what you're experiencing.  That's fine.

The Second:  Writing when you are trying to"figure things out". 

So instead of letting things out...you are trying to add some level of reasoning or understanding. 

This can work.  It's a great tool.  But the danger lurks when you are in a disturbed state of mind.  And you try to force an answer.

The first way can add to understanding.

The second can bring an answer.

My suggestion is if you're looking for an answer...let your low or bad mood pass before you try to figure things out. 

The Mood will pass.  It always does. So write. But choose your own time.

Battlefield Of The Mind

Like Joyce Meyer said in her book "Battlefield of the Mind",   "If we mediate  on what is wrong with ourselves or others, we will become more deeply convinced of the problem and never see the solution."

One of those other dead Greek guys said "Physician heal thyself."

But if you're broken, trying to force yourself to be fixed by the same mind, attitudes and beliefs that make you  "sick" (a word I mostly and vehemently disagree with-there are way to many diagnoses going on about what is wrong with people as if it's an illness rather than a lack of adjustment or maturity).

Einstein said  "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."  So trying to fix yourself with what you already know is counter productive.

That's where Meditation can come in.

The practice of Meditation can calm your mind down.  Can slow it down long enough for you to see all the chatter and noise and thoughts that are distracting you from happiness right now.

Does this sound familiar?

You sit down and write out a diary or do some deep thinking and come up with the "Great Aha!".  "That's the answer to my problem."  "That's what I need to change and everything will be just right!"

And the next day, or next hour...you see it's not so great.

Or you see you can't implement it.

Or you see it's impossible. 

But just because it seems impossible or crazy doesn't mean it's not an answer. And here are two ways to separate a "meditation answer" from "a mind manufactured" one.

The first key to a meditation answer is it keeps its strength longer than a day.  It can take time for it to nurture and grown.  The answer may be solid but not quite clear yet.

Another key to a meditation answer is it comes more from calm, not the brainstorm.  The brainstorm is like a raging river where your "mind" what's you to live.  Exciting, stimulating, but confusing.

So by quieting your mind yourself the chance to see what's real or not.

So realize that by calming down through meditation and quieting your mind,  you actually open doors.

Thanks,

Intuitive John

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