A couple of weeks ago I was performing one
of my daily exercises, swimming laps, when I observed a woman
in her early seventies enter the pool and securely grasp hold
of the side. She slowly made her way round the pool to the deep
end by holding on to the side of the pool and moving her hands
to guide her way to the deep end. She then let go and swam on
her back all the way to the shallow end.
I watched her repeat this routine over and over. Of course,
I could not let an opportunity like this pass-by without asking
her what she was doing by holding on to the side of the pool
to get to the deep end. I asked her why she did not swim to
the deep end.
She explained that since she was a child, a fear of putting
her face into the water had stopped her from swimming on her
front. Her fear of drowning by swallowing water was so strong
that for most of her life she could only swim on her back and
feel secure. Swimming on her back towards the shallow end was
acceptable to her mid-set; however, if she reversed the routine
and tried to swim on her back towards the deep end, fear overtook
her and she could not release her hold from the side of the
pool.
Well, me being me, I explained to her how fear is an illusion
of the mind, even though it be a persistent one. I gave her
a few practical tips on how to overcome her trepidation of swimming
on her front. I spent about half an hour showing her how to
move a few steps from the shallow end, kick off the bottom of
the pool, and float to the shallow side. She tried it a few
times without success and told me she will work on her mind-set
thoughts and keep trying this new technique of floating a few
feet to the shallow side.
I did not encounter her again in the pool for a few days. Well,
a few days later, what do you think happened to the seventy-year-old
fear of not being able to swim on her front? The answer was
... nothing I could say or do could help her change her fearful
mind-set.
She continued to hold on to the side of the pool for dear life
until she made her way to the deep end and then let go and swam
on her back to the shallow end. She told me that she had thought
about what I had said to her, but she just could not get over
her fear of swimming with her face in the water. I jokingly
said to her that perhaps her body was not made to swim face
down and only constructed to swim on her back.
Not realizing the humor, she replied, “What about all
the other people who can swim on their front? Why can they do
it and I can’t?”
I replied, “Simple. Because they do not believe it is
impossible to swim on their front.”
Now before you start to think that this woman is somehow unusual,
let me ask you a question: Can you live in a joyful state of
mind, every second you exist in the pool of life? What is that
you answer?! You declare it is impossible to live in a joyful
state of mind every second you are on earth.
Well, what mind-set leads you to believe it is impossible?
• What types of thoughts have hold on your mind that limit
your happiness?
• What are you clutching on to that restricts that natural
flow of serenity and contentment?
• Are your thoughts of limited joy any different from
the woman who finds it impossible to swim with her face in the
water?
By my observations of humanity’s habitual patterns and
characteristics, I have determined that most people in this
world hold on to thoughts throughout their lives that restrict
them from living in a natural, free-flowing way.
Yes indeed, most people’s brains have been influenced
by perceptions, ideas, thoughts and suggestions from other people
and are limiting the way they live their lives.While you were
getting a good education, well-meaning teachers may have seeded
your thoughts.
• The thoughts may have been planted by well-meaning religious
viewpoints, but if you still hold fears, what good is the religious
doctrine doing to your every lifestyle of happiness?
• Well-meaning scientific experts may have planted the
thoughts and delivered new inventions and hi-tech gadgets, but
how much lasting happiness does that contribute to your life
of joy?
• Well-meaning family and friends may have planted the
thoughts since you were a toddler; however, how has that helped
your well-being for long-term mental stability and permanent
bliss?
With massive amounts of intellectual, educational books, texts,
journals and expert advice, no person is immune from synthetic
thought patterns that can restrict the natural, free- flowing
truth, intrinsically gifted in all human beings. How many people
do you know who are not restricted in some way or other and
have no need to hold on to unwise teachings that have been seeded
in their minds by other people?
Maybe it really is impossible to teach old dogs new tricks.
So why not just settle for getting by with holding on to the
sidelines of bliss and understand you are mentally constructed
in that confined way? Just make do with the average, joyless
moments most people tell me is inevitable. What is the point
in looking for what you deem to be unlivable blissful answers,
no matter how truth-full they may be, but make no sense to your
intellectual, thought-life possessor?
Well, there may be one alternative to holding on to all elemental
fallacies contained in … intrinsic doctrines, inbred intellectual
reasoning and logic, informative philosophical debates, ingrained
religious teachings, entrained educational rules and regulations,
entrenched spiritual habits and other deep-rooted, meaningful
... Perceptions, Ideas, Thoughts, Suggestions (PITS) ... but
I doubt you would believe me if I told you what it is.
So rather than disclose to you how to live your life in a manner
that is unacceptable to your knowingness, maybe I’ll give
you a little hint into the types of mind-sets that can un-anchor
your brain and cast you adrift from a more realistic mode of
authenticity.
• If a person has a strong intellectual mind-set, it may
smother him or her.
• If a person has a weak intellectual mind-set, it may
drown him or her.
• If a person has a medium intellectual mind-set, it may
suffocate him or her.
However, if a person can live with an objective, detached mind-set,
it will be a game, set and match ... liberating a winner/winner.
So, if you feel it is impossible to live in a joy-filled mind-set
all the time, just continue to endure sharing the unsatisfying
holds on your mind with others who also share your accustomed
viewpoints. Keep away from all those other strange people who
are in the same mode, with different slants on truth, but like
you, holding on to the edge of the thought-life pool, without
ever being in the free-flowing, blissful central moment.
Although, in the final analysis, everyone will swim in the same
erroneous human pools of thought that restricts joy, they do
not have to accept it as their reality. Even though many people
will keep a stiff upper lip with differing viewpoints that will
cause conflicts of interest and unrest, a few simple minds will
not buy into the illusions that surround them ... As an early
warning sign, perhaps we can give the erroneous mind-sets brigade
an official title ...
How about ... Contriving Orientation Navigators ... Thoughts
that CON you out of a joyful-thought-life and navigate you into
worrisome, depressive deliberations.
The good news is that when you learn to live joyfully, despite
what your conditioned mind-set may determine is impossible to
live, you have overcome your fear for the truthful wisdom you
were born with ... When your life ends, you will have no regrets
of missed moments of joy ... And that, my friend, is the only
proper definition of success… The merry moments of blissfulness
lived.
International radio host Michael Levy,
is the author of eight inspirational books. Michael's poetry
and essays now grace many web sites, newspapers, journals and
magazines throughout the world. He is a prominent speaker on
health maintenance, stress eradication, wealth development,
authentic happiness and inspirational poetry. http://www.pointoflife.com
Michael Levy, PO Box 7, 3032 East Commercial Blvd Fort Lauderdale,
Florida 33308, 954-785-8439
