The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
– Steve Wright
At some point in the evolution of biological creatures, consciousness emerged. When using their rational, problem-solving faculties, adult humans have powers that are not available to animals and young children. Consciousness, including consciousness of the self, comes with opportunities as well as dangers:
- The opportunity: Consciousness and self-awareness enable you to imagine how the future will unfold so you can figure out how to get what you want. The powers of imagination and abstract reasoning give you the power to intentionally influence the course of events.
- The danger: The ability to think makes us vulnerable to thinking errors that handicap performance. Certain thinking errors are special because they have a self-confirmatory influence on outcomes. If it is a recurring pattern that is sufficient to interfere with occupational or social functioning, it is considered a Mood Disorder.
Subjective Versus Objective Reality
Suicide bombers and Amway distributors live in the same physical world, but experience different subjective realities. Given that you buy into the crazy beliefs that maintain it, the suicide bomber is influenced by a coherent cognitive structure — the same is true for the Amway distributor. The same is also true for people whose lives are diminished by:
- Addictive Disorder
- Depressive Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Relationship Problem
Telling the pyramid schemer or the bomber that their perceptions are distorted is not likely to produce the intended outcome. Likewise, telling the anxious person not to worry so much, or telling the depressed person to look on the bright side of things, is less helpful than well-meaning friends think. Even people who recognize that their emotional reactions are counter-productive, are frustrated by their inability to get themselves to react more adaptively.
As you follow this guide you will learn about the important cause-and-effect principles that determine how people react to the things that happen. By working with some ancient and modern disciplines you will explore and become familiar with the cause and effect principles that determine your personal experiences.
The puppy and the puppy trainer
To exercise your will, you have to know what you want and know how to operate the creature you inhabit. Your rational mind appreciates your interests and principles and seeks to influence your behavior so you act in accord with them. The creature you inhabit is an innocent and has no choice but to obey the laws of cause-and-effect.
Freud used the horse and rider as a metaphor for his model in which a conscious mind, driven by rational concerns, was often in conflict with an unconscious mind, driven by lust and fear. Our model also involves two minds:
- A biological creature driven by hungers and fears that uses a fast but sloppy processing system [the puppy].
- An intellectual entity capable of abstract problem solving, who can observe how the creature reacts to things that happen and exercise a mindful influence on its development [the puppy trainer].
Puppy Training
The text is written to be read by the Abstract Mind, but experiential invitations are designed to be directly experienced by the creature you inhabit. As you navigate your course through this material you [your rational self] will be training the creature to act in accord with your interests and principles.
The biggest threat to good outcome is defecting — prematurely abandoning the challenge. I am using the corny metaphor of “the puppy” to emphasize the need to be patient and gentle with the puppy. It is easy to become discouraged, so perhaps the most important responsibility of the puppy trainer is to keep the puppy engaged in and entertained by this process Have some respect for the difficulty of this task and do not be harsh or critical with the self. Give yourself the unconditional positive regard you would give to a puppy of a child doing its best to develop an impressive competency.
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