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this model, at any point in time I'm basically either in some
form of hell, and suffering because of it, or I'm in heaven, and
loving life in all its glory. Unlike the heaven and hell described
in the Bible, my version isn't black and white. It represents
the full spectrum —
from
the very bottom of hell, all the way to the upper reaches of heaven.
My goal is obvious: To spend as much time as possible in heaven,
and as far "up" as I can get.
The
best way for me to describe my heaven and hell is by using expressive
words. For every word describing one realm, there exists a polar
opposite to represent its partner in the other realm.
"Heaven" is: upward, light, easy, fun, positive, abundant,
big-picture perspective, happy, appreciative, shiny, vibrant,
bright, connected; full of love, sharing, and cooperation.
"Hell"
is: downward, heavy, difficult, miserable, negative, scarce, full
of details, depressing, ungrateful, dull, languid, dark, detached;
full of hatred, jealousy, and competition.
My
process works like this: At any given moment I evaluate where
I'm at. If I realize I'm not very happy, I'll stop and consider
what might be causing the problem. Usually, I find something simple,
such as I'm breathing irregularly, I'm tense, and I'm heavily
focused on the ridiculous details of something irrelevant to my
life as a whole. To recover, I take a moment to stop and relax.
I take several deep breaths and think of pleasant things —
a
warm beach, a puppy, or an ice cream sundae…and find that
I have instantly moved myself up a notch from hell toward heaven.
With this new awareness, I feel more centered, relaxed, and most
importantly, happy. This obviously isn't meant to be a solution
for any of my problems; it's just a way to improve my perspective
and attitude, making life so much more pleasant on a regular basis.
While
it really is this easy for me to make a significant change in
only a moment's time, it often takes more. For my next level of
support, I call on my special bag of tricks. This is where
I keep a list of "magic" thoughts or memories that help
me to instantly pop up further on my scale, usually from hell
right up to heaven. These "tricks" are special songs
that give me goose-bumps; thoughts of world events or situations
that bring me to a positive, more-worldly perspective; or special
memories of past events that force me to smile and are capable
of moving me to tears, just by bringing them to the forefront
of my mind. Luckily, I have hundreds of awesome songs and thousands
of wonderful memories to choose from. And these are almost always
successful in waking me up, and helping me move out of hell and
into heaven.
On
rare occasions, though, nothing seems to work at all. It feels
like I'm just stuck in hell and there isn't much I can do about
it. This can be very frustrating. However, over the years I've
begun to recognize the value in this state of being. Our human
minds are so strongly based on duality that it seems we need to
have bad days on occasion to help make the good days so much richer
and full of life. So instead of resisting my current state, I
simply focus on doing whatever I need to do to get by. I sit on
the couch and stare out the window. I read an engrossing book.
I watch TV. I do whatever it takes. I usually try to keep a smile
on my face so that I don't negatively affect anyone else's mood.
At some point, I usually feel the need to stop and acknowledge
what I'm thinking and feeling, which helps begin the process of
bringing me back to heaven. I've found that it's not very easy
to find your way out of hell when you don't really understand
how you got there in the first place!
Another
distinguishing characteristic of my model I've noticed is that
the farther you are from neutral (the official line that marks
the border between heaven and hell) the more difficult it is to
move in the opposite direction. In other words, the farther out
you are the more intense it is. This is all fine and dandy when
I'm in the far reaches of heaven, but not so good when I am mired
in the depths of hell. As you have probably realized yourself,
it takes a tremendous amount of effort when you really find yourself
stuck deep down there. We even have terms for this: Being
stuck in a rut, or in a bad funk, etc. When I find myself in a
bad funk, sometimes one of my really good "magic tricks"
will help. But other times I have to really plod along over time
to escape. Likewise, when I am floating along in heaven, I'm usually
there for a while, and it takes quite a bit to bring me down.
Using
this process was at first rather challenging for me —
probably
like developing any other habit that is difficult in the beginning,
such as remembering to put the toilet seat back down (that one
took a few years!). But after a while it got easier and easier
for me to practice, and eventually it just became part of my life.
Long term, I believe the process will become subconscious and
will require little if any effort at all. But for now I am content
working at it consciously, and spending a good portion of my time
in heaven. It's a great place to be…heaven, right here on
earth!
I
also strive to reach higher and higher in my heaven, to see what
I am capable of experiencing. I've encountered some pretty intense
moments while in heaven, for which I am completely unable to describe
with words. But the amazing thing is that each time I experience
this "ecstasy," I feel as if I only got a quick taste
of what might be possible. This is incredibly exciting —
to
consider the joy that is possible if we set our minds to it! Human
growth and maturity are reaching new heights, and we're just beginning
to encounter a new era in our abilities, awareness, and development.
There are possibilities that we can't even comprehend that are
just around the corner. This is an exciting time to be alive!
Author's
note: I hope that I've been able to convey my process to you well
enough, in this abbreviated form of communication. It's often
difficult for me to put the ideas that seem so clear to me in
my mind, down on paper. But I also find that putting my thoughts
into words helps me clarify my thoughts. I've actually started
writing a book on this topic, which I plan to complete this year.
If you have any feedback, advice, comments or ideas, I openly
welcome your responses.
You may have developed a process of your own, and I would love
to hear about it!
Bill
Stimpson is a coach, consultant, and writer who encourages
others to think independently. Learn
more about Bill.
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