Remembering why we’re here when times are tough

[Zar]

I'm here because I felt/saw something in my earlier years; I felt very empty(lacking knowledge) and that there was something very wrong with reality as it was shown to me. Despite massive resistance I could not ignore the signs and kept on searching for something, which after finding the wave and the forum I now know it to be the work and knowing objective reality. To be or not to be is the questions, I have to be.

When times are tough and I get lost, which has been happening of late, I usually go back to observing the machine and work on remembering alternative solutions to eliminate harmful/useless habits. I'm also practicing detachment and allowing feelings and thoughts to flow freely without acting upon them.

 

[Gawan]

Thank you for opening the topic Ennio!

As everyone else I know these moments too of feeling down. It is as I think Ouspensky or Gurdjieff described that everything comes in turns and it is like a pendulum and you cannot be always happy and likewise not always be depressed. Lucky us. This is something I say to myself when I'm feeling too lucky, that this will past too and vice versa. The problem is, when feeling down for example bei it due outer circumstances or brain chemical or anything else to find these words because you are in a mood and it can be hard getting detached from it again. Generally I'm a fighting person and never give up. What helps me in such moments is my girlfriend, my closest friends and also a lot of the memories from networking here (Laura, Ark and everyone else) and the experiences I had here.

The downside is then not to fall into self pity, but to get up again and to gain perspective as Seamas wrote for example. Another important point comes to my mind from Friedmans book Gurdjieff A Beginner's Guide: How Changing the Way We React to Misplacing Our Keys Can Transform Our Lives:

There is only one antidote to “singing your songs” and our inner secret songs and that is gratitude. Gratitude is the secret balm that can cure all our songs and is the antidote to our making accounts. When we consider what a miracle it is that we even reached adulthood, with all the near misses the vast majority of us had growing up, we can give thanks for what we have, and get over what we think we need to become complete. Without gratitude we will always be making account of what we are owed.

The Work states that we can grow only when we forgive all others because they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. This is external considering. External considering as opposed to internal considering does not happen automatically, mechanically. We have to make a conscious effort to see the matter from another's point of view. According to the Work, however, we are all machines, not conscious beings. We do all things mechanically. Therefore, we should not be surprised or upset when people do not behave as we desire.

And as it was already pointed a bit out in the above excerpt and is to me helpful: thinking about others and what they may need, which goes in accordance with one C's quote:

The next time you feel yourself slipping into despair, just tell others how you are feeling and think of something you can do for another to prevent them from suffering the same feelings. Thus you will witness the birth of true empathy. C‘s

Last but not least, it is also always ones own choice in my opinion in which directions to go. Because there may be out circumstances that are horrible for oneself, but it is the choice in the end what to do with it and how to go on.

 

[Voyageur]

The point here, and I’m really asking a question - is how did those turn-arounds look for people here? Were there any particular understandings or insights that made all the difference for you? Did you remember a Eureka! moment you once had when you discovered this place, or after you discovered this place? Or did it look completely different? What’s your thought-anchor to this work (if you have one)? It might even be the thought of “what the heck else is there?,” or, “I’m just a stubborn SOB and I’m not giving up!”. What kept you and keeps you working on connecting to what’s being done here when the feelings of being overwhelmed, discouraged, depressed, etc. come, and you find yourself pulling away or having the feelings of giving up? It could be anything - anything at all that has made all the difference to you and helped you decide to make the next step forward. And the next one, and the next one…

An important thread of questions and responses, thanks for bringing it up.

An SOB, yes. Still naive, yes. A big bucket list of more learning, indeed - a massive gulf exists. Is it overwhelming, yes, at times I'm dumbfounded at the twists and turns in history et al.

Eureka moment? O-boy, daily there are new discoveries and old revelations of programs that linger. Eureka moments come with shocks, and I don't know what the first one was here, accumulative perhaps, some bigger than others. Threads here are like mirrors and information streams, and what people say is important, just as how it is seen and understood, and that is where people learn not just through there own accord, but with the help of many voices. So in this respect, it is a type of inertia that helps one keep being challenged and moving forward; if that makes any sense. Notable shocks have been many, yet as an example, the words of Jeanne de Salzmann comes to mind with her 'First Initiation.' These were not idle words, they hit hard and they are sharp. Other important things here have been EE, diet, medical, G and really it does not end. Back a number of posts ago, there was the realization of our cyclical nature with all the influences that can come to bear on this nature. And it is this cyclical cosmic/human type of template that is there to see, understand and make use of the knowledge that it offers for self and others.

Discouragement comes sometimes in waves - good god, look what is out there that is there to see and understand of our BBM and how it is managed; let alone in ones blindness in trying to gawk our hyperdimensional place in all this - always interesting though, if not darn frightening.

If the war is through us just as much as it is around us per se, remembering ourselves and pulling one self up, looking at the next rung and taking the next step can also be viewed as not a singular thing of the self, it is a shared quest here and thus it can be remembered that one is not alone and it is the help offered and received that makes all the difference.

Generally, I'm so humbled most of the time and in awe of peoples Doing's here, along with their courage and perseverance. One can well notice how, notwithstanding what you asked people here Ennio, of peoples hard challenges in life from so many directions. However, people here keep pushing ahead for all, and for me that is not entropic, and therefore, this lays out a path that helps one to take that next step upon - even if tripping once in awhile happens.

Lastly, and going back to what might really be the "Eureka! moment" here, was from the very fist words in 'Amazing Grace' to words still yet to be told by you people in the future - what an adventure indeed.

 

[Nico]

Nothing is important, not even what everyone here have just said. It's the "nothing" that is important, when I'm feeling bad/stuck/pride it so unimportant now that these feelings left quickly.

See the child who is learning life stumbling across a stone, his crying doesn't last a minute, and his experience was no more important than Putin saving his country or Hillary destroying the whole world.
So whatever the subject or the experience, it's not what's matter.

Practically, when I feel unbalanced I ask myself questions like the sedona method does. "Is (here in this body/mind) anyone feeling like this ?", or "What am I really to let go ?", and "Welcome the feeling AND the wanting to let it go", it usually burn or ease the space/body. Saying myself "you are two", or finding the opposite feeling work too.

When I read your posts, I don't read them, I listen the "space" between the reading. I forget all what I learn, all the time. I stay silent the most I can. Life doesn't need me to take care of itself.

I have tried the remembering stuff, it leads to the nice feelings in the chest and you feel love for everything, but it's just a feeling, and even this kind love is to be let go.

Nothing is important :).

 

[Ennio]

As a daily battle, the turn-arounds could happen on a daily basis. The one of last night, looked like this. I was remembering the following quotes:

It does feel like a daily battle sometimes, doesn't it? I was recently asked how I was doing by a member of this forum, and my response was "taking it one day at a time". He replied: "I'm taking it 15 minutes at a time!". Not that it necessarily should look or feel like we are always wading through mud - just that, if it does feel like this sometimes for some of us, it could just be a sign of how much attention we are bringing to bear to all the many things that we are choosing to consider, value, focus on, give our energy to, etc. And given the work of seeing reality more or less objectively, and trying to respond to it appropriately as much as possible - how can it not require serious efforts on multiple fronts? One thing's for certain in any case, the more we practice giving our undivided focus and attention to the things we value and the things that really matter, the easier it will be to 'later' deal with even more difficult challenges and help mitigate the tougher situations.

At least you should by now know that it is the soul that matters, not the body. Others have genetically, spiritually and psychically manipulated/engineered you to be body-centric. Interesting, as despite all efforts by 4th through 6th density STO, this "veil remains unbroken."

This quote may speak to why we're here in the first place. We can't claim to know if we have 5th density mission profiles or anything like that. But something here speaks to us obviously; who we are, and who we're working to be, or we probably wouldn't be here. And now its something of a "crunch time" isn't it? The efforts of 4 to 6D STO that would seek to help us to help ourselves (with Laura and the C's of course) have done their best to wake us up and answer our calls in various ways, but we have to do our part to meet them some of the way. We have to listen. The thing of it is, we each have to gage what some of the way is; using the many tools that we've been informed of here. How much pushing forward in every direction are we willing to undertake? Something to *ask* may be: "What would best help me to help this effort at this time?"

I was also thinking that often when I wonder-off from PotS, I always come back when I recite "clear my ears that I can hear". How can I answer the call if I'm not paying attention? When all looks pretty dark and I feel pretty lost and tired, I focus on "the truth" and "my true nature" before going to sleep. That gives me strength to face the next step and the next.

This is part of the challenge too: what is one's "true nature"? How do we carve away what isn't our true nature from what is? But I think this gets to what 3D Student mentioned when he brought up G.'s idea of self remembering and applied it to the realization that all this is real (but perhaps only as real as we make it). So maybe another part of 'remembering why we're here' is bearing witness to ourselves as we observe the changes going on all around us. OSIT.

I've had some interesting thought experiments or minor revelations recently. Usually things come to me in the shower. Despite all the horrible things going on in the world, I am sometimes grateful for the chance of being here and learning one more day. And when I remember that, I'll think, "Thank you for this day." This realization seems a bit like self-remembering, and everything seems a bit more "real". Like, "Oh yeah, I really do exist, and existence exists, and this is all real!"

 

[Balance]

Thank you all for these great insights :)

Do you ever feel like yogi that cannot do? Yeah, that same yogi that knows a lot but is not able to use it...that's the thing that pops in my mind at those desperate times. It's like eternal neurosis: your mechanical/ignorant non-being against conscious/willing being. That's why it's said we are made by image of God - As above so Below.

We read G, Ouspensky, Fourth way commentaries, Laura works and Cs, Ra, books about narcissism/psychopathy/sociopathy/depression/diet etc and we have a lot of knowledge how our machines operate and how we react to external stimuli. We know that everyone is a machine and that huge effort is needed to break that infinite loop of automatic receive/respond processes. We also know why we feel as we feel in the moment if that's maybe because of some of our inner loops or maybe some external influence, like others trying to angry us/nervous situations/envy-evil-sharp commentaries/disagreements or other similar things.....

BUT we still feel and we still respond negatively anyway. And when I say negatively I do not mean just emotionally, but also intellectually, because our thinking process gets hijacked by our emotional center and than the ride begins - part of us identifies with the case and actively tries to use our thinking apparatus for purposes without point: subjective explanation, justification and irrational fantasies and fears (predator-mind) while other part actively knows and uses objective information collected by our observing side which is always there recording everything...

I came to the conclusion recently, after changing many responding patterns in myself and after a lot of everyday work: I lack focus.

Think about it for a second, not a single person since you were born told you: Stop your thinking pattern! Stop it!
How many times did it happen that you know why certain thing happened and that you also know how to go through it and how to solve it, but you still think about it and can't get it out of the head? (Why certain people said some things, why they behave as they behave, why is future uncertain, why is it happening to you, why you reacted as you reacted etc etc)
Answer is probably: Every single day...

And we arrive at the next stop - Meditation. Not some visualization of unicorns or new age 'lets hook on the feeling of love and light', but more like stopping the thinking processes and focusing on silence (inner silence meditation) or seeded meditation as you all know it - focusing on particular 'thing' we choose.

I always thought, "yeah meditation is good and i will do it" but I always forgot about it because I was too 'busy'...yeah, busy with thinking about same stupid past experiences or some not important overhelming stuff or other people behavior etc...
But now I more and more see that role of meditation is really important in the work. We need to tune our instruments. We are in the middle of the buzz. Like radio that eternally loops through various frequencies over and over again. And what happens when you tune to predator frequency?
Little analogy, think about your politically obsessed grandma turning on the TV and by the law of accident(read attraction) catches the TV channel that features, in that moment, opposing national parties debating something about retirement and pension fond. What do you think will happen next? - She will probably start furiously talking and yelling at the TV, but the thing is...TV will still display the same channel. Little grandma forgot she has the controller ;)

We habitually tune into predator's mind and keep fighting with it every single time just as grandma does...and the paradox is: We know what predator wants, we know that he is totally subjective, we know that nothing useful comes from him and that any interaction in form of explanation and consideration with him is sentenced to downfall....and we still do it.

We are forgetting that we have the controller.

BTW. this analogy applies to all situations where we irrationally fantasize without any objective merit, end up in subjective depression or 'dark thoughts' loop without real objective cause.
As someone in the thread said: more than 80% of this overthinking is just plain gibberish and scum, so there's nothing useful we can use for our being.

This is the really interesting 'time' we live in right now, many things are happening and everything is changing day by day, hour by hour, even our lives as everything else, so that's maybe one more reason(curiosity) to calculate when you think why to continue your conscious path here.

Thank you all.

 

[DianaRose]

I've been feeling a bit hopeless every now and then. I can't help thinking "God, we're all gonna die soon". Sooner rather than later there will be a comet and an ice age. And before that the economy will collapse. Let's not forget some disease may become a serious issue. There will also be war, possibly famine and horrifying earth disasters. In short, we will truly live in a post-apocalyptic world. I'm terrified. Do you guys ever feel terrified? Wondering what will happen when that time come? If you're going to die or simply thinking about your death? I've been thinking about death quite a lot this past year which is a bit morbid considering how young I am. At the same time, life goes on. We all the issue of our daily life be it at work, school or with our family. It's weird for me because sometimes, when I'm caught up with my everyday life I feel like there is a future and there are things in my life I'm looking forward to. But then, when I remember the state of our world, I'm like " no, nope, no future." I don't know it makes me feel a bit depressed. Like there's a time bomb but I don't know when it will stop. Sometimes, I see stories about celebrities or very trivial things on the news and I Wonder for how long until all of this ends? A lot of people in the forum seems so calm, as in prepared for whatever comes mentally speaking. I'm not at all answering the original question and I'm sorry for this.

 

[msante]

I've been feeling a bit hopeless every now and then. I can't help thinking "God, we're all gonna die soon". Sooner rather than later there will be a comet and an ice age. And before that the economy will collapse. Let's not forget some disease may become a serious issue. There will also be war, possibly famine and horrifying earth disasters. In short, we will truly live in a post-apocalyptic world. I'm terrified. Do you guys ever feel terrified? Wondering what will happen when that time come? If you're going to die or simply thinking about your death? I've been thinking about death quite a lot this past year which is a bit morbid considering how young I am. At the same time, life goes on. We all the issue of our daily life be it at work, school or with our family. It's weird for me because sometimes, when I'm caught up with my everyday life I feel like there is a future and there are things in my life I'm looking forward to. But then, when I remember the state of our world, I'm like " no, nope, no future." I don't know it makes me feel a bit depressed. Like there's a time bomb but I don't know when it will stop. Sometimes, I see stories about celebrities or very trivial things on the news and I Wonder for how long until all of this ends? A lot of people in the forum seems so calm, as in prepared for whatever comes mentally speaking. I'm not at all answering the original question and I'm sorry for this.

Hi DianaRose94. I can really understand your feelings, it's logic that all that horrify us.... But... what do you think about develop a new perspective and strategy?... I know, this kind of feeling many times can be very strong... but I think that even so we can do step by step little changes on our way of see all this situation.

First you can try to not think so much about future in the way you are doing it. Maybe focus on prepare you to that eventuality without too much anticipation can be helpful too (I say "prepare" in a sense spiritual and material). Maybe focus on give to the Universe in this moment can be a good choice too; allow fear to dominate us just will cause that we will be so desperated and depressed to help people when arrive the "moment". Maybe to not focus on things that are out of our control can be useful too. We are talking here about cosmic cycles, so it is seem that we can not do too much about the nature of that cycle. So, as Cs said maybe while we are doing what we must to do, we could relax a little a enjoy the "show".

I am no talking here about be optimistic or negate reality, I am talking about focus our energies on what we know that can be helpful for us, for others, and ultimately for the Universe...

I hope that you can deal with all this, but if you have a difficult time do not forget that exists this network.

 

[Corvus]

To be honest DianaRose94 I am not so affraid of death but more of living in this world as it is and sinning against the truth and myself, the older I get the more tired I feel, it takes more and more energy to walk and breath here. What comes to others as normal I have difficulties accepting, that is everyday selfishness and shalowness, when you look in people s eyes you see the fear but also I feel sadness. To me it has become harder to live everyday life, so that I have not much hope for some change because it was long coming, but when it get s real maybe I ll be more at peace, because what I need is a taste of that other reality, that there is more then this material game of survival.

 

[Ennio]

I've been feeling a bit hopeless every now and then. I can't help thinking "God, we're all gonna die soon". Sooner rather than later there will be a comet and an ice age. And before that the economy will collapse. Let's not forget some disease may become a serious issue. There will also be war, possibly famine and horrifying earth disasters. In short, we will truly live in a post-apocalyptic world. I'm terrified. Do you guys ever feel terrified? Wondering what will happen when that time come? If you're going to die or simply thinking about your death? I've been thinking about death quite a lot this past year which is a bit morbid considering how young I am. At the same time, life goes on. We all the issue of our daily life be it at work, school or with our family. It's weird for me because sometimes, when I'm caught up with my everyday life I feel like there is a future and there are things in my life I'm looking forward to. But then, when I remember the state of our world, I'm like " no, nope, no future." I don't know it makes me feel a bit depressed. Like there's a time bomb but I don't know when it will stop. Sometimes, I see stories about celebrities or very trivial things on the news and I Wonder for how long until all of this ends? A lot of people in the forum seems so calm, as in prepared for whatever comes mentally speaking. I'm not at all answering the original question and I'm sorry for this.

DianaRose94, what you've shared seems perfectly normal and understandable. Is the world situation terrifying? Yes, it sometimes can be. But how we choose to respond to the 'terror of the situation' and our own depressed feelings regarding same, is something we get to work on. Depression and despair connected to our understanding of how messed up things are can be translated into communicating more here; trying (even as as experiment) any number of tools and cognitive approaches that have been offered up as an aid to help deal with the hopelessness. And when you use these tools, and give your energy to any of these things, you may find that you are not only helping yourself, but helping all here to some degree.

So, how is your diet? Do you do EE? Did you request crystals yet? Do you share articles from SOTT? There are so many things we can do that, all together, could help us off of the angsting and on to empowering ourselves to be stronger. Also, do read the Wave series if you haven't yet. Though finding ourselves living in a post-apocalyptic world is a possibility, it would seem that there are other possibilities that may be available to us.

 

[Divide by Zero]

I've been meaning to share what helps me get through when times are tough. It was hard to put into words until someone pointed out an interesting connection with my cynical view of Trump (his recent 180 on many things he wanted to do - which is not confidence boosting).

I recall that humor is one of the best things to face the unknown and I see that it helps us let go of expecting fairness and order out of this bizarro world we live in, which seems to be run by the inmates, haha.

Divide By Zero,

You are starting to sound like George Carlin:

Quote
Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it. -George Carlin

Thanks Goyacobol,

The reason why I put that Carlin quote as my signature is that humor is the only thing that can get me through the day. If I see all of this as a cosmic joke, it helps me face the unknown that things that happen may never make sense- and the craziness of it all is quite funny. What we thought was life yesterday, we see was not. Every day we see a bit of the things that may be outside Plato's cave!

Honestly that's the only way this absurdity can make sense- if deep down it's a joke. The C's did allude to that we keep being stuck on this linear expectation thing.

Maybe non-anticipation is humor, to not expect a reason for insanity. It seems the only truly insane people try to justify and rationalize it- seeing a pattern where there is none :)

 

[DianaRose]

Thanks to everybody who answered me. It made me feel better. I think I really NEED to change my perspective and strategy about my life and the future. I guess taking thing every 15 minutes at a time ( ;) ) is the best way to maintain my mental and not get caught up worrying about what might or might not happen. There is only lesson, right? I need to accept that I will have the lesson that I will have regardless of what they might be or how painful they might be. By the way, Merry Christmas to everybody.

 

[Divide by Zero]

Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.

This was another quote that helped me get by.
It's also funny, like having a nightmare and waking up to realize that we freaked out.


If we do our best and it all goes to crap, it's ok.
There's more potential in us if we see that this bizarro world doesn't make sense.
It's like we're slaves and instead of burying that truth and being "well" with being a slave-
we know we are in this position and accept it - for now :)

 

[Phill4]

Before i use what i can only call blind faith sometimes. I knew there was a dim light somewhere.as things were falling appart.
There were many inspirational phrases that as things got bad my ability to understand dwindled, i lost hopes at times, many time i'd watch the days pass and feeling useless to myself, the world, the network, and the days would just pass , but i think i "doing what i can" was the most helpful. I can only do what i can.


Now the context is a bit different, after dealing with some blockages, mayor emotional blockages,
there is a few ones now: "remain present" , "awareness is a shield of armor", "the mind contains all"

The meaning of those phrases for me are things i need to remember constantly, to not fall in old thinking patterns, to remember how my illusions were tiny compared to the world and the people in it, the universe yet big in my head and how those illusions can become my whole reality, i need to remind myself that i need to exist in the present moment.

 

[beetlemaniac]

As the "time" draws close, I'm seeing more clearly that I've been living my life being influenced by my own illusions. The daydreams about being in a better job, having a gorgeous wife, having a nice car, strongly colored my view of the world and seem to still do to some extent. The issue may be not with the dreams themselves, but the anticipation of them being realised. It's tantamount to giving away your free will. It's not really related to the topic, except that when things get tough, I easily fall back into this pattern of thinking, essentially taking the blue pill instead of the red pill. Seems like the illusions are a coping mechanism to avoid facing existence head-on. It would behoove me to be a little bit more grateful about being alive and for every breath that I take. I'd rather be rid of silly dreams and be responsible for the steering this life in the right direction.