The basics - part five - What's in it for you?

If out ranking an Angel is not one of your goals now that you know it is attainable, I am surprised.

Perhaps a lesser goal would be realising your own power and potential, know who and what you are, understanding the universe and that you are part of it.

If that is beyond your ability to believe then you could choose to simply make your life more enjoyable and rewarding. You can enjoy your work to a level that most only dream of. You can appreciate the people and both the natural and built world around you. You can live life to your own standards and improve the lives of those you hold dear and everyone else too.

Or, if that is beyond your ability to believe, you can remove annoyances from your life, neutralise frustration and get the most from any and all contacts you have with other people.

I can't see the point in trying to achieve less than that.

These are not the goals society wants you to aim for. These are not goals they want you to believe in. Society wants you to believe in authority, their authority. It wants you to believe in bank credits. It wants you to believe in society far more than you believe in yourself.

Now, the bricks and mortar of society can transform into a civilisation at the speed of thought. The two co-exist and only your perception changes.

Each person has an inner monkey and from that we get society. In society bank managers, economists and financial advisers know best. Government is necessary and protects your freedom. In a civilisation, you naturally critically think, decide for yourself and form groups with other people to meet mutually agreed and beneficial outcomes.

In society government has more power than one individual. In a civilisation, governments have less power than any one individual.

For example, my insurance provider wanted 1220 bank credits from me to insure a motor car. After many emails explaining why this was incorrect, I telephoned them. For one hour and fifteen minutes I engaged with the human part of each person I was bounced to and from. My monkey remained calm and asleep. I acted in such a way to help them keep their own monkeys managed. Now, this was easy for me as I have been practising doing this at work for a couple of years. Anyway, they returned 250 bank credits to me and reduced the 1220 number to 740. It would have been less but I increased my cover. Had I not had the ability to do this, I would have 730 less bank credits than I do have and would be angry and annoyed, with less insurance cover.

Tuesday we had a stock check. Normally I get angry enough with my colleagues to act in a manner sufficient to warrant instant dismissal. This year, zero stress, zero annoyance and zero threats, zero aggression. I am reluctant to admit just how poorly I have behaved during more than a dozen previous stock takes. How have I kept my job for so long?

Anyway, the thing to note is that other people enjoy being in human mode and dislike being in monkey mode. Once you start to modify your own behaviour, all those who interact with you will too. Give it a few months.

What is in it for you? All of the above, even if only you bother doing it.

If just 4% of us do it, we transform life on earth for everybody, not just ourselves.

At this point, I am not sure what else to write. My time would be better spent practicing 'being' rather than writing about 'being'.

You give the matters I have raised some serious thought. Or not. As always you have a choice.

Be seeing you

Although published to celebrate my 50th birthday, I wrote this on Saturday 14th of October 2017.

Where am I at?

In two weeks time I will be fifty years old. That seems very odd to me. I would rather be forty in two weeks time, which feels far more appropriate. I usually spend my birthday in quiet reflection of my life so far but the people around me have decided something else entirely, so be it.

I will reflect instead, today or rather now. Society would have me measure my value in dollars earned or perhaps spent. Government might value me in terms of tax revenue. My bank manager would place a specific number of bank credits I am worthy of being loaned. Others may want to know where I live, my job title, what car I drive and what stuff I own. Those are all external references. They are not significant or important. My partner asked me how happy I was and I wondered if she meant something specific or just in general. She didn't say.

How do I value my life so far? Well, I wanted to do some stuff and then I did it. There were consequences and I have accepted them. Currently, there are things I wish to do and I am doing them. The consequences have not made themselves known yet. I have also chosen not to do some stuff and that has consequences too. Placing a value on my life is alien to me. The value is and always has been time. I have had nearly fifty years of time on this blue bauble and every second of which has been spent regardless of what I was or was not doing.

I can sum up my life very easily. Whilst in human mode, my time was spent wisely. When my inner monkey took charge things were often very enjoyable, pleasurable and created fond memories of happy times. My inner monkey can be a very playful thing indeed. My inner monkey also gets rather angry at times which can lead to both physical and verbal violence. This also creates memories but not fond ones.

That is my reflection of my life thus far over for another year. Going forward, I more fully appreciate the need for me to be mindful over what mode I am in. Am I in human mode and spending my time wisely. Is my inner monkey active and thoroughly enjoying some activity or other. Or is my inner monkey in a destructive rage.

I can extend this awareness to others too. Joining others in human mode or joyous inner monkey revelry. Choosing not to join others when their own inner monkey is raging against whatever injustice it perceives.

So, where am I at? My time has been spent doings things that I wanted to do. It is correctly said of me that I do not do things that I do not want to do. This seems entirely reasonable to me.

Where am I at?

I am good, sometimes bad.