So What do We do About It Questions for Contemplation

At the end of the last section, I asked you to think of what you would use to gauge your growth. Do you know how your condition would feel if it were to improve? More than saying ‘I would feel,’ ask yourself, ‘what could I do?’ How would your experience of life improve?

Spend time imagining all you can do or be in this world when you are beyond your suffering. Don’t fantasize about it, just become aware of what you will look for as you begin to do your practices. What will you experience with a small amount of improvement? What goal would you like to have for the first week? What about the first month or in a year? Don’t be afraid of the size of the goal, just realize how incremental improvement on the way to it will appear.

Now that you’ve spent time imagining your life free of suffering, find a way to encapsulate the thought, feeling or state of mind you associate with that life. Is there a certain word, or the way you will look in the mirror? Is there a life accomplishment you will achieve or some level of freedom you will find? What is a word or a phrase or an image you can associate to the goal.

Do you have goals for the way you would like to experience life? Is anything about your current way of life going to be difficult to release? What will be your motivation? What makes doing the practices worth it for you?

We are about to learn some practices that are designed to shift your brain functions. I recommend taking the statement or word or image you just created and putting it as an appointment on your phone or an alarm to remind you to do your practices. The first few phases of this program are the most difficult because if you are suffering conditions of fight-or-flight, your brain just wants to be comfortable. It doesn’t want to strive for anything more than placating behavior. There will be times when you do not feel inspired. Moving through these phases will be much easier if you have a reminder of your initial motivation.

What will motivate you?