I am checking the weather forecast for August and it seems that the summer is over. At least the summer we all got used to already. It is time to get back on track, to un-pause. Hopefully, this newsletter will be of support to you if not more then at least as a warm-up :-)
I like to make the first steps light and hence we will touch base on the most basic foundation block of learning about the Self. That is the Mirrors concept. It is quite a simple concept to understand with reason and also does not seem to be so difficult to put in practice but...
There always seems to be a “But” that spoils the plot. So what is this “But”? Simply put it is difficult to believe that this concept can give much practical value. And if we do not see the value then we do not also gain value.
Why care about mirrors?
To answer that, we need to take a few steps back and take a look at why we should learn about ourselves in the first place. Until we understand the need to learn about ourselves and then start to want it, there is little hope for getting any significant value out of the Mirrors concept.
I think it is not difficult to see that in one way or another all people like to explore something. Today it is quite popular to explore something in the outer world. Be it your hobby, your venture, a book, or simply a new day, etc. Learning is in our nature indeed.
But why switch your focus from the outer world into the inner world? Why spend hours on fathoming out the mystery we are? Oh, I made the assumption that you agreed already that we are indeed a mystery. If not then my apologies but here your motivation already stops the use of the concept of the mirrors.
Inner vs outer exploration
Let's use the analogy of robots. We have a robot that is learning about its environment to be better at the tasks for what it has been built. It is not difficult to notice that the outcome of its learning is mostly determined by the algorithm and the sensors that it is using for the learning. And also that the robot is as effective as its learning capability. To improve the results of the robot's learning function we would need to investigate the learning function itself and then upgrade it if possible. Sounds logical but then why is there not such a topic in school?
With humans, the inside world determines our learning capability, and hence if you want to evolve exponentially rather than linearly then the only option is to study yourself. If we are a mystery then so is also our method of learning a mystery. In that sense what we understand our learning to be is the biggest roadblock to the knowledge of self. And knowledge of self determines our learning function and hence also the knowledge of anything in the outer world. Hopefully, you got some idea why it is practically the best viable option for learning about the mystery of self. And that on its own turn is the best leverage to fulfill your dreams.
The Mirror Thingy
Once we are clear that it is worthwhile learning about ourselves then we can approach one of the best methods, to begin with. The first problem we need to overcome is the fact that we cannot see ourselves directly. How could you see your physical face if you would not have a mirror in your home? Without any other beings, it would also be difficult to see most of our features. If you would be alone in the world then how would you know that you do not have good listening skills or that you tend to seek the approval of others or that you always want to be right?
We need other people exactly because of that. They show us all our features clearly. While trying to focus on writing this newsletter my phone has rung four times already. I did not pick the phone. On the fifth time, however, I pick it up and it is my daughter who wants to go shopping and hence asks me to convert her points earned with household chores into euros. So what do I see in the mirror? I see persistence and determination to do what she has chosen to be in her focus.
Now I need to bring this back to myself and make it about myself. I do not need to look very far for the fact that I did not pick up the phone because I was determined to write the newsletter and not let anyone take me off track. When I claim this mirror - the ability and the attitude - I have become aware of one piece of myself. More precisely I have aligned a certain perception of myself. This is a very important part of learning about ourselves - namely to collect more and honest (pure) perceptions of myself.
Why do perceptions of myself matter?
Personal power is the product of perception and more specifically perception of myself determines what I believe I am capable of doing. The interesting thing about perception is that it functions like internal money. I can gather that money in one area of myself and then use it in the other area of myself. Therefore the more money I gather, the more I can believe in my abilities. Like in the outer world it doesn't really matter with which kind of tasks (well, except the illegal stuff) you do to earn the inner money called personal power.
In the business world, we know that opening up a new revenue stream for you (aka a new venture) is easier if you already have some capital for it. The same is about acquiring new perceptions about yourself. Namely, it takes personal power to align a new perception about yourself. Knowing this, it makes sense to collect all the possible perceptions of ourselves and there is no better tool than the Mirrors concept. Take all the positive and negative perceptions that you possibly can and become an internal millionaire. With that money, you can literally become anything you can dream of or more precisely anything you can dream in.
You can use your collected personal power to start seeing yourself in ways you did not know you were capable of. We all know that we are the limitation to fulfilling our dreams but with enough personal power collected this does not need to be so. Every mirror claimed generates more personal currency. That is why the Mirror concept is literally The Power Generator.
News as a mirror
We can generate personal currency in any way. Most people are not happy about the news that they see but you can use any news to your advantage and collect your material for dreams. Here is a simple step by step process for that:
Pick news that either you dislike the most or the one that uplifts you the most. Btw, power generated from both ends is equal and hence we should never complain if the news is mostly focusing on the negative.
Read/watch through the news and identify the behavior(s) that trigger(s) you the most. Write it down in your journal.
Extract from that behavior the adjective or the attitude or the motive behind the behavior. Try to make it into one word. For example “manipulative”, “defeated”, “long-winded”, “courageous”, “persistent”, “sensitive” etc.
Find where you are expressing this quality. You can express it either towards others or towards yourself. Find at least 5 examples from the last 2 weeks. Recent examples give you the closest alignments you have already experienced.
Claim those perceptions of yourself. If you claimed for example “sensitive” then accepting this quality to be completely yours will generate your personal power.
Send me your examples to take an extra step in claiming.
Feel the concept “my world is a reflection of myself”. Claiming that feeling will generate yet another piece of personal power.
Take care, my friends, of the personal power you generate and put it into good use. Remember that power wants to do some work and so it is also with your personal power. Find ways to be creative in uplifting yourself and everyone around you. Your friend in the mirror, Rein -
This is our monthly letter to share our views and understanding of what is happening around us, complemented with photos by Anu Martinson.
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