In this 53-minute video, we take a new turn and explore how we might perceive life a little less seriously and a little more playfully!
Could our life be seen as a game, like a computer game? And if we were playing a game, how might we choose to play it?
What outlooks, attitudes and skills might our lead actor/character require to be effective in this game? Does life have to be as serious, fearful and controlling as our anxious or OCD brains seem to try to make it?
Information about this video
So, if you’ve been watching all of my videos in numbered sequence through to this point, you’ll know by now that I examine life’s complicated problems and try to develop common sense models, processes, techniques and perspectives you can use to courageously address those challenges, accept them or move away from them as part of taking more responsibility for what happens to you in this life.
Therefore, this work is not necessarily about exploring what is true or false, right or wrong, scientific or unprovable, lawful or unlawful it’s simply about doing anything (and everything) possible to create (within your brain) an inner reality of mental calmness, self-esteem and direction and (within your cellular body) calmness by desensitising your nervous system to fear, change, conflict and taking action without being able to control outcomes – which of course is the whole concept behind effective ERP.
You then expand this process to increase your cellular mitochondrial energetic health, so you have more energy each day through diet, sleep, activity, breath work and releasing trapped trauma and stuck energy from your body.
Then, you further improve your mood by accessing and releasing your natural feel-good peptides and hormones into your inner chemistry – and we do this by running optimistic, trusting, and nice stories in your head (or no stories at all) to placebo (or trick) your body into feeling good regardless of the truth of those stories in any moment.
This is just a process.
Then by exposing yourself to life, people, and places, rather than hiding away and sanitising everything, you’ll be developing more life skills, having more adventures, uncovering more opportunities, and enhancing your natural immunity.
It’s just a common-sense process that you were (probably) never taught.
We are (consciously) tricking, placebo-ing, influencing and retraining the unconscious aspects of our brain and body to improve our inner reality experience of life – regardless of what is happening in our outer reality experience of life.
And we do this regardless of how we were initially conditioned to behave in childhood and despite what we might have been told to believe (is true) by parents, school, university, science, our doctors – or whatever mainstream media rhetoric is trying to influence us to believe this month.
Think about it – why can’t we (sometimes) make decisions (and take action) by following a process and, other times, by following our thoughts and feelings?
However, anxious or depressed people tend to make decisions with their thoughts and feelings – even if those reactions don’t serve them well or make them avoid taking action or abdicate responsibility to somebody else’s plan.
Surely, taking action via a process (regardless of what your brain or body wants) is what happens if you are in the army, the police, in prison or working
in some other heavily regulated job? – You do as you are told, no matter what your brain is thinking or how your body is feeling.
You get on with it – and suck up the discomfort or fear.
Or if you are trapped in a war zone or experiencing terrible poverty – you do what is necessary to survive regardless of the stories in your brain and the emotions in your body?
I wonder if we (in the West) have it a little too easy, thus affording us the luxury of procrastination or letting others look after (or support) us.
Now, because this course is all about self-empowerment and change – surely, if you wish to become a more courageous person, (initially) this will involve doubting your old fearful thoughts and feelings.
Do you want to be right, conformist, safe, told what to do and be a nice person?
Or do you want to be calmer, braver, more self-responsible, more self- deciding and a good person – by your own definition of the term good?
I think there is a huge difference between being a nice person and being a good person – and perhaps I need to make a video about that.
Surely, stress, anxiety, worry, and drama are essentially a clash of narratives— between the story of what your inner reality wishes to be happening and what is actually happening in the outer reality.
And (as I keep telling you), it’s much easier to change your inner reality stories (even if you have to consciously fib to your unconscious brain) than it is to change what is happening in the outer world.
So, if feeling calmer is your intention, you’ll need to put more effort into consciously programming your unconscious each day with the new stories and new attitudes of the person you desire to become.
And you’ll need to be reprogramming yourself faster, more often and with smarter techniques – than the considerable effort being put in by governments, religions, big pharma, big food and the media – as they vie for your attention, time, money, health and to manipulate your behaviours to suit their agendas.
Anxious people seem to be the last group to open their eyes (wide enough) to realise they are the pawns in somebody else’s game of chess – who pretend to serve them but (in truth) are playing them to serve their own agendas.
That’s why, throughout this course, I’ve been urging you to test everything you’ve been told (to get real-world data) to see if these new approaches are true for you rather than just believing your deeply conditioned intellect and emotionally hypersensitive and exhausted body.
So, it’s by some discomfort (now) that you’ll find more calmness in the future – and, of course, this is the process of ERP.
Now, the next step becomes a little more fun – because I’d like you to ask yourself…
Given the choice, would you prefer to live your life as if it were a game? – The game of life, where you hunt for opportunities, courageously ask for what you need, form alliances, learn new skills, get more points, find some upgrades, fall in love, reproduce, solve the riddles and raise your energy levels?
Or, would you prefer to live your life (as best you can) within the restrictions of your existing beliefs or the guidelines set by your family, culture, religion, government, or any other person or authority currently controlling your life?
Which we might refer to as living within a ‘tribal’ framework, where you could be seen as a participant in their game of life.
Because whether you (currently) see life as a game (or not) might powerfully influence how you might choose to live your life now.
So, I’ve called this video – “Playing the Game of Life!”
Or I could expand that to “How might you become the Courageous Lead Actor – in your Game of Life? Which will (ultimately) become the experience of your life.
And, as the lead actor of your life – are you currently enhancing or sabotaging your advancement through each level of this game?