KEY LESSON POINTS IN THE FIRST SEGMENT
SETTING UP THE CONTEXT AND WHAT IS REQUIRED
The key lesson points so far in this first segment are:
1. The reality is that the world and all things in, including humans, are mechanical and all operate according to the laws of physics. That is provable.
One cannot arrive at freedom from false fears nor at happiness without first being able to understand reality and align what he/she does to work with it.
2. The thought mechanism is mechanical, though humans have the unique ability to create something on their own: meaning and value (which actually do create meaning and value).
3. We evolved to survive so the mechanisms we have are all "designed" for survival - and mechanically so.
4. We, due to us being beings of limited capacity, and due to an entirely different world which we have not evolved for, have not devised workable strategies to work with our mechanisms to create what is of positive value to us. Our task is to devise those workable strategies, for if we do not, we will continue to get undesired results.
5. We, as mechanical beings, are strictly the product of our inputs from outside (plus genetic programming of a few core basics) and we cannot be more than what we have grown to know (even though people unrealistically expect themselves to be above that). We are not at fault for not having more knowledge than has so far been input into us. (Duh! Of course!) To operate well in this world, we must learn the necessary knowledge to do so and not expect that miraculously we should already have it. We must learn how things work and how to work them, which will take much knowledge, and, of course, time spent in learning.
The reality is that there is "no fault", for we can only do that which we know, no better for sure. There is "no fault", there is only "not yet knowing" what it takes to achieve whatever the desired result is. There is no valid basis for blame, almost all anger, self-criticism, guilt, or shame.
6. Our emotions are simply mechanical, dumped out from a primitive very mechanical brain of incredible operating capability but not smart in terms of decisionmaking, except for the last part added, our frontal cortex. Emotions get us in motion and are the result of chemicals and electricity that either cause pleasure or discomfort, all to get a desired result, either from the body or the mind - all are for purposes of survival. All emotions are preceded by some kind of program, such as a belief, that is designed to react to whatever is occurring or might occur. A belief is largely an "if this, then that" - a version of how we think things work. A bad belief is one that doesn't work to get desirable results, so it simply must be corrected to what works. What works always is what is consistent with reality. So we need to know what reality is and not rely on magic or unproven explanations. (If we do not correct upon discovery that something does not work, we get to live the same day over and over. If we correct conscientiously, we get to Live Life As A Life Champion, in happiness.)
7. Though there are basic mechanisms in the body that have us adjust a particular way for better survival, we have misused those mechanisms to force ourselves or others to do the behaviors that get us in line with what we "should" do. Those strategies and how we react to them are unreasoned fear responses, that are inappropriate and often harmful. The "should"s are often considered to be moral imperatives,and are accompanied with punishments (such as withdrawal of love or affection) to force compliance. We, to defend ourselves as children, created our own internal shoulds system and internal punishment systems based on nonsense and absurdities. [We must know that they are absurd, so that we can let go of them and replace them with "what works".] Beyond the initial signal, we add undue import to guilt, shame, blame and also we misuse and abuse ourselves with self-criticism and self-punishment - all of these are nonsense, They are harmful and need to be corrected to line up with reality.
8. We misuse fear but only because the beliefs we acquire set us up to do so. We misconstrue loss, getting less than our expectations (the unhappiness gap), not having approval or love as threats to our survival, but they are not. Indeed, 95+% of fears are really "faux" fears, manufactured and existing strictly in our mind - and they are always ultimately attached to some false beliefs that our survival is threatened. Fear is only designed as a mechanism to have us be protected from physical harm (and nonsurvival, of course) - it is not a continuous ongoing emotion that persists once the danger is avoided (we added that part!).
It is interesting to note here that people do not stop doing good things for others once they are free of fears and the need for approval, they simply don't do them as a should or from an imperative point of view. They choose them, pressure free, and for the value of the feeling it gives them as human being.
9. We are capable, given our brain power, of taking good care of ourselves. Those who still feel like children, who believe they are incapable of coping fully for themselves, live in fear and anxiety because they believe they must rely on others to produce what they want and/or believe their welfare is dependent upon receiving approval. They give up their lives to others' demands and/or feeling they have to please others. All these types of fear can be eliminated, by correcting the beliefs.
10. We can eliminate more than 95+% of our fears through 1) belief reconstruction and 2) building sufficient personal competency to be effective in life. It is wishful thinking to think that we can improve our lives without going through those two processes. Inserting "affirmations" to offset beliefs and/or to shore up confidence does not work for the long term, though positive talk does provide some short term relief along with a possible "training effect" over time, with practice of no negative conversations and powerful languaging.
11. There are certain activities and practices that if we do them will mechanically provide short term happiness and/or long term, enduring, underlying happiness to us and/or eliminate what makes us unhappy. We need only identify them and follow them simply, without requiring undue willpower or heroism.
12. If we do not sufficiently focus on building up our knowledge of how things work, we cannot be effective and happy in life!!!
14. The only way to be at the highest level of living is to make The One Decision, where it is decided to spend sufficient time devoted to polish off the necessary life skills to function at the top level of wisdom.
Otherwise, people will learn randomly and not very well, and their lives will reflect it!
The key to learning this fast enough is not to start from scratch but to learn from excellent sources and to follow a systematic (non-random, well-directed) program that is a path one can take with simple doable, well-defined steps to get to the destination.
15. In this learning, we must go up the learning curve, as we will not suddenly have it all come upon us. We must therefore make mistakes, none of which are actually worth fearing. And we must be patient and non-self-critical.
16. If we complete the program diligently, we will have the power to greatly benefit other humans both through example and through direct power to create great results for people. If we stop before that, we will fall short of that, with many people being far short of it. However, we will reap many benefits while traveling and once we have reached the initial "tipping point" that occurs fairly early on, we will always be ahead of where we would have been if we spent that time elsewhere - and we will be much, much happier. There is no loss, there is no self sacrifice, only gain...
THESE ARE BUT THE FIRST LEARNINGS
These are the first learnings, intended to begin to create an overview and perspective on what will work in life such that you will be life-effective, happy, and satisfied in your life.
You, of course, as on any learning curve, will not have fully grasped all the details, but you will have a general understanding that will serve you in building a much, much more solid foundation as we progress along the path.
From here we refine some of our understandings and start to go into more depth and hands on actions that correct and alter beliefs and how we live our lives. We nail down what actually produces life value for us and what causes happiness, so that we can implement those into our lives.
