Recently, a friend texted me with this message: “Had a realization and thought I’d share! I’m in the grocery store looking at all of the foods…and thinking of which foods are going to be triggers for overeating. I realized the limiting belief around that. The belief that the overeating was GOING to happen and there was a sense of not being in control of that. Then, ‘practice what you preach’ popped in my mind.”
That text reminded me how much familial, generational, cultural, political, religious, educational programming we are exposed to from the moment we are born to the ah-ha moments that cause us to examine how we’ve been indoctrinated. For some people, they would rather stick to what they were taught because stepping outside of their programming is frightening. What if everything they thought was ‘correct’ and was ‘true,' when questioned, when inspected, turns out not to be ‘correct’ or ‘true’?
Dan Pierce, a blogger of Simple Dad Laughing, shared, “Just because you were born into something doesn't mean that it's right and it doesn't mean that it's true. The world's greatest men and women have always been those who questioned everything that ever was presented to them as truth” (http://www.hipstercrite.com/tag/single-dad-laughing/) Pierce is pointing out the ‘beliefs’ our families, churches, schools, political parties, and communities have presented to us as ‘truth’ when, in fact, they are not true for everyone.
Having grown up in the deep south, the indoctrination is profound. For example, the ‘rule’ for wearing white clothing and shoes, unless one is a bride, is “allowed” only from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Examine this ‘rule.’ Why is this a ‘rule’? When I moved away to places that were more open to ‘rule-breaking,’ programming-busting, and embracing diversity, I threw out this ‘rule’; I wear white jeans year round. Often, programming ‘rules’ are cult-like, tribe-like, and exclusive, not inclusive.
The programming runs deep in many families and in many cultures. All programming needs to be inspected for what is true for each of us. My friend’s text reminded me that our self-talk is a powerful tool for reinforcing programming, on one hand, and, on the other hand, for busting indoctrination. Socrates stated that, “The unexamined life is not worth living” (https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Socrates-And-The-Unexamined-Life-Is-Not). While some people are happy and live their lives precisely as they were programmed, many people gain a life of integrity and joy that the examined life provides.
Often, when we analyze our programming, we will face ‘push back’ from those who support the indoctrination and we may feel lost for a while; we may lose friends when we let go of unhealthy programming for us. Still, when we challenge our programming, we move toward our truth and our authentic selves; we, then, find others who are more like us; they become our true friends. The examined life may result in a genuine life, one worth living.
* Are you interested in breaking free of programming that is not true for you? Contact me to get life coaching to work on reviewing and letting go of programming that is holding you back from being your authentic self. reimaginelife22@gmail.com
Comments