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Jack and especially Linda,
Thanks for continuing this train of thought while I was away for a day. I think I'm gaining a little better understanding of what Jack was saying.
Several years ago, I was working for a large non-profit health system in Utah as a mid-level manager in the patient accounts services department. As part of an ongoing effort to foster communication among those at my level and above, we were given training in a body of work called "Human Dynamics".
The authors of the program had observed children and adults and had found what they believed to be inborn differences in the way people process information cognitively. They grouped everyone into 9 different processing styles (complete with labels) and then proceeded to ignore four of them as regards the western hemisphere, those being rare in this part of the world.
Our training was to identify our own group and then learn how we could best communicate with people in the other groups, as it became quite clear if you accepted that model that there were serious communication gaps.
The interesting part of this training was that the models seemed to work, even though I hated being put into a "box". Particularly a box that had no one else in it. However, it began to make sense to me that I have always been able to classify and "file" information as I received it, when those around me either had to process it for some time before filing it or had no discernible organization of thought and simply drew conclusions on the fly.
I like Linda's affirmation about eliminating beliefs that no longer serve us. You see, instead of valuing my unusual (for the Western hemisphere) thought patterns while balancing the mental with the emotional, I began to distrust any intuitive or emotional information I received. I would say things like, "I'm not a people-person." "I can't tell what other people are feeling." I saw myself as an analytical machine. Now I'm beginning to release that self-limiting belief, thanks to conversations with people who have traveled a little further along that path.
Still, it trips me up sometimes. Jack, you are correct. I analyze information after I receive it through whatever filters are in place; many of which I probably placed myself. The key, though, is that I do analyze it. I don't accept "incoming" uncritically. I want data before making a decision. While I am as capable of being deceived as the next person, I have at last come to the point where I can look at facts and admit that I made or may have made a mistake in my initial assessment of the information. In that case, I go look at it again.
I'm still testing which belief serves me best*; whether to "let go and let God" like Kris, or to exercise what my Mormon friends call free agency and affirmatively work for an end as I have always done. I suspect that what I'll end up with is a better balance. One where I state an intention in faith that it will be fulfilled and then begin working, listening carefully for guidance as to what to do as I work.
*Another belief I'm releasing is that we just believe, rather than choosing our beliefs.
Well, I've succeeded in putting myself to sleep. Hope others have fared better. I'm off to take a nap.
Cheri
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