Out With the Old: Evicting Our Expired Perceptions.
{Photo via Pinterest}
By Renée Claude
Shifting our perception of life can be tricky — mostly because of our own devices.
When we’ve become set in a way of thinking, at first sight of a new perception the mind likes to rear up and play its old tapes again and again.
When we encounter a situation and consciously choose to affirm a different thought, our mind loves to pipe up: “You can’t believe that, we already have an answer for this experience, you imposter!”
It can almost feel offensive — even make us feel taken aback by our own resistance… to ourselves.
But this good ol’ fashioned friction is how it is done — the mind will always try to stick with what’s familiar, trying its best to convince us that anything new is a bad idea.
How we have come to view all aspects of our world is learned and fueled only by the past — presenting a new, fresh suggestion causes the mind to sweep up in a wall of resistance, attempting to affirm to us that our old tapes are what is real.
When both of these voices are present in our own head, it’s easy to feel like a crazy person.
You’re not the only one. We’re all crazy here.
Changing a perception has to start this way — we’ve got an established tenant in our mind house. And there’s got to be a bit of gentle conflict to get him out.
Often this experience of resistance feels like we are lying to ourselves, but we’re actually only opposing our past conditioning — the tape we’ve been replaying in our heads. Our true selves are only this moment.
When we spot our expired perceptions piping up, the most transformative thing we can do is to calmly counter the stance — affirming differently.
Expect to be called a liar by yourself.
That’s just how this personal paradigm shift thing works.
It takes some time to fully move in our new perception — it’s got to pack its bags, set up electricity and water, get a moving truck.
All the while it’s going to take a few notices to get through to the old thought tenant we would like to evict. He’s been there for, maybe years — and he’s rightfully kind of irked and an intentionally slow mover. This has been his home, and he’s going to dispute the switcheroo we’re pulling.
But with repeated reaffirming, if we will continue to meet our old view with our desired new, we will unfold to seeing in a new way. It will require that we have a gentle persistence through our resistance — it means expecting this resistance.
I believe it’s the belief that there shouldn’t or won’t be resistance that is our biggest obstacle, what throws us off the most. It’s there for everyone. Expect it, and it can lose power.
Unraveling thoughts of old requires a vigilance and recognition that we also created the first thought, though it may have been unconscious.
At some point we made an initial decision and decided our perception. Before there was an existing thought, it was a cinch to move in a new one — there was no resistance, nothing to argue against it.
The move out is a bit more involved.
Don’t mistake the perceptions you’ve set in stone for truth. Don’t mistake the mind tapes that run on autoplay (quantity) for quality.
Don’t trust the tape of the old! It is just an expired recording of… you!
Choose your new belief and get behind it. Count on there being resistance. Keep meeting your old view, and continue to affirm the new — try not to be hard on yourself, it’s a process.
We may not immediately recognize our own progress, yet the simple act of bringing awareness to what no longer serves is progress in and of itself.
Count on friction, know you’ll have to knock on the door again and again to evict your old thought tenants. You’re not an imposter, even when you feel like you’re lying to yourself.
Keep going.
Keep gently insisting whenever you catch your mind playing familiar recordings. Stay vigilant. You’ve got this.
And when the time is right, when the moment is ripe, witness your own shifting.
Watch as your past perception decides to yield to the present you, waves goodbye and walks away.
*****
Renée Claude is a bursting ball of energy who was born and raised in Nebraska but has since made her way to the desert of Phoenix, AZ, where she resides with her beau and an orchid, both of whom have inspired her more than you could reasonably believe. In her free time, she loves to travel, journal, and support others in their journeys through energy-work and mindful nourishment coaching. Her motto? Choose to bloom! Additional observations, revelations and inspirations from her own path can be found on her blog and Instagram.
{Make Way for the New You}
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