Chapter 5

So, I haven't updated on the book I was reading because I haven't been reading the next chapters. Today at work though, I found time to read a couple of chapters. I want to lay all 9 chapters that I read right now, but I need to spare some time for rosary so, tomorrow you'll get chapter 6.

Chapter 5: Notice The Stories You Tell Yourself

We all make up stories based on how our parents, church, religion, and teachers treated us. These beliefs get hardwired into the limbic system of the brain and we believe them as if they were absolute truths rather than ideas put into our minds. They become the "knee-jerk" reactions we can't seem to control. We organize our experiences around these false beliefs and they become the filter through which we interpret and react to people and situations. If we have the belief "I'll always be abandoned," we create situations where we'll be abandoned, and forget to notice when people are loyal friends. Our task on the spiritual path is to stop repeating the same old stories and become aware of all the ways we keep proving our stories true.

Stephen Wolinsky's reference to false core beliefs or false core drivers that underlie the nine personality types is interesting. These false core beliefs reflect the conclusions about ourselves we came to as the result of our early childhood traumas or experiences.

Remember: our stories are locked into place by fear- fear of experiencing the current moment, the emptiness beneath a loving connection that pierces our heart and reveals both our grief and joy.

Final thoughts: I surrender. I spoke with someone today who I find to be very wise. This is the first time that I truly felt like I was some kind of barrier that was trying to stop someone from walking towards God. I don't want to get in the way and it seems like everyone is telling me, leave it alone, you're getting in the way, and you shouldn't try to stop it because if it's what God wants, you'll suffer a lot more trying to stop it. So, I surrender to all of this. I never meant to get in the way and I never tried to stop it. I only wanted to find closure in the truth.