Discipline is The Center of Everything In These Times
Do you have what it takes to heal some seriously persistent patterns?
A very pertinent question for Our Times.
Right now I’m thinking of the molar in my upper right. Dentist said I need an invasive procedure; I believe I can heal it -or at least stem the decay- myself. Plus, their last attempt at patching up an old cavity was unpleasant, on top of failing to take care of the issue. B/c of this, I’m not eager to go back. I never had dentist-phobia in my life before this last procedure; I’ve become slightly irrational in my desire to avoid dental surgery at all costs (especially b/c I’m aware of the downstream effects a decaying/damaged tooth can have on the rest of the body). The danger zone was three months ago… dull, daily pain that I knew was going to turn into big trouble if I didn’t take this last-stop ticket to Taking Things Seriously. I was very diligent in my therapies in the beginning — and within a few weeks, the searing whistle of hyper-sensation had abated. Two months in, my healthy white pearlies were being noticed, and the dull, daily pain was gone. Month three, though… and I notice I’m “forgetting” to take certain supplements, or as much as I should. I’m not obsessively oil-pulling 3x a day to draw the bacteria out. I’m making excuses for putting-off renewing those expensive bone marrow supplements. I’m observing a slip in my discipline.
So far, I’ve done a fair job at addressing my ailment. But if I drop away now, I’ll never experience the healing and freedom I believe is possible. Once the fanaticism wears off, that’s where the real grit and support systems need to kick in.
Persistent pattens come in all shapes and sizes. Some you can’t directly do much about, but there are plenty you can… especially if it involves your personal, in-the-moment choices. My decaying molar is a very concrete, physical example. So is the road to diabetes, cyclical depression, or chronic anxiety. Some of these patterns set in b/c society demands we act in certain ways; sometimes its b/c of “how it’s always been” all through the family line. Our regular diet. Screen escapism. Persistent heartbreak across lovers. Never-ending clutter. 10,000 things.
The key, so many have said, is to replace the unwanted pattern with one that better suits your higher self. Big Pharma may sell this as an easy cure, but all wisdom-holders know that it takes long, committed attention — whether a few seasons, a few years, or for a lifetime. In our prospecting, get-rich-quick culture, a lifetime of discipline may be an unseemly ask… but real change comes from nothing less. Discipline sits at the center. It is the eye of every storm; it is the culmination of 1,000 minute actions that make a tidal wave. With consistency, you begin to see the fruits of your labor. With time, the new pattern can grow to become automatic.
When we think about the root of every problem facing us these days, at the very center, lies an opportunity for us to make different & better choices. That’s what’s on the menu, across all the boards, These Days. No matter how modest or grandiose, how quietly personal or publicly-shared… change is something we must embrace and adapt to, if we care anything about transmuting the 20th Century into a livable 21st.
The big ask is that we embrace our brain’s inherent talent for neuroplastic re-patterning. In other words, if we want to change the way we experience and react to the world, we can, by training our brain to take a different path. Our brain, the great central computer of our body, runs various “programs” — will run them over and over and over, often to our displeasure. We keep falling into that same hole, often barely registering that we’ve landed there until we hit the bottom. It’s typical, as far as human patterns go. The excellent news, however, is that we have the power to change those programs, especially if they aren’t working for us. Did you know that neuroscientists have discovered that our brains have a natural predilection for negative-cognitive-bias? Meaning, we’re more apt to think the worst, have a more negative interpretation, and are motivated more by what we reject than what we believe in or support (especially the case with voting, according to famed journalist Ezra Klein).
To this end, bio-hacking is a thing. As a species, we’ve explored and played conquering games. We’ve exploited our resources and gifts; driven by new frontiers, innovation, and greatness. It is a Time of Great Change, and we humans are being asked to exponentially change, right alongside. The frontier, now, is how we get closer to our Higher Selves, so we can navigate this 21st Century ride.
There are many intelligent people who have made a life/art/science of understanding the various body/soul “mechanics” of the human experience — which is excellent technology for helping us to better map what is going on (so we can even see what it is we are changing). Bio-hacking has been called “do-it-yourself biology,” whereby an individual person can use the principles of epigenetic impact to optimize their experience of health and wellness. The CDC characterizes epigenetics as “the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.” We know that genes, particularly for illness, are “turned on” or activated in the face of an environmental or soul/spirit triggers (often directly related to the shenanigans of our ancestors). For the self-proclaimed bio-hacker, there are degrees and varying flavors of this optimization, certainly; some are more focused on science/technology/nutrition developments, some are more interested in the underlying soul/spirit reasons a person ails. As with all new frontiers, only time will tell which explorations yield the most promising fruits.
To the bio-hacking end, we would all do well to consider our brain’s functionality more. Our central computer is only as good as it’s wiring. Neurons that fire together, wire together as the saying goes. Positive or negative, this is how we form habits. We build new pathways, revive and regenerate those pathways through… you guessed it: discipline. It’s really the only way. When we layer over the various human-experience modalities that address domains such as the emotional / archetypal / ancestral-landscape of a person’s experience of life, we can draw forth a personal story (a long-held pattern) and begin to name what is going on for us when things fall apart. From there, we can make a map and a plan, and track our growth. Here’s where scientific thinking meets intuitive perception.
Trauma and brain-functionality are central to the overall theme of Suffering that we humans are prone to. They feature prominently in my work with clients. I bring this up, b/c with trauma comes a loss of language and memory. When patterns are rooted in trauma, it can be very difficult to even remember what happened, let alone know what the pattern is, in order to change it. I’m not sure you CAN change a pattern without knowing what it is — at least a ballpark sketch. Some patterns do admittedly resolve on their own accord (with much nourishment and indirect, compassionate observation)… but the gnarly, nasty ones… the ones that blindside and persist and feel impenetrable… much like monsters-under-the-bed, we must face them with eyes and hearts-open— when and as we are ready. At a pace that is just the right amount. It’s tricky, but doable.
There is no overnight solution to these big, deep patterns. The only way Beyond, is Through. You simply have to go through the backlog and heaviness and reactive blow outs/meltdowns before you can pull away enough to make the conscious effort to walk around that hole in the road. Which you practice, over and over and over. Here is where discipline is a magic, supporting mantra. It is a friendly practice that will never leave you; all you have to do is decide to pick it up. Today. And then tomorrow. And so on.
