Saturday, 07 June 2008

• Stories, Anecdotes, and Poo - Pt Deuce

  While I still have stories and anecdotes of poo, I will diverge off my beaten path and talk of something else...

  All I can think about right now is walking down the sandy path from the PX to the Barracks, or Gym (in 29 Palms, California) ... going who knows where in that hot desert sun. All I remember is the sensation or feeling of being there. It felt like I was at the center of the world; it felt like no one, and nothing else, was around. In fact, many times no one, and nothing else, was around. I think I was over there (29 Stumps where they do CAX like it's cool) in 2003. I don't remember the people or the exact scenery, but I do remember the overwhelming sense that it was hot.

  The experience, engaged my sensory nerves (optic, olfacory, and tactile). I remember things in a very visceral way...

  It was a very unique experience. Aside from the Sergeants you bump into and the local pizza guy trying to make a delivery (pizza guy actually being a Gunny who got approval from command to work a side job to help make more pay for family expenses), it was uneventful. The thing was, there was an incredible sense of being there, and it was a totally visceral way of remembering things.

  What I am trying to assert here is that people remember what they were feeling at a given time rather than the facts surrounding the experience. The brain is an interesting thing. For instance, it collects information and sends responses to our nerve endings to produce knee jerk responses to pain. Through enough repetition, a conditioned response develops. Not only does this apply to the physical realm, but it also applies to the emotional realms of our lives as well. Occasionaly, people have bad experiences and it takes a while to get over it. I've had my share but with enough time, I invariably got over it. Is it just me, or has everybody pined away at an unreciprocated love, or had a dream/aspiration crushed before their very eyes? If you haven't, it sucks!

  What I'ld like to suggest; however, is that there is a better and more intentional way of getting out of your FUNK when your life has hit the fan. You can start by developing new neuronal networks and pathways in your brain by simply trying new things, thinking in new ways, participating in new engaging activities... etc. Essentially reprogramming your brain. With enough effort and intentional direction, the old neuronal pathways will become obsolete and new ones created. Old "knee-jerk" responses and conditioned patterns of thinking will eventually go away.

  The brain is such a complicated thing, but with enough effort and with enough time, your brain begins to get reprogrammed. 

  Fuel the chemistry in your brain; try new things... uncomfortable things.  Inoculate yourself to triggers that keep you away from creating new life experiences. Moreover, persist until you no longer feel any lingering bitterness, resentment, anxst, anger, or other emotion that may have your mind in the gutter. Live the summer of your life... and don't look back!

  Albert Camus - "In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

   

  • 11:06 AM
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