By Harman Max Benda
Why are there so many paths to being successful? Why
can brilliant, successful people hold such varying views on topics such
as right and wrong, the purpose of business, the environment, and
helping others?
In
Bill Harris’s “Thresholds of the Mind”, I found a possible answer. Each
of us develops maps that we use as roadmaps to living life. We each have our own unique maps of how to deal with reality. Our
maps are cobbled together based on our experiences and the “truths” we
have been told by our parents, teachers, friends, advertisers, etc.
Our map performs 5 critical functions:
1. Our map shows us how to get where we want to go. For example, if I want a raise, I consult my map and see that I must work harder, put in more hours and impress my boss. However, I have a friend who, when she wants a raise, meets with her boss and tells them that it is time for her to get a raise. Everyone’s map is different. What do you do when you think it is time for a raise or time to make more money?
2. Our map also tells us what we can and cannot achieve. Running an 8-minute mile is possible for me while a 4-minute mile is impossible (at this time.) It
is impossible for me to flap my arms and fly. Each of us has limits,
many of which are self-imposed via our maps. How many things are
impossible for you to do, become or achieve?
3. Our map contains contradictory information. Much of our failure to achieve our goals is the result of the contradictory information in our maps. Some
people’s maps show the attractiveness of being wealthy as well as the
pain of having people asking for a loan or being considered greedy and
money-grubbing. Some women have maps that show the joy of being thin coupled with the fear of being treated as a sex object if they are thin.
4. Our map tells us how to respond. When someone sneezes, we say “God Bless You” automatically. When we see flashing lights in our rearview mirror, we know to pull over. Our maps are critical for helping us to negotiate daily life.
5. Our map is constantly changing. Throughout our lives we are tweaking our map. Reading
this article may be changing your map. While reading this article, you
have consulted your map to determine whether the author is right or
wrong, brilliant or an idiot, stating the obvious —
After
we have consulted our map repeatedly for something, we begin to respond
automatically and no longer consciously consult our map. This can be
seen when comparing a new driver and an experienced driver. The new
driver must do everything consciously. An experienced
driver gets into the car and seemingly in one motion is able to fasten
the seatbelt, check the mirrors and start the car. A new driver is almost constantly in a state of overwhelm. An experienced driver thinks nothing of talking on the phone while driving, doing their make-up or in some cases reading!?!
When
we begin to do something automatically (i.e., driving, doing our work,
being in a relationship), we have made a huge transition, which we do
not notice. The process has become unconscious and we come to believe that we are our maps. In effect, we think that our response or approach to the world is really who we are.
When we believe that we are our maps, change becomes threatening. Our very being is at stake! A key to our freedom and growth is to realize that we are not our maps. We
need to remember that our maps are representations that we have
developed or that have been given to us. As Mr. Korzibsky pointed out,
“the map is not the territory.” You are not your map.
If I am not who I think I am (my map), who am I? There is no simple answer to this question. Each of us must find our own answer.
My
map says that realizing that we are not our maps and being able to
change and create new maps for ourselves is what we are on earth to
discover and then master. In my work on recognizing that
I am not my map, I initially felt as though I was nothing–a void. The
feeling was quickly replaced by the uncomfortable feeling that I was
much, much more than I had ever anticipated. I realized that if my map was authored by me, then I have the capability to rewrite it. Which means I could write almost anything. My world is full of possibilities.
Each of us must discover the most effective ways for us to work with our maps. Some
approaches that I find helpful are Win Wenger’s Image Streaming,
Borrowed Genius, and Over-the-Wall techniques, as well as meditation. These techniques help me to become more conscious by uncovering my images, thoughts and feelings. As I become more conscious, I am able to see my map more clearly and then begin to change and create a new one.
Once
I have identified items that I want to change, I am using the Emotional
Freedom Technique (EFT), meditation, affirmations, Borrowed Genius,
energy work and imagination to make changes. For those times when I am unable to change my map, I have learned that I need to explore my attachment to the item. What part of my life is attached to the image, idea, or feeling? When I take the time to discover the energy that is holding a map in place, I can use EFT to release it.
Once
we recognize that we each have our own individual maps, we quickly
become aware of the phenomenal opportunity and responsibility that we
have been given. It is up to each of us to recognize that we are not our maps but the authors and creators of our world.
©2008 Project Renaissance
