Sohbet 150625: Choice

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Transcript

DEFAULT: This is what I usually do. I follow the script I wrote for myself a long time ago. Why change? 

CULTURE: Every culture expects us to behave appropriately so that we can live together without excessive friction. This means that there are specific instructions embedded in our upbringing in how choices are made. These include: taboos, manners, acceptable foods and fashions, how to speak to elders or youth, how men and women should conduct themselves. 

FEARS: If I am afraid of what you will think of me, my choices will lead me to want to make me likable, powerful, special. Every fear is our Master, and we are it’s slave. If I am afraid of failure, I will avoid taking chances because of the possibility of failure. 

HEART: To choose to make decisions that come from the heart is the essence of Sufism. To get to the wisdom of the heart requires quieting or at least acknowledging the other forms and letting them not take precedence. 

PUZZLE SOLUTION: The detective must sift all the factual clues from the red herrings to arrive at the truth. Who killed the duck? We must examine the blood spatter, the kind of weapon that would result. We use the various forms of logic: Informal (inductive and deductive), Formal (uses a syllogism to infer), Symbolic (uses symbols to map validity) and Mathematical (mathematical symbols to prove theories). 

EGO: I am number one, and everything I do, I do for me. Whatever puts me first, and makes me the center of attention and love. 

PEER PRESSURE: ‘Everbody ’s doing it’… addiction, gambling, drinking, drugs, talking a certain way, using slang. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL: Decisions based on anger, panic, anxiety, trauma; fear of abandonment, PTSD (Post Traumatci Stress Disorder). Choices are skewed to heal or protect emotional or physical damage. 

EXPERIMENT: I have never hang-glided. This would be a new and utterly unique activity. I have no idea what the result will be, or how I will feel. I am scared to try something novel, but there is so much I do not know, it will be at least a learning opportunity. 

PROS/CONS: Making a list of positive and negative attributes for a single choice. What are the pluses and minuses of this specific computer? 

GUT FEELING: A feeling through the body’s sense-gathering antennae to pay attention to something in the environment. Could be ‘goose bumps’, a chill down the spine, an unease. 

ADAB:In Sufism, Adabrefers to Proper Action, or Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time. Usually to help or assist another person feel safe, protected, comfortable. 

CONSULTATION: To make an informed choice, we consult with experts (and sometimes failures). Talking with those who may have experienced making the choice we are considering to see how they fared following that path. 

RESEARCH: Like Consultation, Research will take us on a journey through past and present experiences and studies of others. This may result in examining books, movies, magazines, academic research or any kind of communication. 

COMPARING: Creating a list of comparable items to examine their attributes to determine the best course of action. Might be for a purchase or vacation. 

IMAGINE OUTCOME: An amazing thing about humans is the ability to imagine and rehearse before an actual event. For example, if you are getting ready to speak publicly and your adrenaline keeps kicking in making you feel nervous and anxious, you can draw on the ability to stop, relax, and imagine you are speaking in a clear and efficacious manner. Through practice with breath and other techniques for overcoming performance anxiety, you can prepare consciously to maneuver through the stress. 

INTENTION: Making a choice often means clarifying one’s intention. Knowing your intention is making a choice crystallizes the focus and purpose of making that choice.