The brain is an interesting instrument. We marvel at this non-replicable wonder and at the same time give it too much credit. I often encounter clients immobilized by self-doubt because an effort to realize an aim may reflect a feeble attempt or doesn’t come close to the imagined idea of the goal or pursuit. This rash, quick-to-judge assessment reflects more on the brain’s limitation then on the person’s limitation. That last sentence seems a contradictory quandary until you realize that you are NOT your brain. In truth, you HAVE a brain; you are NOT a brain.
As magnificent an organ as the brain is for all the functions it facilitates and enables, it is still, nonetheless, yet another organ of the body albeit the most essential one. As witnessed most explicitly in art, the brain itself cannot create art but it is indeed the instrument of the artistic impulse. This is true about all endeavors whether it be the teacher or the electrician, or the neurosurgeon or the chef. The brain is the instrument of human endeavor not the source of it.
This brings me to the point of this little treatise: The reason you CAN fulfill your authentic goals and dreams is because “You” are not at the mercy of the brain’s limitations! “You” are the limitless, infinitely capable, sentient being utilizing the brain for all manner of creation, expression and fulfillment. Far too often we assume the essential limitation witnessed with the brain is a reflection of innate inability to succeed or expand success. Nothing could be further from the truth! Where do you think your “brain” receives it desires and intentions? From the limitless “you” that is using it!
When you confuse the brain’s “normal” limitation with the idea that you are limited you begin to believe that you, yourself, are limited. This belief is what then “feeds” the organ that is the brain all the self-doubt, fear and insecurity this erroneous assumption fuels.
The brain’s normal limitation is that it cannot facilitate what it has not been “wired” to do. As you recognize that any inept, haphazard results or process you witness as you engage your endeavors owes more to a lack of wiring rather than to a deficit in your capability, you render those self-defeating assumptions about yourself powerless. Believe it or not, “You” have perfect integrity with your ideas, goals and objectives; it is the brain that needs opportunity to wire the neurons that perfect the expression of those ideals!
A most explicit example of this is writing or one who is a writer. Whether it is fiction or non-fiction when a writer first “captures” the idea of which they write it is SUPPOSE to be merely a facsimile (typically called a “first draft”) of the perfect expression that is the idea! Too often I see clients judging their ability on a brain that, by definition, has not yet been wired for the perfection of the ideal. These clients then lament the self-doubt, frustration and insecurity the as-of-yet-wired expression reflects.
Cease taking the isolated moments of a process so personally! Cease attributing lack of brain wiring to a deficit in your capability! This is what “practice” or continued revision of the process is all about! You are wiring the brain-organ enough to capture the perfection or essence of the idea that “you,” already in your awareness, have as perfect!
This shift in context and perspective empower you to remain diligent, focused and undaunted in your pursuits as realization that you are wiring the brain to capture the essence of the thing being expressed is appreciated. You can apply this to any endeavor you are, or desire to, embark on and, consequently, successfully “wire” the brain to the perfected essence more efficiently as you do not allow the short-sightedness of the ego to undermine the endeavor.
(This very blog posting went through three revisions to capture the essence of the communication of the idea.)
Continue to wire the brain to the magnificence that is you!
