Flipping the Switch

[Sarah Marie]

I am hoping someone much wiser can help me understand this and more importantly how to access it.

 

I was addicted to OxyContin by the age of 15. By the age of 17 I was sober. One day I simply woke up and decided I didn't want to use drugs, I stopped cold turkey.Despite the intense and horrible withdraws I never have had a slip up and have been sober since.

 

From the age 15-20 I was an active bulimic. One day, I woke up and decided I was tired of feeling sick all the time so I'd stop. With zero backsliding I successfully stopped and I have been in recovery since.

 

These are just two of the examples of what I call "flipping the switch" that I have experienced. It's like something changed and suddenly I WAS 100% committed to a change. 

 

I then went into therapy to understand why I was having these unhealthy behaviors and uncovered deep childhood traumas that I worked through. 

 

My question is, how with no understanding of personal development was I able to quit something overnight? What is this switch that changed in my mind? Scientifically only a small percentage of people can stop bulimia without help, yet I seemed to do it overnight.

 

Now I feel like I really have to engrain certain changes (nothing as big as an addiction) into my mind. I use lots of techniques to help and I am successful, but I am so interested in knowing how I was able to "flip" something in my brain with zero experience in any personal development techniques.

 

 It's like I didn't even have to motivate myself or talk myself through it. There was not any other option so I did it. It felt like it was just what "was" and not what I committed myself too. 

 

I have also read that many people have similar experiences (ex. Weight loss).

Hoping someone can help me sort this out in my own mind! ?

[Ayla]

Sarah, 

I am in no way wiser than you ! 

What I realized after similar experiences, was that it wasn't ME who stopped, but those things just left me. Slipped off. 

You could call this a shift/upgrade of vibration where you're no longer a match to that particular experience that was there to point something to you. You have identified the teaching somehow (subconsciously or not), so the "teacher" left

This is also how instant healing happens btw..

AND, this is the reason why so many people struggle forever to drop some addiction and they're unsuccessful. The underlying lesson is still present, and will still be manifested in their experience (under same addiction or a different one)  

That's how I see it anyway .. 

<3

[Leo Gura]

I've experienced this kind of thing too. It's a cool phenomenon.

In one word: awareness.

With sufficient awareness things just fall away. One day you really SEE that what you're doing is shooting yourself in the foot and so you stop doing it. Little effort is required. But this usually comes only after a long period of struggle. I like to think of the body/brain as a complex self-regulating system, and when it decides its had enough of something, it stops desiring it neurotically for good.

 

[JeffR1]

I used to get a lot of headaches. Then, one day I realised I hadn't had a headache in a long while. Sometime later again, I kind of thought 'I don't get headaches and I have no need for them'. I haven't had a headache for more way more than a decade! Just wish I could do that with some other aspects of my life! 

[Leo Gura]

Stuff like that shows us that we don't have as much control over ourselves as we like to pretend we have.

[denselayman]

i have this thing to happen to me with few very small issues and over time[even few months] being rid of these small issues, proves to be a huge deal for further development and clarity.

[Robert]

I disagree with your definitions, but I like your idea. I'd like to see Leo expand on the turquoise stage.

[Self-Concept Illusion]

Awareness and consciousness first. If you visualize your weakness and contrast this with what you want to be (mental contrasting), then your huge subconscious mind, your lower emotional brain, sees this visualization as well and reacts with emotions and instinctual drives. If mental contrasting is done right, your powerful unconscious emotional and instinctual brain gets fed up with putting up with your own weaknesses, and you can find motivation to drive you to change. The strong unconscious emotional motivation to override a neurosis is more powerful than any conscious rational knowing of what you should do. This is a will to conquer yourself. The will to self-overcome.

[Keyblade Viking]

Know the feel, I guess it's impossible to flip consciously because our entire mind need to be so sick of it all that it just let go or so aware that it can transcend those stupid habits.

Like Leo said " Stuff like that shows us that we don't have as much control over ourselves as we like to pretend we have. " 

[jms0717]

I think the difference between then and now is that there is a point where you've hit rock bottom in that way and you just decide (whether consciously or not) "Fuck it, I'm not doing this anymore". I did that with my mental health when I was suicidal. Since then, I've felt an uphill battle as well in every way I've tried to make changes. 

[Key Elements]

I'm posting all these because Leo & actualized.org are part of my footprints. ☺ You explained things so simply and clearly. You are bold to speak out. One thing just leads to another. It triggered even more footprints and everything started falling into place. Things got organized and mapped out for me. (Footprints is an enlightenment term according to Zen.) Look for footprints in life-they give clues. Here are some links to what footprints and beyond are about. To understand the story more, one has to actually experience it...

https://youtu.be/x8aN9O73lgg

https://youtu.be/0PQonSiGkVE

https://youtu.be/Ozca_5ifwQ0

Here are some after enlightenment terminologies. Life continues, but now you have a great reference. Just don't fall into traps. However, I know that there are more than just these type of experiences...☺

https://youtu.be/i288Lnb7NOk

We don't need to be in such a big rush to see it all; we still need to go through Graves and Maslow's model.

The map (model) is not the territory!

These terms are great if you use them to describe your enlightenment experiences to a Zen master, guru, or monk. It will make the conversations go easier. 

Edited February 9, 2016 by Key Elements

[Key Elements]

Leo...here is some inspiration for you since in one of your clips, you said that you wanted to become a monk. Heard of Shaolin Temple? I wish I had this much discipline. Look them up on YouTube. I should watch them more for inspiration. 

Look at their facial expressions! No ego!

Edited February 15, 2016 by Key Elements

[Walter B]

34 minutes ago, Key Elements said:

@Pyrrhocorax graculus

Hold on..I'm not trying to judge ppl. I'm trying very hard to get along with them, so that we don't overstep each other boundaries. If a person is strict (maybe in blue), you can't just say whatever you want at him/her. Graves is a good guide; now that I'm applying it in India. 

Ok. I'm asking if you feel that trying to get along is by becoming what they want you to be? To overstep boundaries would be to expect an influence outside of yourself. What do you need from them and them from you? Are there static values for belonging? Or does it change depending on what one of you want at the moment?

 

[Key Elements]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You won't find truth through a change of external circumstances. Truth is found by turning inward.

The change of external circumstances could happen unexpectedly. It could test how well adjusted a person is internally. It may help a person grow by leaps and bounds if the person is aware that challenges are opportunities.