Words From Michael
Michael J. Lincoln (FKA Narayan-Singh Khalsa)
Previous Words From Michael
Addictions... where do they come from?
What is your Body telling you?
On Teaching
On "Resilience"
The emerging field of positive psychology was ironically established by the man who discovered the phenomenon called “learned helplessness.” Now he is focusing on another new discovery, called “learned optimism.”
This development is part of a much larger phenomenon called “resilience.” The original work on this looked into why some people come out of untoward circumstances with unusual resources and coping capability.
Resilience has been found to be composed of a number of qualities. One of them is a reaction to life as a series of challenging puzzles to be mastered, rather than as a bunch of obstacles and threats. They like exercising their abilities, and they seek to maximize outcomes for all involved in all they do.
A second characteristic is that the individual is operating “in the flow” -- in cooperation with what is happening all the time. Their intentions, interventions and initiations are coordinated with their soul, their destiny design, their meanings and motives, their genetic and other characteristics, and the requirements and unfoldments of the context and systems involved in what is going on.
They are also just, balanced and “right” (in the sense of “right action”) in all they do. They function with holographic awareness -- including the significant details. They track everything, and they don't manifest tunnel vision or denial. They “pay attention.”
They have a “natural knowing” that comes from their soul that the Cosmos is a “win-win” proposition in the long run on everything. They have enthusiasm, innocence and delight, in a kind of “Zorba the Greek” quality. They are coming from the heart, and they welcome the positives of the Universe.
There is a certain mischievous trickster and child-like character to their functioning, and they seem to be somehow protected from negativity and fear. On the other hand, they freely acknowledge pain and threats, but they don't collapse, implode, explode or deny.
The resultant of all this is that their functioning consists of realistic solution-seeking and the constant occurrence of the true nature of the Universe. They are self-generating and they create continuous “proof positive” that it is a “win-win universe.”
There is a certain “Bobo the Clown” letting things affect them and then coming up raring-to-go quality about them. “Let's roll!” is kind of their life motto. They have the distinct feeling that they are who is needed and where they belong all the time.
They look for that which will bring joy and success, and they don't focus on what keeps one down. They go for the really important purposes of things, and they “respect the English (or whatever) language,” in the sense that they say what they mean and they mean what they say, and they are careful how they say it.
They have an abiding faith in the Cosmos' nature, and it is a totally realistic trust. They developed it by working with “tiny target” projects that allowed them to achieve their objectives in a manner that was congruent with the universe and each of which was small enough to be consistently accomplished every step along the way. They also manifest the “Know thy self!” injunction, in the sense that they are aware of who they are and how to feel/be in the world.
They have the courage to work themselves out of their dilemmas by “going out of the box” and by taking realistic risks. They don't engage in “pie in the sky” illusions and delusions. They feel the fear and do it anyway.
They find the meaningful purpose of their undertakings, and they seek out the resources necessary to carry out their truly significant missions all the way along the way. Quality, meaning, purpose and significance are their bottom line, and “Be all you can be” is their guiding principle.
They are also realistically and comfortably accepting of their own and of the world's limits, so their undertakings are always feasible. Their response to such parameters of situations is to look elsewhere for the necessary resources, so that they can be all they can be.
Their functioning is an up-welling, rather that a resistance or an avoidance of trouble. They stand up and do it, and they “bitch” a while and then they boldly move ahead. They release their anger so that they can solution-find. As a result, their life is one long “Nothing succeeds like success” feedback loop.
Laughter is hugely healing and appealing; they are past masters of it. They have a genuine love of life, and they are always going for the next development in their life. They have a love of the Earth, of humanity and of the Universe, and they are always taking it all in, in a state of wonder. They have a “Natural Child” awareness of something in the future
They march to their own drummer, and they celebrate their differentness while also thoroughly enjoying being a part of the whole and of the human race. They are a true Citizen of the Cosmos.” They see themselves as a unique being with a purpose.
They dwell on the rightness, beauty, positively, justice and purpose of everything. They “dance with the Cosmos,” they live in the flow, and the operate out of a profound appreciation of All That Is.