How can there be three of you? Not possible, you think. The reason you think that is because we are only aware of the “I” exposed to us by our five senses. We see it when we look in a mirror, we feel it when we touch it, we smell it at times, we hear it when it speaks, thinks, or makes other noises, sometimes we taste it when it is injured or a bead of sweat makes its way into our mouth. However, it is only part of a much bigger story if we are to live life to its fullest, happiest, and most successful.
“I” Number One
On a day-to-day basis, we are only aware of the most obvious “I.” That would be the I revealed to us by way of our senses and our memories. Problem is that this is also the most unreliable vision of ourselves.
For example, let’s say you meet someone for the first time. The first thing they do is see you. Once you say something to them, they hear you. And, depending on whether you’ve slathered yourself with some sort of scented product or you haven’t bathed in a year, they smell you. If you shake hands, they feel you for the first time.
Both you and the person you meet have brains that are firing away toward that first impression based on the social norms of the society in which you live and often unrecalled memories each of you bring to the meeting.
Unfortunately, both of you are depending on the five senses and past memories to define someone and we know those lie to us all the time. Just because you wear your pants so low on your ass, they threaten to fall off doesn’t make you a scumbag. Just because you’ve shaved off your hair exposing your shiny scalp doesn’t make you a white supremist. Just because you happen to be born with black skin or brown, doesn’t make you just a tad inferior. Just because you are old and wrinkled doesn’t make you feeble.
We not only constantly evaluate the world around us using our senses and memories, we also evaluate ourselves. How we perceive what is real about ourselves have two primary components: the way others react to us and what our memories and senses tell us about ourselves.
Maybe when we were in grade school, the kids teased or ridiculed us. Bang! We brand ourselves as inferior to others. Maybe we try to accomplish something and fail. Now we see a loser when we look in the mirror.
I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea. These concepts are easy to grasp on an intellectual level, yet we all evaluate and rate what our senses and experiences tell us about the world around us and ourselves.
We do this because the job of the primitive part of our brain is to keep us alive by being aware of the world around us and how we interact with it. With that in mind, those senses and memories are pretty handy to have don’t you think? That said, you can see how exclusively relying on our senses and memories can lead us away from success and happiness.
“I” Number Two
This “I” is our subconscious. Think of it as our manager and messenger. It receives information from both “I” number one and “I” number three (the big boss). Based on the information it receives it largely directs our behavior including the decisions we make and our achievements throughout our lives.
There are as many ideas as to what the subconscious is and how it functions as there are scientists studying it. (1) Though I personally love science and base most of my views on a scientific basis, I’m only going to relate how our subconscious minds affect our happiness and success by acting as both a messenger and director.
The best way to describe how the subconscious works is by example. The beauty here is that similar examples can be applied to your life as proof of the three “I” system. The examples I will use here are from my life because they are all I have to offer you. So here goes.
Example 1
This occurred when I was a little girl. My mom, grandma, and my mom’s cousin all liked to go to an auction that was held every Saturday evening. There was small ante room where tee shirts, blouses, sweaters, etc. preceded the large room where the auction was held.
At the end of the auction there would be a drawing for three prizes, and I was chosen to draw for the winning tickets. The reason for this was because the auction bored me to tears so I would mosey out to the shop and busy myself folding items for the girls that worked behind the counter.
The first week, I drew the tickets and watched as the delighted prize recipients marched up to claim their gifts.
I thought it would be wonderful if my mom won. Prior to the next auction, that was all I could think about. I could see my mom marching up to claim first prize (a diamond ring).
The following week when I drew the numbers, my mom won the diamond ring, my grandma won second prize, and my cousin won third prize.
After that I was no longer allowed to draw tickets no matter how hard I worked at folding clothes.
Example 2
“Think of it as forthcoming,” said Tom Sikking pastor of the Unity Church. “I’m not asking you to believe me, I’m only asking that you see how it works through your own experience.
“Think of what you want as already on its way, and watch what happens,” said Tom.
‘I think he’s full of shit,’ thought I, but hell, why not give it a try.
I found it was a lot harder than I thought. I decided on a small sum of money, $250. Otherwise, there was no way I could possibly create the necessary expectancy. Even at that, it took me 3 or 4 days before I could think of the money as something on its way.
On about the 10th day or so, on my way home from college, I stopped to pick up the mail. Among the assortment of bills and ads, there was a brown envelope from the government. When I opened it, there was a check for $250 due to some type of past error in bookkeeping. Needless to say, I almost browned my pants.
Example 3
Thinking this was probably a coincidence, I decided to try it again. The second time involved a boat. We liked to fish and decided a small lake boat would be perfect. Once the decision was made, we went on a quest, but everything we found in used boats, just didn’t work out.
The last hurrah was when we found what we thought would be perfect for us, but when we went to look at the boat, it was pure garbage and should have been sold for scrap.
I remember like it was yesterday, I looked up at Dale, my hubby, and said, “Honey, give me two weeks and I’ll find something that will be right for us. The look I got could be interpreted as ‘I think she’s lost her mind.’
From that moment on, I envisioned the perfect boat. The same inner arguments ensued. This time it took me 5 days before I was able to develop that same sense of expectancy.
On the 11th day, my son and I were on our way home from the grocery store. He had picked up a little newspaper that had nothing but ads. “Here’s a boat for sale,” he said. “It’s $150,”
Something inside me knew that was what I was waiting for. I went in the house, called the number in the ad, went straight to the address, and when Dale came home, there was a boat in the driveway. It was just like new and came with oars and car top carrier.
Example 4
The third incident of many, was a little different. We live in the Pacific Northwest and our winters are rainy and cold. I wanted to go get some crab with a couple who were good friends. I picked a day.
Needless to say, I was met with considerable resistance, but I insisted that all would be just fine and a date was set.
I envisioned a beautiful warm evening. The night we went there was a chinook (2) wind that created a warm balmy temperature and beautiful clear skies.
We cooked and ate crab in comfort that beautiful night.
I remember explaining this idea to a friend. She eyed me suspiciously then asked, “If what you say is true, why aren’t you rich.”
I thought about it about a millisecond then answered, “Because being rich is not important to me.”
Let me explain something. Sometime the idea of having a Ferrari parked in the driveway or a billion dollars in the bank sounds wonderful, but because it isn’t really important to you, the probability of it happening is slim. That’s why discovering what is truly important to you is critical to manifesting it into your life.
This ain’t a pile of woo woo B.S. kids, this really works. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. I’m not special, you can use these principals in your life also. Just remember, you have to envision that what you desire as already on its way.
“I” number three
To understand better what is happening, you need a glimpse of “I” number 3, the big boss. This, of course, is totally impossible. We are not capable of thinking in infinite terms.
Science knows that “I” number one resides in our brain. However, it doesn’t know where “I” number two reside within us. And as for the big boss, science leaves that one to philosophy and religion.
Thankfully, that’s okay. Just like It’s not necessary to know how a car works to learn how to drive it, it’s likewise not necessary to understand how the three I’s work to use them. In fact, we do that all the time, we just don’t realize what we are doing.
Learning to drive
The big boss holds all potential possibilities as to what is and can be manifested in our lives. Our subconscious, “I” number 2, is linked directly with the big boss. We have an expectation at the conscious level, “I” number one. It is transmitted to the subconscious and ends up with the big boss. The big boss then fulfills that expectation in our life.
However, there’s a problem. The big boss doesn’t care what expectation it fulfills. It views all expectations, when they are persistent and expected, whether they are good or bad, as fulfillment orders.
That, my little onions, is why it’s important to take care what you spend your conscious time thinking. Keep in mind, what we think is influenced by our life experiences, training, and the data we consume. Think wisely. These laws work both ways.
You’ve probably known people who seem to have good luck follow them around like a puppy. If they go to a casino, they win a jackpot. If they want a new car, a family member bequeaths them one.
You’ve also probably known people who seem to walk around with a dark cloud over their head. They’re the ones whose car breaks down or their roof starts to leak right after they just lost their job.
Of course, these principals won’t alter the fact that you were born and that you will die. However, it’s what happens in between that counts. So, make those little packets of energy known as thoughts work for your happiness and success (however you define success).
Okay, I can hear some of you thinking, but what about the big stuff that happens like earthquakes, hurricanes, rising sea levels, volcanoes, meteor impacts, etc.? There’s no way I can think those away. Heck, I wasn’t even thinking about it (whatever “it” was” when disaster struck.
I’ll discuss these things in the next post “When Big Bad Stuff Happens.” If you want to know when this posts, go ahead become a member of the family and I’ll let you know.
