When you look at the two pictures below, what emotions do you see?
Look at Picture A below, what emotion do you see here?
Gabriel Matula @gmat07
Could you agree that it looks like this woman may be ANGRY?
Yeah?
Cool.
If you had to give Picture B an emotion, what would it be?
Autumn Goodman @auttgood
Could you agree that it looks like this woman is HAPPY?
Yeah?
Sweet.
Great… so the reason I had you label these expressions, is because I’m going to show you a mental-emotional strategy and sequence that could change your life forever...
And… I get it...
That’s quite a statement right there.
But I wouldn't be saying that if I didn’t truly believe it for myself.
I'm about to show you a powerful strategy and simple mental sequence that will:
- Allow you to overcome negative emotions IMMEDIATELY
- Help you take control of ALL of the thoughts and emotions you experience
- Show you how to connect to POWERFUL mental-emotional states
If you could learn a practical tool for achieving these three things, would it be worth the time to focus and read this article for the next five minutes?
Will you give me a few moments to put the pieces together for you?
Solid. Let's do it!
Let's Begin With A Simple Concept
Tell me what happens when you take Picture B (happy), and place it on top of Picture A (anger).
What do you see?
You see Picture B (happy), right?
It’s overlaying Picture A, and now all you see is the happy woman.
Now, let's take Picture A (anger), and put it on top of Picture B (happy).
Now we only see Picture A (anger).
We are currently only perceiving the angry woman.
What is happening here?
Essentially what we’ve done is taken one concept (i.e. “anger”) and laid it on top of another concept (i.e. “happy”), and the concept that is on top is what we experience.
Are you following?
Great. Now stay with me here, I’m about to bring this all full circle in an extremely practical way, but I need to share with you a few more vital concepts to connect all the dots for you!
What Happens When We Place One Concept On Top Of Another?
In the example above, we simply placed a photo on top of another photo.
This simple act, essentially brought the top photo into full perspective, while the bottom photo essentially vanished.
If I had overlaid Picture B (happy) on top of Picture A (anger) BEFORE posting this article and I had never said anything about Picture A (angry), you would NEVER HAD KNOWN that the concept of anger had EVER been present.
“Okay axios, I get it...when I lay something over something else it seems to disappear. How is this at all relevant to me?”
Andrew Furlan @andrewfurlan
I will bring this full circle in just a moment - but for now - just remember that when you stack a concept on top of another concept, the one below it seems to disappear...
This simple idea is extremely relevant to you because this is how your mind works.
Let me explain…
Going Meta
Our mind is extremely interesting in that it has an ability that separates us from MOST other species on Earth.
This ability is the reason for why our consciousness seems to be “evolved” when compared to a frog or a rabbit.
Simply put, our mind is REFLEXIVE in nature.
By "reflexive" I mean that the mind can literally have thoughts and then turn those thoughts back onto itself.
We are able to have thoughts about our thoughts!
We can also have feelings about thoughts… or thoughts about feelings… or feelings ABOUT feelings!
We can literally reflect UPON our consciousness.
Now you might be thinking…
“So what?”
Although it may not seem obvious at first… it becomes obvious when you understand this...
States About States
When we reflect upon our consciousness, something interesting happens.
In a nutshell, a higher level “state” is formed.
Marko Horvat @lemondyt
When I say “state” I am referring to THOUGHTS and FEELINGS (TF).
IMPORTANT: As we move forward, I will reference thoughts and feelings with the acronym: “TF”
IMPORTANT: “TF” = a mind-body state of being
So when we reflect upon a thought or feeling, a higher level “state” is formed.
We call this state a "Meta-State."
“Meta” means “above” or “beyond.”
When you go above or beyond something, you are going meta to it.
Think of the word “metamorphosis”. You are literally morphing BEYOND your current state. (i.e. the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly)
Boris Smokrovic @borisworkshop
Think of the word “metaphor”. You are sharing a concept that exists BEYOND the concept or reality at hand. (i.e. "Her beauty entranced me like a spiraling fire.")
Guido Jansen @gxjansen
A “Meta-State” is a higher level state.
It’s a state that reflects upon a previous or primary state.
IMPORTANT: When I say “primary state” I am referring to an initial thought-feeling (TF).
When a Meta-State (a higher level state) is placed on top of the primary state (the initial state), the Meta-State appears predominately while the primary state seems to disappear!
In Example:
You may have an initial feeling of "anger" and then you can reflect upon that anger...maybe you could feel "sad" about that anger." The "sad" feeling is the Meta-State. It's your reflection of your initial "anger". The anger is the primary state. It was your initial feeling state.
Primary State = Anger
Meta-State = Sad
Did I lose you?
If so, do not worry!
This will make a lot more sense as I show you more examples and bring it all full circle. Hang in there!
Understanding Your Meta-Cognition
Now Meta-States are more complex states that arise from our self-reflexive consciousness.
When you have thoughts about what you were just thinking or feeling, you’ve just had a Meta-Thought.
When you feel something about what you’re thinking or feeling, you’ve just had a Meta-Feeling.
Here are a few examples of this:
Meta-Thought: Thought About A Thought
“I have a strategy regarding my plans".
Meta-Feeling: Feeling About A Thought
“I’m confused about my plans.”
Meta-Thought: Thought About A Feeling
"I have an idea about this anger.”
Meta-Feeling: Feeling About A Feeling
"I’m upset about my rage.”
Joshua Earle @joshuaearle
These aspects make up your Meta-Cognition.
Your Meta-Cognition is your true power.
Let me show you why that is...
Meta States Control The Experience
So we begin with a primary state, right?
An initial thought or feeling...
“I feel angry”
But then our mind can reflect UPON this state.
Our mind goes “meta” to this first layer of consciousness by simply thinking or feeling about our primary state (anger):
“I feel upset about my anger”
Now let’s take a quick moment to analyze what just happened here.
In the primary state, we were clearly angry, right?
“I feel angry”
Morgan Basham @mpbasham
However, when we went meta to this state, something changed…
“I feel UPSET by my anger.”
Cristian Newman @cristian_newman
Are we still angry?
Not quite anymore, right?
Well what are we then..?
Can you guess?
Yes, you’re right… we are now UPSET.
We are no longer angry.
The Meta-State has shifted the experience entirely.
One moment ago we were angry, but then when our mind reflected upon that anger, suddenly we were upset.
In one swift moment, our Meta-Cognition took control of the experience.
Bringing It All Full Circle
Remember the two pictures I presented in the beginning of this article?
Remember how we placed Picture A (anger) above Picture B (happy)? And the Picture B (happy) above Picture A (anger)?
What happened? Do you remember?
Yes, exactly - the picture that was ABOVE or META to the one below it, dominated our perspective.
The truth is, our perspective was TRANSFORMED simply by placing one concept ON TOP OF another concept.
Are you beginning to see the correlations here?
Are you beginning to understand the true power of your mind?
If we take a feeling such as anger… and then lay another feeling on top of it… that initial feeling or primary state changes (or disappears!).
In this instance, if we placed “happy” over “anger”, what would we be?
We would be happily angry!
Can you imagine yourself being happily angry?
What is that like for you?
Is it anger?
Not really, right?
Because you’re happy about being angry…
Have you ever felt this way before?
I know I have….
QUICK STORY:
I’m not the type of person that gets angry easily, and so I remember a time when someone did something that was unacceptable to me. I was really angry! However, there was a part of me that wasn’t sure how to express that anger. When I finally built up the courage to just express my anger to that person, I suddenly felt great. I felt happy about it! I felt happily angry!
Meta-Stating Your Life
I’m going to play out a few more examples here so you really GET IT.
Once you GET IT, it will change how you operate your mind.
Why? Because you will realize the true power that you have IN EACH AND EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE.
Fineas Gavre @fineasgavre
Cool? Cool.
In an earlier example we had said that we were initially feeling ANGRY.
Our primary state was anger.
Then when we reflected upon that anger, we were UPSET.
So our Meta-State was UPSET.
We were upset about our anger.
At this point, we feel upset about our anger, and that’s still not very useful or resourceful, right?
Would you ever choose to feel this way?
No way!
So let's say you reflected UPON feeling upset about your anger.
Maybe you would say something like this...
“I feel OPEN to feeling upset about my anger.”
Steve Halama @steve3p_0
WHAAAAT?!
Did you observe what just happened here!?
We literally went from a state of anger...then reflected upon that anger, which led to feeling upset…
Then we reflected upon feeling upset about the anger, and now we feel open!
In a few moments, we went from ANGER to OPEN, two extremes yet it was as if our mind’s reflexive abilities allowed for a quantum leap in our experience!
The Infinite Mirroring Of Our Mind
Have you ever taken a mirror and reflected it upon itself?
I do this all the time… it’s the trippiest thing you can do in your spare time (lol).
If you haven’t tried this yet, please go into your bathroom right now, take a mirror or camera in there and reflect them on each other and see what happens for yourself.
What do you see?
You could describe it as an INFINITE realm of possibilities.
When you reflect a mirror on a mirror, it's almost as if suddenly, an infinite amount of realities co-exist.
Your mind operates from a similar perspective.
When you reflect upon your thoughts and feelings (TF), and then reflect upon those TF upon those TF…
Suddenly, you’ve traveled well beyond where you were at into a thought and feeling space that is quite different.
In our example, we went from anger to openness.
That’s quite a leap!
And did you need to really do much to get there?
NO! You didn’t have to do much of anything!
So let's relate this back to your life…
How Any Steemit Creator Can Effectively Utilize Their Meta-Cognition
Let's say that you want to start writing and posting more on Steemit, but as you sit down and start typing out content, you suddenly feel “stuck.”
The words just aren’t coming out, the concept isn’t coming together, and you simply feel “stuck”.
Jeremy Bishop @tentides
In this moment, you have two choices:
Choice #1) Continue to focus and feed into this feeling of STUCK so you feel more STUCK.
OR
Choice #2) Reflect upon what you think or how you feel about being STUCK.
Since we already know the result of choice #1 (feeling more stuck), let's say that you decide to choose the latter choice (#2).
So we reflect upon feeling stuck and that leads us to this TF…
“I feel frustrated about feeling stuck.”
Jacob Morrison @jacobmorrison
Hm, frustration isn’t quite going to get you to where you want to be, right?
I’ve personally never created anything great while in a state of frustration.
At this point you might want to ask yourself…
“What’s good about this frustration?”
You might say something like…
“It’s good in that it means I’m on my way to working through my feelings of feeling stuck.”
How do you feel about that?
“I feel hopeful...like I really feel like there’s HOPE that I can work through my my frustrating feelings about feeling stuck.”
William Farlow @frozen_warmth
What do you feel about being hopeful?
I feel DETERMINED to change!
Tommy Lisbin @tlisbin
How does it feel to be determined now?
“It feels EMPOWERING because I know I can take control of my mind whenever I choose to do so!”
Brooke Lark @brookelark
How does it feel to be empowered in reference to your initial feeling of being stuck?
“I’m fucking EXCITED because I have all these thoughts and ideas rushing to me. There’s a storm of brilliance in my mind right now! I’m bubbling with creativity! I can do it! I need to start writing NOW!”
Caleb Woods @caleb_woods
A quite obvious shift there eh?
You went from a state of feeling creatively stuck, to a “storm of brilliance” merely by asking yourself a few simple questions.
But you may be saying…
“Yeah Axios, this is really cool but it still feels a bit complex. Like, if I were at home by myself, I'd likely still be stuck because I wouldn't know what to ask myself.”
Fair enough, let's simplify the process...
The Meta-Verse: Meta-Cognition, Simplified
I’m going to give you the exact sequence, then we’ll put that formula into action. Capish?
SEQUENCE:
Thought/Feeling → Appreciate → Appreciate → Appreciate → Feeling...
If I were to break down the sequence in words...
- Observe your primary thoughts and feelings
- Reflect upon those TF by appreciating something about them
- Reflect upon those new TF (the new Meta-TF) by appreciating something about them
- Reflect upon those new TF (the new Meta-TF) by appreciating something about them
- Reflect upon how you FEEL about the new Meta-TF
Step #5 can repeat until you find a feeling that you want to embrace!
In Example…
Are you feeling shitty today?
Let's say that you are…
“Yes, I’m feeling shitty today.”
(Step 1 complete. You have observed the primary TF)
What can you appreciate about feeling shitty?
Here’s a realistic response to that question
“Well...I don’t know Axios, there’s not that much to appreciate about feeling like shit.”
Okay… I get it, no one would ever CHOOSE to feel like shit...but is it possible to find one small thing that you could appreciate about? Just one tiny thing?
“I guess so… Um, well… Feeling like shit often times shows me how to persevere. I can appreciate that it teaches me how to persevere.”
(Step 2 complete. You have reflected upon the primary TF by finding something to appreciate about it.)
Nice! What do you appreciate about being able to persevere?
“I appreciate that it feels like I am capable, like I can do anything I set my mind to.”
(Step 3 complete. You have reflected upon the Meta-State by finding something to appreciate about it.)
Wow! And what do you appreciate about being capable and able to do anything you set your mind to?
“I'm appreciating the fact that I can be Unstoppable. Like no one can stop me. I’m on fire!”
(Step 4 complete. You have reflected upon the Meta-State by finding something to appreciate about it.)
How does it feel to be on fire?
“It feels like I am so alive! Like I’m really being who I came here to become!”
(Step 5 complete. You have reflected upon the Meta-State by feeling something about it)
How does it feel to be who you came here to become!?
“So fucking fulfilling. I really believe that I’m here to make a difference in this world.”
Fernando Brasil @nandovish
(Step 5 extension. You can have as many feelings about feelings at this point. There is not limit here. The sequence ends when you feel satisfied with your current Meta-State.
Meta-Verse In Review
In a nutshell, we started with a thought or feeling that wasn't too sexy...
We took that TF and reflected upon it using the power of appreciation.
We continued to do that until we started to bring out resourceful and empowering Meta-TF's.
Then we reflected upon the resourceful Meta-TF's by feeling something about them.
We found the feeling we liked the most and embraced it.
SEQUENCE:
Thought/Feeling → Appreciate → Appreciate → Appreciate → Feeling...
The Meta-Verse Will Change Your Life Forever
The Meta-Verse Will Change Your Life Forever
You have so much power available to you and it all begins with what you think, how you feel, and how you reflect your thoughts and feelings upon thoughts and feelings.
It’s as simple as that.
Understanding this concept alone, is enough!
You do not have to be a spiritual guru, a doctorate of psychology, or a highly advanced extraterrestrial being to truly grasp this.
And it doesn’t matter where you are at or how you are feeling for within a moment's time, you can completely transcend any emotional state into a state that is empowering and resourceful.
Is it easy?
Yes.
Is it easy to actually choose to take action and do it?
Yes… but…
You just need to do it!
Your mind will try to convince you that doing it won’t work.
Your ego will say something like “nah man, these feelings we're having right now ARE REAL. No self help bullshit is gonna fix this hell hole of a mess we’re in right now…”
Don’t believe it!
When you make the CHOICE to GO META, you’ll immediately begin to change.
Aziz Acharki @acharki95
BUT, you need to make the choice, and act upon it.
A Revolutionary Act
In my opinion, this ability to go meta to every thought and feeling that we have is a revolutionary act.
Those who truly embody this simple act are the ones who will have the energy, focus, and drive required to make TRUE change happen within themselves and the world around them.
Always remember that how you feel right now is not STATIC.
You are a DYNAMIC being.
Federico Beccari @federize
You are a dynamic being, and because of this, you are capable of changing from one moment to the next moment instantaneously.
And the Meta-State… a state BEYOND a state… is always available to you.
Thus, the next time you catch yourself thinking or feeling in a not-so-empowering way, choose to think or feel BEYOND it.
Choose to use the Meta-Verse.
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This is very good and well explained! This practice reminds me of a book written by Tara Brach called Radical Acceptance. She is Buddhist and has great examples about how simply holding a feeling in loving awareness is healing because so much of what bothers us in life is what we don't accept in our self or others.
When thinking of anger the practice is the same. You don't have to force yourself to love your anger because that is ignoring how much you dislike being angry. Hold your dislike for your anger in loving awareness and now your begin to feel that expansive meta state that you describe.
I like that you go one step beyond and turn it into something positive that we can love and appreciate which is such a high vibration to be in. In Tara's book she speaks of a client who is angry at herself for being a mean mother when her daughter was young. I feel that when we are bringing up repressed feelings to heal that we should probably spend quite a bit of time just sitting in loving attention with the pain that we have tried to avoid. After some time letting that feeling be released through feeling or expression then we can find give our self the gift of gratitude. We can even feel gratitude while we feel shitty because we know how healing it is to allow.
Great post!
Exactly. We need to consciously validate our feelings. They are there, they happened. And no matter what they are a reality and cannot be changed. We can change future reactions, but the ones in the past simply need to be accepted for what they are, while we are being kind to ourselves and not judgemental.
Ah! I love what you shared here @aprilangel. Acceptance is such a powerful tool, strategy, and support system, especially when we're deal with the deep stuff. That mixed with gratitude (as you said) allows you to deal with anything and everything that comes you way. Thanks so much for reading and sharing. I so appreciate you!
The one part that feels like a leap for me is appreciating feeling shitty. (Maybe it's because I've done work with the emotional guidance scale that has appreciation as the highest vibration, and so my belief system limits me to thinking appreciation is this high thing that I don't have access to when I'm in a low place.)
So for me I would maybe say something like, "I am feeling shitty! This is a 'shit test.' I win if I don't eat the shit! What's one level above shit? Toilet water! What do I like about toilet water? It flushes away the shit! And what do I like about flushing away? It keeps things fresh! And how do I feel about fresh? It's exciting and refreshing and open and light!"
Wait did I just trick myself into doing the exercise?
This is an awesome step. I like how you morphed it into something that feel s right to you instead of trying to force a feeling or reaction.
This in itself makes you much further along in your emotional work than you may realize.
Thanks for the words of encouragement! I love feeling good, so emotional work is very important to me. :)
Absolutely! Good is the only way to be :) We only have one life that we know of, might as well enjoy it <3
Hm! Thats really interesting. Maybe you process things more digitally and visually? (Toilet water / shit) Appreciation is definitely a feeling (at least for me) and I'm typically able to process anything that way. This has got me thinking though... Thanks for the awesome perspective @joshbillings!
Very well and brilliantly articulated post! I loved it so much! And I am very impressed with the way you put efforts in it and designed the structure of that effort to support the effects you want to cause. This is truly fabulous! Best thing I've read this week! I have great appreciation for your viewpoint and the beautiful way you expressed it! ☺💚
Woweee @starangel! Thank you SO much for the super positive and uplifting words. The feedback really encourages me to write more. So grateful to have crossed paths! Cheers :)
This was such an excellent post. You have a great way of explaining things so everyone can understand what you are talking about.
Thank you @seareader1! Its always my intention when writing. Really appreciate the kind words :)
Perception is the key. Not having the determined outcome in mind but letting everything unfold on its own.
Thanks for sharing your perspective!
Yes! let it bloom!
I see a "small" problem here, everything is based on one's ability to reflect and, sadly, I don't think many people do that according to how they behave.
We all probably have heard "you think too much" or similar phrase.
Great article!
Cheers :)
It certainly is a skill to develop and a fair majority of us are unaware of that because it is not yet taught in school. The education system is changing though and its only a matter of time!
awesome bro !!!!! i really like it.
Thank you @jiglifyy!
What an unutterably brilliant and well-structured post! It was long as hell but I didn't even notice till the end it was so riveting. We need to get this curated by somebody big.
It's simple yet profound, like a sales pitch in the pattern of "tell you what I'm going to tell you, tell you, then tell you what I just told you" but in an amazingly non-annoying way. I was riveted from start to finish and many other people should be too.
@edumurphy that means so much to me man. Seriousy...really appreciate you sharing that. Sometimes I do question the length of these posts...as in "will people actually read this much?" But the purpose is to really bring home the point and that does require a bit of depth sometimes!
So glad you found this useful for you! Cheers my friend :)
..these is a a well defined post,i didnt quite realized its a lenghty one @axios
Thank you! And Haha yeah it was a long one. Glad you still made it through ;-)
wow...what an awesome blog. I think so many of us dwell on the past, dragging that stupid **** around, allowing it to have power over our thoughts, emotions, responses to others & situations...I had too deprogram from the way I was raised, teach myself anew...it's a process & can take time. Patience with oneself is key. I look forward to more thought provoking blogs from you. Thank you :)
Thank you @inksanity. You are very right - it is a process that takes time. We all have some bullshit we picked up along the way that needs to be discarded. Some more than others. Thankfully once you start "getting it" as it seems like you do...it becomes a natural part of being alive :)
An interesting and informative article. Thanks for sharing. Try using the hashtag ocd-resteem every so often as one of your 5 tags. It may get picked up and broadcast more widely. I don’t resteem much but will give this one a RS.
@galenkp thank you for the rs and suggestion! Thats a great idea actually. Ocd has shared a few of mine but I havent been tagging. Will be taking your advice moving forward!
You’re welcome bro.
A seemingly single smile holds tremendous power.
Try one on, seriously!
Next time your feeling blue, start smiling. Yup! Walk around wherever you are with a great big grin on your face!
You will reset your emotions and actually begin to get happy!
And a cool side effect is others will start smiling around you! Even strangers on the subway!
Try it, it really works :)
Yes! You are so right @arbitrarykitten. When we change our physicality, how we feel changes too! Its really hard to be depressed when you are smiling ;-)
Awesome post!!! If people understood that negative feelings and thoughts are there to reflect on them and not to get stuck on them, they would enjoy their lives so much more.
You are very right @unknowntrip. Our experience is dictated by the beliefs, value, meaning, etc we place upon it!