THE SHIFTED PARADIGM

I once read a story in a John Grey book (the guy who wrote the Mars/Venus series of books) that illustrated the paradigm shift. He wrote of a man on a train who was trying to get home after a long, hard day at the office. On the train with him was a man with three children. The businessman was sitting across from the man who was doing nothing while his children were jumping on the seats, running around the train, laughing and playing. All the businessman wanted was to take a quiet train home to his family after his stressful workday. The man across from him, however, was doing nothing to stop his children from creating a disturbance. The businessman finally had enough after biting his tongue for too long. Angry, he leaned over to the man and said, "Hey buddy, can you control your kids? They're bothering everyone on the train." The man looked up at him in a daze and said, "I'm so sorry, we just came from the hospital. Their mother just passed away. I was wondering how to tell them and didn't want to ruin their playful mood." In an instant, the businessman's demeanor changed. His selfish, angry thoughts and feelings shifted in an instant to focus on another. He literally saw the world differently in that moment.

Enlightenment is simply seeing the world differently. I suppose that's easy to say. Like telling a lifetime smoker to just 'Butt-Out', but that's the best way to see things in my opinion...in the simplest way possible. In fact, there are many stories of people who've simply quit smoking too. They've become enlightened in the world of smokers in which they once lived. Their child or other loved one said something that triggered the shift, they had a health scare that made them think there was a different way to live life, they lost a loved one from smoking related causes...etc., etc.

Anyone at anytime can undergo a paradigm shift. That doesn't necessarily mean it will last however. You can pop your head out of the water to take a breath while drowning, but if you can't swim, you're still a goner. Everything exists as a result of a specific set of circumstances. Without all the elements in place, a thing would not exist. Does a flame light without the exact elements and circumstances in place for it to do so? A paradigm shift is a spark. For lasting joy to occur, other elements need to be in place too.

Since my own shift, my own massive breath of air that saved me from drowning, I have sought out others who have experienced a sudden and unexpected change in the way they see reality. It's my sincere hope that we all continue to cultivate these newly sewn seeds of love, compassion and understanding. Here's a video of one such shift in someone you may recognize: