We see things as we are!!

Anais Nin said "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are" and she was right. And what you are is what you believe to be possible or what you take to be real. And what if what you take to be real is not true......better yet, what if what you believe does not serve you? Change what you believe to be real.

This truth about how life works came up in a conversation I was having with a friend who was lamenting about politicians in Washington. If you know me, I couldn't care less about politics, but the political arena does provide great examples of how we get what we are and not necessarily what we want. My friend was talking about how the two political parties don't work together for the betterment of the nation. So I pointed out that the reason for that is, what they are. They are anything but what they want. They are not confident in their ideology.

I used Barack Obama as an example. He campaigned on bringing the two parties together for the people of the United States, that's a little simplistic, but that's what it came down to, governing to improve the lives of Americans. I'm not judging him, but he has lost his credibility with the Republicans and many of his own party as well. Take the Tax breaks enacted by the Bush administration that are set to expire this year. He caved on what he wanted, which was to extend the tax breaks for the middle class but not the rich. Why did he do this? Because he did not believe he could make it happen. He postures that the middle class were being held hostage by the Republicans, so he accepted extending the tax breaks for everyone including the rich. He got what he was and not what he wanted.

In contrast, take Ronald Reagan back when the air traffic controllers went out on strike. He told them to report back to work by Friday or he would fire them all. And he did just that, he fired everyone of them that did not report back to work. What was he? Reckless with no regard for the flying public? No, he was confident that they could be replaced with little disruption to commercial flying and he was right. But more important, was the fact that politicians sat up and gave him respect on difficult issues that he dealt with as the President. I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that the Soviets looked at him a little differently as well. The iron curtain came down while he was in office in the midst of the cold war.

Clinton did the same thing, basically said he would let the government be shut down if the budget wasn't balanced, and what happened? Not only was the budget balanced, but it was the last time we had a surplus. He was a leader and confident in his decision making. He got what he was which then resulted in getting what he wanted. Don't confuse his leadership of the country with his indulgences with an intern.

Sounds like I'm taking political stances, but I'm not, Reagan and Clinton from two different parties provided great example of creating from the context in which we come from. Seeing things as we are rather than what they are. Obama, same thing but from the opposite end of the spectrum.

Your life experience everyday, every moment really is the sum total of what you believe to be possible, as it is Obama, and was for Reagan and Clinton. Make sense? So what do you believe to be possible? Look at what you are experiencing right now, that is your answer. If it's not exactly what you want, ask what beliefs need to be changed in order to get what you want?