ConsciousnessThe following is from a group conversation. The starting question - What is consciousness?
Consciousness gives you the ability to think before you act. The convict constitution turns you into a cog in a machine. "Don't show your feelings - don't know your feelings, and don't snitch. Otherwise you pay." The convict constitution requires that you ignore how others feel, too. To stay out of prison, Focus and Refocus. To stay out of prison you have to NOTICE who you are and what you are doing. Look at the Behavior Chain (right). People may start out feeling uncomfortable and find themselves using old ways to feel better. One thing leads to another and they find themselves getting in trouble again. Wes Moore is a Rhodes scholar and author from the same neighborhood as another Wes Moore who is in prison for life. What made the difference? The scholar was taught to set goals and he got support for the small steps on the path to those goals. Every behavior is part of a chain of events. If you don't like what you are doing, try breaking just one link. Our friend, SM didn't like feeling scared during his teen years, so he built a reputation as a knock-out artist. A chain of events that started with boredom and fear repeatedly led to harming others. His self-image was built around this. Other criminals called him "big dog". "I felt like I was a gangster. They were welcoming me into a society I wish I'd never known. " He shut off his feelings ... until he heard his mother crying on the telephone. Suddenly he felt something sweet and sad. He cared. Concern for others became a new Focus. He stopped forcing his will on people. He started to feel fear again, and he started to smile. Recently SM watched as a neighbor was handcuffed by the police. He remembered how afraid he was when he was first arrested. He tries to hold on to that fear because the conscious fear of prison has kept him out of there. |
Behavior Chains Lock Us In to Old Habits. Sometimes familiar situations require unfamiliar responses. Keep Noticing where you are, who you are, what you are doing. Be conscious so you can avoid Old Problems.
What leads to problems? Sometimes feelings like boredom, insecurity or unhappiness make us uncomfortable and we just want to feel better. We think we have to make our anxiety or fear go away, but it might be better to stick with it unless we know a healthy way out. "Once an offender, always an offender" is a false belief.
Don't accept false beliefs. NOTICE what your are thinking, feeling and doing. You can have more control if you will pause before reacting. Find other people who want to do better. Join them. |
Find other people who want to do better. Join them.
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