On decision making

[Guest guest]

I decided to take care of my body ... and am now 30 pounds lighter.

I broke off relationships I did not want to pursue. I really feal that I

decided

that too.

Wanted a family. Got one.

I really think that I decide things - not all but most of my life. says

that

decisions are made, we only act upon them or not. I don t get it.

I hint that this may point to a control core belief. Because now in order to

pursue my weight lost I dont only focus on taking care of my body I also count

calorie and am afraid (ah ha emotions here!) that if I stop counting my weight

will come back up. I don,t want that. I tried not counting and up it did go,

so i

have trouble letting go of the thought " if I stop counting, my weight will go

up "

is that true... must say yes to that one...

Any hints ?

Brigitte (a brand new member to this list)

[Guest guest]

Hi Brigitte ~

I decided to take care of my body ... and am now 30 pounds lighter.

I broke off relationships I did not want to pursue. I really feal

that I decided that too.

Wanted a family. Got one.

I really think that I decide things - not all but most of my life.

says that decisions are made, we only act upon them or not. I

don t get it.

*****For me, what seems to be the case is that thoughts -- and

decisions are thoughts -- simply happen, like the weather. Yes,

there is a *sense* that there is some " I " that " generates " the

thoughts, but in 20 years of inquiry-investigation, I haven't been

above to find this " I. " The conclusion: the " I " is simply a

collection of thoughts, thought successively. So....thoughts occur.

Decisions are thoughts. So decisions happen too. Neuroscience

points to research which asserts that all thought (and decisions)

begin in unconscious regions of the brain. From the originating of a

thought, as a neurochemical, electrical impulse, there is about a 500

millisecond " gap " before that thought arrives in a conscious region.

So the moment we " have " a thought (i.e., it becomes conscious), it

has already been in existence, traveling the neuron highway, for

about 1/2 second. By some trick of the brain, we feel as if there is

someone " inside " the bodymind complex who created the thought, and we

also believe that the thought came into creation the moment it became

conscious. We are totally unaware of that half-second gap. If that

is in fact the way the brain operates, then all thought, including

decisions, happen " off-stage " and we only know of them when they

appear in front of the " audience " (which is the conscious region of

the self).

I hint that this may point to a control core belief. Because now in

order to pursue my weight lost I dont only focus on taking care of my

body I also count calorie and am afraid (ah ha emotions here!) that

if I stop counting my weight will come back up. I don,t want that. I

tried not counting and up it did go, so i have trouble letting go of

the thought " if I stop counting, my weight will go up "

is that true... must say yes to that one...

*****Where is your issue with counting calories? It is a technique

that you seem to have had success with. Why abandon it?

[Guest guest]

> *****Where is your issue with counting calories? It is a

technique

> that you seem to have had success with. Why abandon it?

I should stop counting calorie, is that true? NO! Great! This really

helps. TurnA: I should not stop ....

And thank you for the neuro-info. Will work on it.

This stuff is SO powerful and liberating!

[Guest guest]

> *****Where is your issue with counting calories? It is a

> technique that you seem to have had success with. Why abandon it?

I should stop counting calorie, is that true? NO! Great! This really

helps. TurnA: I should not stop ....

And thank you for the neuro-info. Will work on it.

*****If interested in the neuro stuff, a good starting point would be

a few sections of an online course taught at the University of

Virginia. Created and taught by Stanley Sobottka, Emeritus Professor

of Physics, it is called " A Course in Consciousness " and it is

offered by the physics department. The location is

http://faculty.virginia.edu/consciousness/

Don't worry...you don't have to be a physics major or a math wiz to

follow this material. The implications of it are, however, quite

startling.

It is presented in three parts: I) Quantum theory and consciousness;

II) The metaphysics of nonduality; III) The end of suffering and the

discovery of our true nature.

Specifically, I recommend Sections 5.9 - 5.14. Section 5.9 is

essential and is titled " The experiments of []Libet, et al.,

and their implications for free will. " Scroll down the course

outline on the lefthand side until you reach Section 5.9. Have

fun! :-)))