Step 3

This Is It
There is a state of human consciousness that is indescribable.
Csikszentmihalyi referred to this experience as the "Flow State". Others have called it the "Zone". Regardless of the words we choose to explain it, this is the state of perfect happiness. We are in complete control over our experience because we are literally creating it, and due to our deep state of focus, we are in perfect safety.

Despite preconceptions of this state of consciousness, this experience is not necessarily a calm, cool and collected moment like sitting on a rock by a river. Sometimes pure joy comes in the form of a waterfall, with you in a kayak, shrieking in ecstasy. Flow is any experience that is simple of mind, and dynamic in nature, and it is characterized by a profound feeling of happiness.

The traditional perspective on enlightenment always points toward circumstances closely resembling solitary confinement: a white room with no sound, Absolute Peace. But heaven can have movement. This movement can be slow like the gentle flow of yoga, or it can be the graceful flow of snowboarding through light, fluffy powder. Flow is the space in which we let go of our worries, and dive deeply into the world around us. It is complete acceptance of what is going on, and complete cooperation.

Another way to describe this state is "Fun". That's really what we are talking about here: Childlike, cut-loose, radiant fun. It is smiling from the heart: Fun that sees no obstacles, only the path ahead. This is the kind of happiness that is contagious and sustainable. Flow is not only contained within ourselves as an individual experience, but can also be the social environment that is created by each and every person present, by mutual consent. When we all agree to cooperate and be happy, a Social Flow State can be created. This is the destiny of the human race.

If there is one thing that inhibits fun, it is fear. Living completely without fear is unrealistic. If however, we learn to control our emotions, and never let fear take charge of our lives, we can sustain this flow of happiness. By noticing our negative thoughts and simply letting them go, our thoughts have a looser hold on us. We are free to follow them or return to the flow of happiness. We see the thought that is making us afraid, and we make a conscious decision not to follow it to its end. Rather than dwelling on the thought that is provoking us to a state of negativity, we can focus our minds toward a state of creation, and manufacture our reality by choice. All this requires is a change of perspective.

If we are to maximize the amount of time we spend in a state of flow, we must clear out our mental roadblocks to being happy. When we spend energy fueling our limitations and our fear, we are not working toward happiness. The real trouble is, most of us don't really want to let go of our fear, or our suffering for that matter. This is human nature, not in absolute terms, but in inertia. An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and a person in misery tends to stay miserable. We hold tightly to our pain because we believe it makes us stronger. We hold onto our fear because we believe it keeps us safe. Neither is true.

Positive Psychology
Traditionally, Psychology and the rest of the medical profession have mostly focused on damage control: helping people up from a continual state of suffering to the mere absence of suffering. The problem with the "absence of suffering" being the goal is that it neglects to consider real happiness. This philosophy simply aims too low. It merely tries to get us from negative one up to zero.

The goal of Positive Psychology is to work toward getting people beyond just zero, up to "positive one". In other words, rather than focusing on minimizing unhappiness, modern psychology is starting to see the value in aiming toward a deeper, more authentic happiness.

I boarded a flight from Stockholm to Copenhagen. A woman sat down next to me, visibly shaking. She had tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was sad about leaving someone behind, but she said she was terrified of flying. She sat down next to the right guy. Funny how that sort of thing works...

I spent the first part of the flight reminding her how to relax. I got her to take slow breaths, soften her muscles and slow her self down. I started to see a change in her behavior.

Next I taught her how airplanes work. Being a pilot myself, I explained the how and why of aerodynamic lift. I explained how the airplane really does want to stay in the air, and the many redundant aircraft systems.
We even practiced steering the plane from our seats, applying aileron and rudder input as the plane banked toward Denmark. She still seemed really nervous, but at least she was able to engage in a conversation now.

After a while, I realized that when I fly, I do not spend all of my time trying to relax. I do that when there is nothing else to do. Most of the time, however, I find myself enjoying the ride. This was the missing component. I realized that to take all that energy and try to disperse it was a losing battle. She was too aroused to de-escalate. What I needed to do was change the direction of the energy.

I started to talk about how much I love to fly. I pointed out the gorgeous cloud formations outside the window. I lifted my feet into the air and giggled when the plane went through turbulence. I did what I always do, I had fun. So it turns out, fun is very contagious. By the end of the flight, this librarian and mother of three was practically climbing over me to see out the window.

Gaining control over our energy is not only a matter of calming down.
Yes, in order to get to a positive state of mind, de-escalation is necessary. If you can't even communicate because your entire system is locked up, there is no hope of getting into a positive perspective. In situations that are unequivocally real and powerful, it is essential that we maintain a positive interpretation of our adrenalin. It isn't going to just dissolve into thin air; so we might as well use it.

Happiness is not something that creates itself; we have to meet it halfway. The way to do this is to choose your perspective on life. You must choose to see the way to the best possible reality. By believing that there is a higher path, we make ourselves more competent and awake in whatever we do. Consequently our lives become safer, making fear a useless emotion. Once we realize this, fear's grip on us is loosened and we become lighter. There is another name for feeling lighter, it is:
"Enlightenment".

Being the Pilot
There are two ways in which you may engage your world. You can be the passenger, or you can be the pilot. The passenger is essentially a victim of circumstance. They believe that they are not in control of their situation because they feel that they are not in control over their world. They do not trust themselves to act when action is necessary, so they allow others to control their lives.

Then there is the pilot mentality. When you define yourself as a pilot, you trust that you have the “right stuff” to do what needs to be done in the heat of the moment. You sit down in the seat of control and you chose to be the deliberate creator of what happens. We must not leave this attitude in the cockpit, but carry it into every aspect of our lives. Take the stick. It’s your life after all.

Being driven by inspiration rather than fear is a matter of a conscious decision to be in the driver’s seat of our lives. This is the place of creation, of envisioning what it is that we want and never releasing this intension from our consciousness. The pilot engages the reality of the situation, working with the way things are, but also hold in their mind a better reality that they choose to manifest. This act of deliberate action is what gives a person a profound sense of control over their life, and can lead to only one ultimate outcome: total authentic happiness.

The previous is an excerpt from Brian Germain's Book: Transcending Fear, The Doorway to Freedom
Click here to Order Now