You are wrong Anthony Robbins- There is life beyond Pleasure and Pain

First off — I respect Anthony Robbins and quite frankly I am grateful for what he has “gifted” us for over thirty plus years. Whether you consider him a Motivational speaker, inspirational speaker, transformation coach, guru-ish so on and so forth; I am one of many who gravitate towards these niche of thinkers. I could not put a price tag on the lessons I have learned from him with in “The Ultimate Edge” or Napoleon Hill’s “The Master Key to Riches”, Wallace Wattles “The Science of getting Rich” and numerous others-OH! “Lisa Nichols” is the icing on the cake for me! With “Abundance Now” (she should have put the word DAMMIT at the end of that title). She came right on time. She helped me clear up a few things I was still grappling with.

As a woman of color, I struggled with the fact that her predecessors (the previously mentioned thinkers) were all white males in a very biased America. Even for then- life wasn’t easy. Some with very poor and humble beginnings;

let me be clear-May not have had new boots, but they had boots- hence they could “buckle there boot straps”. But -Not former slave poor -off the grid poor. No boots — no bootstraps to buckle at all. Off the radar- off the grid poor- there is a difference between the two.

back to what I was saying,

I navigated through these books with an awareness- a knowing that they were not written for me- not in that time anyway. As I stayed laser focus on the teachings- the value within these books transcended the racist times they were written in.

N. Hill hinted several times of his own white privilege. He understood the value of what he was teaching –and how it had to extend to “everyone-under the sun” in order for it to be true. Not just poor white people. The book “Think and Grow Rich..A Black Choice” was and example of the extension of his teachings. The environment he was in was plagued with “ism’s” — racism, classism, sexism; an environment which rewards itself for progress — but was not developed enough as a society to embrace the universal truth which is “what is in one must be in all” (Wattles)and he knew that. Up until today — America is still a huge “work in progress”.

Anyway-Napoleon Hills awareness of his own bias and limitations, had a profound impact on me as well; I mean, I may not have been able to have a discussion with him over a cup of coffee in broad day light, during his time but — you know. He definitely did what he was here to do in his life time which was to think -think beyond convenience-comfort-beyond the thoughts one is conditioned to believe. This knowing bought him the most satisfaction and the most pain- for he knew we were all a work in progress- that there was still so much to be done in this environment.

Back to Anthony,

So, back in 2012 I was actively listening to the Ultimate Edge CD (which was one of the first purchases I made, upon receiving income from my Disability check-(We will talk about that later); As he discussed the topic of Pain and Pleasure — it being the only two ways all people experience life. Something inside of me triggered the “this does not ring true buzzer”.

Hold up- wait a minute!

I continued to listen-actively,

I realized that he is discussing an area that he does not know too much about. …many do not. its hard to describe -put in words because language in itself is …limited.

I listen for pockets of information that tell me whether the “speaker/ person” is talking about something due to their own experience or when they switch and discuss something outside of their expertise — usually dropping a stat - other experts “doctors, scientist”- making it official — but really only by agreement — until something else pops up.

I knew that I have experienced life beyond pleasure and pain when I was diagnosed with an almost 5 inch spinal cord tumor, and was — inches away from the big “transition”. But as they say “what doesn’t kill you — will make you stronger” -something like that. At least you can live to tell the tale.

Now, in most cases- normal “civilians” will never be put in life or death situations where they’re forced to make decisions that extend beyond ones capacity to think(At least throwing in the towel when its time. Knowing when to do that — is a skill in itself). Pulling from what is familiar to the human experience. Pleasure and pain are apart of those experiences. The capability to distinguish the difference between what feels good and what does not feel good; I call this the “human vessel experience”. Which interprets our experience in a particular way- provided things are working properly. We issue is we are conditioned to believe that it is the only experience that is available to us-as beings. Scientist do not have the tools to measure anything outside of this experience. There is life beyond this area; beyond emotions -memory and physiology response associated with experiencing pleasure.

A truth that lays dormant because we are not forced to tap into it in our everyday lives. I experienced this awareness when I was going through my own health crisis. The moment I relieved my mind from the torment of “being able to fix this- or how will I get myself out of this situation?” The misconceived notion that conscious thought is evolved enough to do so in the first place- Ha! Live and learn.

Once I realized this truth — I was overwhelmingly compassionate towards my body vessel-strengths and Limitations”. Understanding that by design it was only able to read/interpret information in a particular way. What I was dealing with was beyond its capacity to interpret. What I was experiencing before I shifted — was its inability to interpret information as it was (does that make sense to you?)When I was able to make that shift, life as I knew was no longer defined and refined by my ability to interpret pleasure and Pain. There is experience beyond this point. Now that I know this area is available it shifted everything for me- its available to me always- and to everyone. Finding a way to tap into that area without clinging onto life (as we know it) its the key- but you can only get there when it is needed to manifest-like a “use value thing” get it? That’s a different blog.

There is more to one’s life experience than Pleasure and Pain. Hence -Anthony Robbins is incorrect with that one.

I mean-Goodness -if that was the case human progress would be even slower than it already is.

until next time

www.mswoodleyauthor.com