If you answered the question, "What are your beliefs about life?", your answer would come in the form of a metaphor. Amongst the many possible answers are life is an adventure, a struggle, a war zone, a dress rehearsal, the main act, a competition, a dance or possibly even a game.
As human beings, we constantly think and speak in metaphors. Often people talk of "being caught between a rock and a hard place." They feel like they're "struggling to keep their head above water" because "they're carrying the world on their shoulders." Do you think you might be at least a little bit stressed out if you thought about dealing with your life challenges in terms of "struggling to keep your head above water" rather than "opportunities to become emotionally wealthier"?
What is a metaphor? It is one of the primary ways in which we learn. Learning is the process of making new associations in our minds, creating meanings, and metaphors are ideally suited for this. Most simply it is communicating or explaining a concept by likening it to something else. The two things may have little actual resemblance to each other, but our familiarity with one allows us to gain understanding of the other.
Ortega Y Gasset said, "The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. It's efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him." Metaphors can empower us by expanding and enriching our experience of life. However, having only one metaphor to describe your total experience is a great way to limit your life. Just imagine only paying attention to a single color hue of a perfect rainbow.
With all the power that metaphors wield over our lives, the scary part is that most of us have never consciously selected the metaphors with which we use to represent things to ourselves. As a result of this many people have metaphors that greatly help them in their professions, but create challenges at home; the attorney that cross examines his or her spouse at home every night.
Where did you get your metaphors? You picked them up from the environment around you, from your parents, teachers, co-workers, friends, literature, music, television and film. Chances are you didn't think about their impact, or maybe you didn't even think about them at all, and then they just became habits. We naturally adopt metaphors out of our need to place meaning to the world around us. Unfortunately, though, by not paying attention to the metaphors we adopt we often are disempowered by the limiting beliefs that come with them. And few things are more debilitating than toxic metaphors.
For some people, "life is like playing a game or a sport." How might that color your perceptions? It might make life fun! It might make it somewhat competitive. It might be a chance for you to play and enjoy the one short life you have a lot more. Some people say, "If it's a game , then there are going to be losers." Other people ask, "What rules can we set up so that everybody wins?" It all depends on what beliefs you've decided to attach to the word "game".
Can you see how changing just one significant metaphor could instantly change your experience of life instantly? This is an example of what's called a pivot point, a global change, where just making this one change would transform the way you think and feel in multiple areas of your life.
Test this out for yourself. Your exercise: 1. Answer the question, "Life is like" (Write down the metaphors you've already chosen for yourself), 2. Create new, more empowering metaphors to replace the one's you've written down by asking yourself, "If life was like playing a win win sport it would be"., 3. Decide that you are going to live with these new, empowering metaphors for the next thirty days.
Take control of your metaphors now and create a new world of possibility, richness, wonder, joy and fulfillment. "Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Enrique Montiel is a researcher and developer of life enhancement systems. He is the inventor of LBD, EBD, and CBD technologies which he promotes in his private practice and through his company, Life Enhancement Systems. Enrique is also a published writer, accomplished independent filmmaker and Olympic hopeful.
Enrique Montiel is a San Diego, California native residing in Colorado Springs, Colorado where he is currently conducting peak performance and achievement research as well as speaking and facilitating his personal and professional development programs throughout the United States. He can be reached at enrique@enriquemontiel.com, 719 227-7177, www.enriquemontiel.com
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