We all want to change and be different in some way. Richer, fitter, sexier, smarter, whatever. Discontented with what we think we are, yearning for what we think we want to be.
That new person is not new. That new person is already inside you. That new you is just a revelation of what you already are, what already exists.
This is a game of revelation. A game of revealing to you who and what you are.
Pick an aim. Any aim. First, within the bounds of physics. I’m unlikely to play center for the Lakers.
Second, don’t worry about what you pick. Is it wrong to want this? Is it achievable? Is it silly? All of the second-guessing and uncertainty is to be expected, but not necessary.
Of course your aim is going to be “wrong”. Of course you will end up somewhere else—not where you are now, not where you think you want to be. You will, along this journey, see things you didn’t see before, understand yourself in ways you didn’t understand yourself before. If you have never had Thai food and then you taste it—your preferences have been forever altered.
You are deliberately seeking these life-altering revelations. There is no “wrong”. It’s not about the Thai food. There is only revelation and response. And the process of revelation and response—that is an inside job. That is like breathing. You do it. It changes you from the inside.
So. First start, and second, point yourself in any direction that seems right in the moment. You will course-correct when you are under way. The rudder works better when you are under way.
At this point you are standing, facing the sun. You aren’t moving yet. You have a direction, you have an aim. But what do you do?
A microscopic amount of “this”. Whatever “this” is. By the effect of substitution, you will automatically do a little bit less of “that”. You can’t be in two places at once; you can’t do two things at once; you can’t think two thoughts at once. You have more of “this” and, by definition, less of “that”.
So just do “this”. Do it badly. Fail abysmally, according to your standards. Just do “this” and see how poor the outcome is—compared to what your desire is.
Can you not see that a moment before “this” was not, and now, in this moment, “this” is? A moment of creation. You created “this”.
Now do “this” again. See? The second “this” looks a microscopic increment better than the first “this”, according to your standards.
You have learned a secret. You get better at “this” the more times you do it.
But that is not the secret. And now the process of revelation has begun. The point of doing “this” is not to create a perfect “this”. The point of doing “this” is to change your mind, your point of view. To reveal self to self.
What did your experience of creating a “this” and then another “this” reveal to you about yourself?
You are a creator.
You evolve—in directions and in ways that you choose.
You have taste.
If you can create—something was not there, and now it is there—and you can evolve—something was there, and now a better something is there—and you have taste—something was there and you saw how that something could be better—what wonders await you?