Chance or Destiny, God or Fate?
Jim Pinto poem, December 2010
All my life,
I’ve had what many people call “luck”. I consider it simply a combination of
hard work and positive thinking, always being open for good possibilities and
being bold enough to pursue the plethora of prospects that life always presents.
When bad things
happen, I try not to waste energy on complaining, but focus on correcting the
problem quickly. When I find something good, I seldom consider waiting for
better things to come along. I simply hit the ball as hard as I can. And most
often, it works! People call it “luck” – but it isn’t. It’s finding what you
want and going for it!
I’ve been
brewing on this subject for some time. When I explain that positive thinking
always generates good “luck”, some consider my ideas “woo-woo” (as one friend calls them). As a rational engineer, I’ve
kept looking for solid, scientific arguments regarding how and why this
happens, but with no rational results.
On this subject,
there is very little tangible proof – till you dig specifically for it. The
very act of researching with an open mind yields lots of ideas. Rather than
wait and continue to flail around further, I decided to take the leap and write
this essay.
I know that
simply presenting the ideas rationally will itself yield further opportunities
for growth and success. In addition, I recognize and am grateful that many friends
and blog-readers will surely come forward with their own specific views, which
will help expand our mutual understandings.
Positive Mental Attitude
Positive mental
attitude (PMA) is the philosophy that having an optimistic disposition in every
situation in one's life attracts positive changes and increases achievement. Positive
people continue to seek, find and execute ways to win, or find a desirable
outcome, regardless of the circumstances. (1)
Many studies
have been done regarding PMA and its effects on health. It’s well recognized
that people with serious illnesses have a significantly higher chance of
survival and recovery if they have PMA. (2)
Critics of PMA
argue that it is simply a by-product of success. Cynics accuse positive people
of wishful thinking. My own view is that positive people are quite capable of
understanding cynical reality. They just change their mindset to experience that
reality from a different perspective. In my view, it certainly helps and never
hurts.
A positive
mental attitude does indeed change reality by allowing people to act in an
entirely different way, getting entirely different results from the people
around them and from themselves.
Self-actualization
Psychologist
Abraham Maslow wrote that the basic needs of humans must be met (e.g. food,
shelter, warmth, security, sense of belongingness) before a person can achieve
self-actualization – the need to be good, to be fully alive and to find meaning
in life. (3)
Maslow described
self-actualization as a high-level need: "What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call
self-actualization. It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to
the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially. This
tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to
become everything that one is capable of becoming."
Abraham Maslow
showed that those who live lives that are different from their true nature and capabilities
are less likely to be happy than those whose goals and lives match. For
example, inherent potential may never be realized if energy is focused on attaining
basic needs.
In my own view,
the true power of positive thinking is generated by rising above the stress of
dull and repetitive activities, to ascend above anger and anxiety – simply to choose
to be happy and feel the pleasure, joy and exhilaration of simply being alive. This
is self-actualization. (4)
Active Consciousness
I have discussed
the mechanics of the results generated by the power of positive thinking with
my good friend and fellow-engineer, Dick Morley, the inventor of the industrial
programmable controller. Dick has a large mind that seems to work in several
dimensions at once. When he has no answer, the Morley response is usually, “Does
not compute”.
Dick sent me references to former NASA computer scientist and
now homeopathic practitioner, Dr. Amy Lansky’s 2011 book, Active Consciousness: Awakening the Power Within. (5) This
generated some resonance with me in my search for a rational way to describe
the power of positive thinking. Here are
some of Amy Lansky’s ideas that trigger my thinking in the direction of
explaining what I was grappling with.
At each moment of time – the Now – each one of us stands at
the gateway to an infinite number of possible futures. This is the Choice Point. Some of these futures
are more likely to occur than others. If a person does nothing, one of the
probable futures will emerge. As
conscious beings, each of us has the ability to affect how the future unfolds. This
is experienced as the sensation of free will.
One of the ways to
exert a force upon this unfolding is to use explicit actions – making choices. People
have the ability to navigate and influence the unfolding of their own lives. Some
have experienced that beliefs and intentions do affect choices and the results in profound ways.
Branching Tree
At each point in
time we make choices. Should we walk left or right? Will we work to help our
body to repair itself, or simply allow it to deteriorate further? At each
instant, we choose one from a potentially infinite number of possible futures
that lie before us. And while it may seem that only one future is chosen at
each point in time, perhaps all of the other possible choices and futures exist
too.
Amy Lansky suggests that our many possible lives would look
like a vast branching tree of possibilities in another dimension – she
theorizes that this could be a fourth dimension. She considers that the power
of active consciousness – what she
calls the C-force – is generated by Consciousness, Choice and Creativity. A
person’s use of the C-force can influence not only their own life, but can also
affect the unfolding of the greater reality around them. As a result, a much
greater collective reality is generated. So, everyone may have creative
potential that they can utilize if they wish.
People who
believe in God consider active consciousness a prayer. They believe that God
hears them and grant what they ask for.
Using Active Consciousness
Harnessing the
power of active consciousness will enable a person to become active creators of
their own destiny. They can enable an unlikely combination of otherwise mundane
events to occur so that a desired goal comes about.
Here’s a simple example: let’s say that you are seeking a good parking
spot where parking spots are hard to find. You’d get the perfect spot if everything
connects correctly: the route you choose to drive, the timing of the lights as
you are driving, the person who parked in the spot before you is just leaving, and
so on. By feeling the power of active consciousness, this could happen. My
friend, to whom I have tried many, many times to demonstrate this, calls me incredibly lucky. They cannot believe that anything else is
involved. Says Amy Lansky: “When you
have the right vibe, it's not a coincidence”. My cynical friend responds, “Show
me the data”.
Some consider
that luck (good or bad) comes from God. But, surely, God cannot be bothered
with finding parking spots.
Here’s another
example: You would like to find a new job with better pay. You’ve been stuck in
a rut for a long time and can’t figure out how to leave your current job
situation. Your company decides to lay you off. The same week, a friend calls
you unexpectedly to tells you about an acquaintance who needs to hire someone
with your exact qualifications. This is the ideal job, which you get easily. Was
it just a lucky coincidence? Or was it a blessing as the result of your
prayers?
This is all
about possibilities and probabilities. Even if something is improbable, it can
still be possible. And if it’s possible, the force of active consciousness can
play a part in making it happen. Believers
consider it a gift from God. Cynics dismiss it as luck.
No Scientific Explanations
All this is just conjecture. I myself have been feeling the
power of “active consciousness” for several years now, and cannot explain it in
any meaningful way. Cynics (they call themselves “realists”) shrug it off as
luck.
Amy Lansky
explains it as the power of “active consciousness”. She refers to
four-dimensional and quantum mechanics to generate examples regarding which
make her theories plausible. I have a Masters degree in Physics, and her
references seem plausible to me. But still, this just shows that such things
are possible, with no direct proof. The examples are all simply anecdotal. There
is no direct linkage to any cause.
So, what to do
next? I’ll appreciate your own views and
experience to help me in this quest. Tell me frankly and directly – am I simply
engaging in wishful thinking? Am I deluding myself into thinking that these experiences
are not just luck?
Let’s Engage:
Please share our
discussion by responding to these questions directly via the blog.
- Do you “feel” lucky? Or, unlucky?
- When good things happen, is it something more than
luck?
- Can you explain why some people are always lucky?
Others not?
- Are good things that happen blessings from God?
- Do you practice positive thinking? Does it always help
you?
- Do you feel self-actualized? Do you know anyone who is
self-actualized?
- Does the concept of Active
Consciousness make sense to you?
- Do you feel in charge of your own destiny?
References:
- The Power of Motivated Positive Thinking: https://goo.gl/zYnWJy
- Positive thinking improves physical
& emotional health: http://goo.gl/4g4x8F
- Maslow's Needs Hierarchy: http://goo.gl/RbrQai
- The Theory of Self-Actualization: https://goo.gl/alrjNr
- The Power of Active Consciousness: http://goo.gl/it7E4V
- Dr. Amy Lansky – Active Consciousness website: http://goo.gl/1VUjD7
- Dr. Amy Lansky Video: https://goo.gl/dqrn7j
Jim Pinto
Carlsbad, CA.
USA
25 August 2015
