In previous articles, I have described the Satanic Spin and how that gets you onto the Chemical Scale. Once you begin paying attention to your own chemicals, unedifying emotions, thoughts, internal conversations, decisions, and actions, you recognize just how hard it is to stay close to Level Zero. Satan messes with us constantly. He never sleeps and never takes holidays. He will try to make you spin every day. He will try to drag you down the scale to poor decisions, several times a day. It takes a lot of training to get to the point where you can maintain Level Zero for the majority of a day. But when you get there, that day will be like no other day you’ve had before.
The experiences that come are hard to describe. I cannot do it well without examples, and I cannot describe someone else’s experiences adequately. Please forgive the extensive use of personal examples in this article, I hope they will help you understand what Living at Level Zero can be like for you.
Some days are better than others. Many days are rough. The days I will be describing here are normal, almost mundane days, but I experienced them in a totally different way because I was choosing and working to Live at Level Zero.
I wake up most mornings at a Level One or a Level Two on the Chemical Scale. My mouth tastes funny, my back is usually stiff and sore. I have a hard time concentrating on any particular thing. Nobody else is awake yet. I say a brief prayer that often could be described as “cookie cutter.” The order of the words is probably different, but the ideas are the same. I try to make it meaningful, but that is often hard for me to do in the mornings. I put on my exercise clothes, get a cold drink of water, and drive to the gym. I keep the radio off and pray out loud most of the way there. These prayers are much more conversational. The topics are often the same, but there is meaning in these prayers because these topics are things that mean a lot to me. I finish the prayer as I lock my car and walk into the gym. I choose my workout for the day and put my headphones in. I press play on the next episode of the Eternal Warrior Podcast and listen as I exercise for the next thirty minutes. I finish my exercise and return to the car feeling much more awake and focused than the first time I got in it. I continue listening to the episode as I drive home. I’ll sit in my living room until the episode is done. By this point, I’m usually Zeroed Out, but on the best days, I’ve got Warrior Chemistry in my veins.
I make a simple breakfast. Normally my mind is still pondering upcoming Passion Projects, or important activities as I’m cooking or pouring a bowl of cereal. As I eat, I read from the Book of Mormon, following my study pattern which includes noticing and highlighting every time emotion and feeling words are used. I focus on empathizing with at least one of those emotional experiences. What would I be experiencing if I were in the same situation? What things would have to happen so that I could be feeling the same way as this person?
I finish breakfast and reading and either write or work on a Passion Project until my 18-month old son wakes up. Usually, I will try to read, work, or distract myself on my phone after I get him up. On days when I Live at Level Zero, I give him all of my attention. There is, again, a gentle but persistent intensity as I play with my son. This is the most important thing I can be doing at that time. He gets all of my focus as I change his diaper, fix him breakfast, read him books, and play with him until my wife is ready to wake up.
This gentle and persistent intensity of focus follows most of my activities throughout the day; school, work, cooking, etc. Have you ever played with someone’s hair with intensity and focus? Your fingers are gentle but your mind is sharp and present. In those moments I recognize that giving my wife my affection and attention are the most important things I can be doing. I don’t allow myself to daydream as my fingers move half-heartedly. I don’t allow myself to think about what I’d rather be doing. In those moments, it’s not about me. It’s about being there for my wife. The by-product is that I continue to Live at Level Zero.
Eventually, as I near bedtime, I am filled with a huge sense of fulfillment and excitement about what was accomplished that day. My day was full. I was busy by choice. I didn't rush from one activity to another, I moved from one to the next with deliberate focus. For someone who is as distractible as I normally am, having this kind of intense focus on one activity is uncommon. To have it for most of a day is a miracle that only seems to come when I am Living at Level Zero.
To Live at Level Zero requires consistent maintenance. You must keep doing things that help you Zero Out and doing your other activities with intention and purpose. There was a recent day where I did fairly well at maintaining a Level Zero until early evening. I felt I had some spare time on my hands and chose to spend time on my phone. It only took 30 minutes of combined time on Facebook and news to throw off the rest of my night. In only 30 minutes I was at a high Level 2 and proceeded to do several things against my value system that night.
It's odd, Living at Level Zero should be exhausting. It takes so much maintenance to stay Zeroed Out. Paradoxically, the things you do to stay at Level Zero are rejuvenating. Living at Level Zero gives you the energy you need to continue being Zeroed Out and doing things with a gentle intensity and focus. When I slip down the Chemical Scale and am no longer doing those things that rejuvenate me is when I have a "crash" like coming down from a sugar rush.
Living at Level Zero is not a daily occurrence for me yet. It is something I work towards and struggle to achieve. But when I do get to Live at Level Zero, the things that I get done that day are amazing. It's not so much the number of things that I accomplish, but how I do them. Each thing is done with purpose, mindfulness, and intent. It doesn't take years of training to Live at Level Zero for a day, but it does take practice and awareness of where you are at on the Chemical Scale.
To hire me as your life coach where we can create a plan to put the above principles into practice for you, follow this link. Fighting Like a Dragon - Life Coaching
No comments:
Post a Comment