Last Tuesday when Gilad Shalit returned home it was a profound moment in Israeli society and for Israeli society on so many levels. The event touched the hearts and raw nerves of a whole nation. We witnessed the drama as well as participated in the drama of his return. I've been living in Israel
After these major events occur you can't help but ask yourself what do I learn from this event for myself. I began to think about captivity and what it must be like to be trapped. For Gilad the feeling of being trapped was all encompassing. For me I thought; am I trapped anywhere in my life? Am I captive to anyone, to an idea, to a dream, to a value, to a thought process or to a certain behavior pattern?
Sometimes I find that I fall into the trap of my own paradigms of thought which lead me to act in ways that stunt my growth in many areas of my life. Does this happen to you?
A paradigm is usually framed by a declaration like "to succeed I must work really hard" or "if I want something done I must do it myself" or "I will only begin to grow professionally when my children are older" or "there is no room for mistakes". These are very strong declarations that we say to ourselves and to others. They trap us and don't allow us to see things differently or to create new and fresh perspectives in our lives. Sometimes we carry these very strong and very influential declarations with us all our lives even though deep down we know that they don't reflect us anymore and that they hinder our personal growth.
What can we do in order not to fall into our own traps? Firstly, being aware of our paradigms of thought is the most important thing we can do to help ourselves. Awareness is the key as well as a tool that we can use for self reflection.
Ask yourself if you are trapped by your own paradigms of thought? What do they sound like? Write them down and ask yourself if they are really true? Do they work for you or do they work against you? Do you want to re-word them to make them more relevant for your personal development and help yourself grow?
The process of transforming paradigms of thought that stunt our growth is deep and requires professional assistance, however it is possible, it's PROFOUND and it's FREEING.
Don't let yourself be trapped and held captive by paradigms of thought that YOU yourself CAN influence and CHANGE tomorrow.
