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The invisible game, 2nd half!

The only way to take control of your life, raise your standard of living and move beyond merely surviving is to create your own unique product or service that you offer to increasing numbers of people in exchange for the things of value that you desire. This simple formula applies to countries as well as people. A self-sufficient economy has its own products or services of value to export to the world. Similarly, a self-sufficient individual has something of value to exchange in the global marketplace. That thing of value is based on your natural talent, skill, or interest—in other words, your passion!


Many people believe that many of life's important questions are without answers. By that I mean, sure there are logical, or scientific reasons to explain the events leading up to a war, or there are concepts like crib death that explain why infants die, or astute psychological analyses of deep scars and emotional disturbances at the root of people’s antisocial behavior, but when people ask "why" they want to know what’s the divine plan behind it all. They are seeking the invisible game, but are often encouraged to look at what's accessible by the five senses, while dismissing everything else as mystery.

If they believe in a supreme being, one who is just and fair (we’ll forget the vengeful and wrathful supreme being for now), then people are at a loss to understand the pain, sadness that comes from loss and why such a being would allow bad things to happen to good people-in this visible world.

I suggest to you that there is a different game being played. One with a set of rules that are going to require a great deal of courage to accept. Accepting these new rules is going to mean uprooting your beliefs; it’s going to mean living with the awareness that you’ve been lied to, that your parents, though not responsible for it, were collaborators in the perpetuation of the lie, that you will be perceived as crazy, and that you may be branded a heretic or dissenter for sticking to and promoting your new beliefs.

Again, these are not new ideas. They exist in many shapes and forms in a variety of texts (old and new), and are held and propagated in various worldviews, curricula, belief systems and observations.

In fact, the whole self-help, personal development movement is about introducing people to "new" ways of thinking, being and behaving that are more in alignment with the real game. More and more, people are being introduced to snippets of truth that allow them to live more productive lives.

I KNOW IT SOUNDS CRAZY, BUT...

You’ve got nothing to lose by holding two seemingly contradictory belief systems in your mind until one or the other wins out and proves itself more accurate. If you, as that un-trained team were now taught a new set of rules, skills and strategies, and decided to look anew at the game you've been playing with this new understanding, it would either seem to conform to your original beliefs or it would seem to be explained a whole lot better by your new beliefs. Once that happens, you’d be foolish to hold on to the old beliefs if they weren’t the best rules for the game. Right?

THE PAIN AND THE PAYOFF

Well, I suggest that in 2008, we embark or re-commit ourselves to continue on a quest for the invisible game.

Here's the pain:

Again, some of the things you may be required to believe about the real game have been branded and stigmatized as being so outlandish and crazy that you’d have to be insane to willingly suffer the slings and arrows of public condemnation if you consider adopting them.

Here’s the payoff: If you understand the invisible game, then the visible game gets a whole lot easier. If you understand what’s really going on, then you can be pre-emptive in your actions. If you understand where to look for answers, then you can never be lost for too long. If you recognize where power exists, you can tap into it and get on with the real game for which you game.

So why should you choose to adopt a new set of beliefs? If your life is exactly the way you wish it be, then there’s no reason to entertain a new belief system really. If, however, you dream of living a different sort of life, then perhaps there is reason to begin a search for a more effective set of beliefs about the world. Don't worry, I'll be here to help!

As this is an introduction to this new way of thinking I’ll keep it "enlightenment light" just to whet the appetites of those interested in learning more. But beware: Truth is not for the faint-hearted. Stay tuned.

[Excerpted and adapted from The Great Sheep Uprising, Book 2: Lessons for the Lambs]

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