"We fall to the level of our training."
I am in a program called Spiritual Investing with Elizabeth Ralph, and in one of the videos she shared this quote:
“We don’t rise to the levels of our expectation, we fall to the level of our training.”
I - being obsessed with quotes - wanted to know for sure who had said it, so I looked it up.
One of the first links was to something on the website Quora, and as I looked for the answer to my - I thought simple - question, I entered into this space of surprise, disappointment, laughter, and total clarity.
In message thread about someone saying something about falling to the level of our training, in my reading, humans fell. Hard. And I got this weird microcosm view of why things are so weird right now.
One person answered the question, or tried to. The rest all had their own opinions and agendas. They said they ‘thought’ it was the Greek poet Archilochus. Then there was the person who was sure it was a Navy Seal, particularly one who had written a book called On Combat - because they had read the book and thought it was in there.
Then the thread lost the plot. Or the thread. Like I said: microcosm.
First there was the (admittedly ‘related’ and brought in by the algorithm) sub-subject of what kind of mindset Navy Seals have to which someone wrote:
“As a former paratrooper, I don't know and frankly, I don't care. There are Army and Marine units that are at least as competent and deadly as SEALs, but because Hollywood ignores them, Americans do, too.”
Or the comment (again, ‘related’ and brought in by the algorithm, but you could only see that if you were really paying attention) that then went on to ask why aren’t there women in the seals, which of course brought on a whole lot of other comments, and opinions.
Eventually the thread came back to the original question, to which this response was added: “Not certain who gets the credit for the saying. But it goes to why seals train so hard in all differing areas of operations that they are capable of doing. Training to be a seal is just the start.”
A question was asked. One person answered. The rest just talked about what THEY wanted to say.
When did we become so unable to listen? When did agenda and algorithm become the accepted way to communicate with each other?
I have noticed this so often in the past few years. Pauses, thoughts, gentle clarifying questions, wondering, curiosity, openness to the other person having a different opinion (that we don’t then have to be afraid of), all seem to be something that are becoming rarer and rarer.
We talk so much about intention and vision and manifestation and focus and health and wealth and DO THE THING these days. Arguably that could be called our levels of expectation. We want the world to be better, to be safer, to be kinder, to be more open to people to be who they truly are, with love and compassion and rights and ease and flow and abundance for all.
But can we get there if we keep falling to the level of our training? If we keep doing the things we are doing that keep us feeling low? Eating, watching, reading, listening, allowing things into our experience that keep us feeling isolated and afraid? If we fall back on our Rightness and don’t allow for any question of what the other person’s story or the whole story or the agenda or the bigger picture might be?
I’ve decided that that is what I am doing now: no more manifesting or expecting. Now it’s about being in training; I’m in training so that my base line, my solid footing, my instinctive reaction, my go-to response is just better. I want to know that the line I basically move from is one of curiosity and kindness; personal strength and wonder.
I want to know that when I am challenged - because Archilochus (we think) said it - that I am going to show up with more love, more health, more creativity, and less fear because that is the level that I have been trained to.
Why?
Because I think that the world is going to need those of us who can still listen, and who can respond from a place with less agenda and more curiosity; who can ask questions and be more aware of what and whose stories we are telling and why.
Because I believe that it’s time we stop following the algorithm and start making more conscious choices about what goes in and what comes out.
Because I think love has to be the way.
With much love,
P.S.
I currently have 3 spaces for Big Juicy Oracle Readings - these cost a bit because each one takes me a couple of days. Anyone who has had one has told me that they are incredibly powerful. These will be with you on or before June 23.
OR if you are feeling it, I have also opened up a few Faeries' Readings. These will also be with you on or before June 23.