INNER RESOURCE CREATION

In the opening sequence of The Jungle Book, Mowgli - the young boy who is the protagonist of the story - has an easy relatively carefree life.  What he is naive to is that the ease he experiences is being made possible by a whole cast of loving animals including a black panther, a bear, and a pack of wolves - all of whom are watching out for him and helping fend off the dangers of the jungle.

I feel a lot like Mowgli: my life is made relatively easy by silent loving forces around and within me.

To an important extent this is the result of white male privilege.

And there is also more to it.  Another important part of the equation is that for many years I have been committed to tending the garden of my consciousness.  

Tending the garden that we each are means planting good new habits, continually exposing our psychology to the healthy sun of new learning experiences, watering new inner capacities by appreciating and attending to them, and consistently working to pull up weeds and invasive species that harm the overall health of the garden.

Some people are much more capable and committed to the work of cultivating inner resources than others.  Many people take themselves to be relatively static entities - and do not even realize that they can build up their capacity to reshape their own psychology in whatever direction they choose for themselves.  To them it seems like the often chaotic state of their inner garden and the lack of nutritious resources there is a result of forces beyond their control.

Removing weeds and invasive species is an important step in improving the inner garden of one's consciousness.  Social media - at least the way most people use it - is an example of an invasive species.  For many people scrolling on social media sites takes more than it contributes.  More often than not, time spent on social media could be better invested in our pursuit of the good life.  

As we all know, big challenges loom on our individual and collective horizons.  Now is the time to cultivate inner resources so that we can thrive and enjoy whatever lies ahead.

With skillful and committed care the garden of our own psychology becomes healthy, alive and full of nutritious inner resources to help maintain a positive and fulfilling flow state through the journey of life.

There are many different types of inner resources.

A simple example is a mindful breathing practice that I learned from Thich Naht Hahn.  In this practice, whenever one notices that one is not present with one's physical body, one simply brings their attention back to feeling the breath - while explicitly noticing that they are feeling their breath.  You can do this practice here and now as you read these very words.  As you breathe in, notice that you are breathing in and silently say to yourself: "breathing in, I feel myself breathing in".  Then as your in-breath completes and you start breathing out, silently note to yourself: "breathing out, I feel myself breathing out". 

I did this practice several times over the course of a few months 20 years ago.  What I did not expect was how easily it would grow into a new inner resource.  The practice became a habit that is now embedded in my body and my awareness.  Since then, thousands of times of the last 20 years, stress in my body has somehow spontaneously woken up this resource.  When this happens I suddenly notice that I have not been feeling my body, and in that moment, without effort or intention, I begin to vividly feel myself breathing in, to feel myself breathing out.  And the stress and tightness in my body begins to melt.

This is just a simple example.  There are all kinds of inner resources that we can create within ourselves.  

Another type of inner resource is what is referred to in object relations psychology as an 'introjected empathic object'.  If you have had someone in your life who has been a role model of strength, kindness, openness or some other positive quality (and you have - otherwise you'd be living in the streets, or worse - and therefore not reading these words right now), then your memory of that person has likely grown into a resource within your self.  There is a sense in which that person continues to live within you and be of benefit to you, even if they are no longer physically present in your life.  This type of inner resource plays a prominent role in Star Wars, in the way that older (often deceased) Jedis continue to live as resources in younger Jedis.  That, of course, is a bit of a cartoon rendition.  Nonetheless it is pointing to something that we can all easily find within ourselves - if we have the eyes to see it.

Another example of an outer or inner resource is a 'worthy adversary'.  As many prominent athletes have expressed, worthy adversaries can be invaluable inspirations on one's personal path towards mastery.

A few final examples: Buddhist 'protector practice' may initially sound like a quaint religious idea - but it can be understood from a modern scientific perspective in terms of creation and NLP anchoring of inner resources.  Zen koans, when properly contemplated, can also mature into inner resources.  The same goes for all sorts of inner resources which are cultivated by all of the other religions and indigenous traditions across the world.

In summary, this competency is about the capacity to grow inner resources in the garden of one's own inner world.  And as many of the most successful people throughout the centuries have exhorted, the condition of one's inner world has a huge effect on one's outer life.