Who are you pretending to be? I wasn’t expecting the question, but the answer distracted me from mundane things for the rest of that morning, until I understood.
My niece Vicky recently told me that listening to podcasts was a pleasant method for grounding, re-setting oneself for the day, and focusing on the stuff that matters, rather than the hum-drum of routine and stress, which become an embraced focus, instead of a distraction to overcome.
It’s alarming to think that what matters so frequently gets pushed aside, buried under work and people schedules, or filed away for “sometime soon” while we pull and stretch on the elastic band of do, go, get there, win, reply, action, micro-manage, narrowly escape, boom and crash.
And that’s why listening to podcasts – the new-wave answer to radio, but with personal choice – is what I do now while dressing, every day, no excuses.
Who are you pretending to be? Joe Dispenza, motivational American and author, was asking it as an aside during a talk on breaking addiction to negativity.
I’ve listened to this podcast several times – more, perhaps – and had missed that part, for some reason.
Rewinding to the beginning helped it to make sense. Dispenza has a unique and quite mind-shattering view of the world (and physics), which is worth looking at, but it’s the simplicity of these sound bytes that deliver the cerebral shock needed to truly get it – eventually.
Chatting about his recent talks with government ministries in Barcelona, Dispenza explains that he asked the officials several questions, one of which was: “How do you become supernatural?”
This, together with realising that you may be living under false pretences, is a good start.
Where the magic happens
To become supernatural, you have to start doing what is unnatural. And this is where the magic happens: when everybody else is lacking, that’s the time to give; and when everybody else is in fear, that’s the time to demonstrate courage; if the circle around you is hostile, that’s the time to show compassion, he says.
“And, if we can continuously do over and over again what is so unnatural, sooner or later we will become supernatural.
“So, if you are working on your anger and frustration, and I am working on my fear and anxiety and judgement, and I’m taking care of me and you’re taking care of you, and everybody is doing that, then … we will begin to see changes in the world.”
And the pretending bit? He relates a story about a group of elderly men who underwent scientific testing during a five-day retreat. They were instructed to pretend that they were 22 years younger than they really were – which was an average age range of between 70 and 80-plus.
The pretence was made real with magazines and other forms of entertainment from two decades ago to really get them into the role play required.
Apparently, it worked. Cognitive and physical testing reportedly showed 60% improvement in cognition, better range of motion, longer finger lengths and some of the pensioners playing touch football for the first time in decades – without their canes.
Who are pretending to be?
Pretending to be the best, most noble, perfect version of yourself possible is, if results are to be believed, more than a wistful glance at nostalgia or a longed-for future. In fact, the point is to be thankful that you already are what started off as a pretence.
Who are you pretending to be? If you woke up every morning “pretending to be a genius of the universe”, healthy and happy, you might be jolted by what happens next.
“We have been hypnotised into believing that we need a reason for joy, to give thanks – the old waiting for something outside of you in order to feel better inside of you,” he says.
Imagine if you pretended to be joyful and perfect for no good reason at all? Let me know what happens.