Break Through Your BS_Uncover Your Brain's Blind Spots and Unleash Your Inner Greatness

by Derek Doepker

  You can say the little things are each an essential part of the whole, but even this too is but a mind game. We can safely take “pieces of water” from the ocean without affecting the whole ocean, because we realize we’re just taking out a part, and it doesn’t destroy the whole.

  This ability to not confuse the whole for the parts is what allows one to see that the poisonous slime isn’t just poison, but rather part poison and part purity. Each moment is but a part, and doesn’t define the whole. To not breathe isn’t to never breathe. It’s just but for a moment, a part of eternity, that something is true before something else becomes true. And yet you may still find there is one whole truth that is unceasing and unchanging.

  Can you see it both ways?

  When you focus on how we’re all different, you no longer appreciate how we’re all the same. When you focus on how we’re all the same, you no longer appreciate how we’re all unique.

  These are the games of the mind. You can see the whole as nothing but pieces, or you can see nothing of the pieces because you only see the wholeness. You can make anything insignificant, if you want. You can make anything significant, if you want.

  You can say “Only great leaders who moved millions into action and changed nations” are great, and no one else. Or you can also say, “The mom who works tirelessly to give her kids a great life” is as great and significant as anyone else, for it was her role as a mother that played an essential part in her kids growing up to be greater leaders who moved millions.

  Your mind can choose either. Either way can be bullshit. Either way can show a beautiful truth.

  Isn’t this amazing? Isn’t it amazing the games you can play?

  Still these games can be deadly when misapplied. One may do what I did at one point and say, “Who am I but one insignificant person? Who am I but one drop in the ocean, which can safely be removed, and the whole ocean won’t be affected. No one would miss it. No one would see it’s gone. The world will keep turning.”

  Or I can say, “Who am I if not an essential part of this whole of my family? What am I if not absolutely critical to the people who need to hear the message I have to share, and they’ll only get it if they hear it in my voice? Even if I’m only one piece of the puzzle, doesn’t that mean the puzzle could never be complete without me? ”

  This helps me escape feeling insignificant, but then could I swing towards pride if I start to see myself as too significant? Might I tell myself I’m “significant enough” so I don’t need to keep unleashing my greatness?

  Don’t I need to look at others and make them both significant and insignificant? If I give them too much significance, might I say, “This all rests on their shoulders. It’s the President’s responsibility. It’s my friend’s responsibility. It’s my team’s responsibility.”

  If, however, I make them insignificant, might I say, “They don’t matter. I don’t need them. It’s all about me and what I do.”

  Would either of these one-sided approaches work?

  Are you special? Are we all special? If we’re all special, does that mean nobody is special?

  Are you the same as your neighbor? Do you share the same questioning mind? The same human needs? The same desire to love and be loved?

  Or are you different because you eat different apples? Because you make different things matter? Because one is man, and one is woman. One is from here, and another is from there. One believes this, and another believes that.

  Are we separate or united? Can you see both? Can you appreciate both?

  What if “whole” and “part” are just games of the mind?

  What if “same” and “different” are just games of the mind?

  What if a “setback from success” is the same as a “setup for success?”

  What if one’s poisonous state is different than one’s pure potential?

  What if pride, growth, being, doing, having, succeeding, failing, mistakes, accomplishments, and all the words we use to label things are just games of the mind that can never fully express the higher truth they’re attempting to convey?

  What if “you” are just a game beyond the mind being played by You?

  What if everything is nothing without You?

  What if you are nothing without everything else?

  Are you willing to play the game of appreciating and integrating all the games?

  If it’s a choice in what you choose to be… how do you choose to be?

  Do you choose to be as Jeremiah, and let your love give you the courage to break through the gate holding you back from entering the cave you fear most? Will you venture into the place that can cause you the most suffering, in order to see if there exists something that can save your life within what could potentially destroy you?

  Do you choose to see with eyes like Jeremiah, which show you despite your imperfect tainted state, that You are not the poison, but rather the pure water? Are you willing to draw out this purity? Do you choose to see that others are not their temporary imperfect state, not the poison, but rather the pure water? Are you willing to see the purity they cannot even see in themselves? Are you willing to draw out the purity from within them? Are you willing to play the game of mirrors and reflect back their own greatness to them?

  Remember, you are in a house of mirrors.

  What you see is what you are reflecting.

  What do you choose to reflect – poison or purity?

  Remembrance Meditation

  I give thanks for darkness

  For it reminds me to use my light inside

  I give thanks for weakness

  For it reminds me to allow another's strength to shine

  I give thanks for imperfection

  For it reminds me of work I can do

  I give thanks for confusion

  For it reminds me to relentlessly seek truth

  I give thanks for persecution

  For it reminds me what I stand for

  I give thanks for struggle

  For it reminds me I have strength

  I give thanks for all losses

  For they remind me that everything's borrowed graciously from creation

  I give thanks for fear

  For it reminds me of the power of imagination

  I give thanks for pain

  For it reminds me to feel compassion for suffering

  I give thanks for death

  For it reminds me of each breaths' sweetness

  I give thanks for a broken heart

  For it reminds me of the limitless strength of love

  I give thanks for dependence

  For it reminds me all is one

  I give thanks for all things

  For in all things, there is balance

  And in balance is perfection

  And in perfection there is God

  A Journey Through WTF

  Your Destination

  As our journey in this book starts to wrap up, I must prepare you for the journey you’re about to face.

  This is a journey of unleashing even more of your greatness.

  But let’s take it down a notch and say it’s just about accomplishing some goal you have in your life within the next few months to few years. A “next step” milestone that you have in mind. Not the “be all and end all” goal for your life.

  It could be any goal like to lose 20 pounds, to start a successful business, to write a book, to go get 1,000 of your friends to buy this book because it’s “totes amazeballs,” or anything else.

  Can you see the goal in your mind’s eye? Is it crystal clear in your imagination?

  If it’s not crystal clear, then perhaps figure out something more short-term. Instead of a destination of fulfilling your life’s mission which you haven’t even figured out what that is yet, perhaps you just see yourself reading books or trying new experiences to gain clarity.

  This vision is your “destination.” It’s something that gets you up off your ass. It’s something that gets you out of your sta
tus quo. You don’t have to stay at this destination forever, but at least vacation there to break up your routine.

  Notice how you can actually “see” it, but it’s only seen in your imagination. A potential possibility – not reality.

  Your Departure Point

  Your departure point is, as you guessed in, where you’re at now.

  You may think the “here and now” is relatively steady, unless your life is currently in chaos. Same job. Same friends. Same shit, different day. It’s the status quo.

  For many, this is a comfortable mediocrity. Although things might even be uncomfortably shitty, one may be certain about what kind of shit they’re dealing with. They know how to handle this shit, and that provides a certain comfort even in the midst of pain. “Better the hell I know than the hell I don’t know.”

  Yet just like a city, buildings come up and come down. Restaurants open and close. You may stay in the same spot, but the spot still changes around you. The illusion of consistency, over enough years passing, may be seen for the delusion it is if you pay attention. Or it may become obvious when some loud-ass neighbors move in and start blasting their music every night. #PunkAssKidsNeedToLearnSomeManners

  What does your departure point look like?

  Just look around… what do you see?

  Where are you at?

  Who are you being?

  Who do you hang around with most of the time?

  What does your daily life look like?

  Is it consistent or chaotic?

  When do you feel great about life?

  When do you feel mediocre and “meh?”

  When do you feel like shit?

  How do you interact with people?

  How do they interact with you?

  Why did you choose this life?

  Did you even feel you had a choice, or is this a life that was “forced” upon you?

  How does your departure point make you feel?

  Obviously somethings a little “off” or not what it “could be.” You probably wouldn’t be reading this book if you didn’t realize things could be at least a little better.

  Things may even be “dangerously” comfortable. You may get a lingering sense, that even though everything is “OK” now, things will change.

  Or perhaps you’re in a terrible place, and you can’t wait to get out of here.

  Maybe it’s none of this, but you just want to check out a different place for a while. Take a vacation.

  Consider, though…

  If you could be anywhere in the world, is this where you’d be? If you could be anyone, is this who you would be? How would you be living? Would you be hanging out with the same people?

  Did your past self hook you up with awesome things because of some of their decisions? Did your past self screw you over with some of their decisions?

  What decisions don’t you like made by your past self? Suspend the “I have no regrets” game, and explore, “If there was something I would have done differently, what would it be?”

  Now what lessons can you learn from those choices so your present-self doesn’t make the same mistakes?

  What good decisions did your past self make that you’re grateful for? Would you be willing to make similar good decisions to pay it forward to your future self out of gratitude?

  Right now, you probably have a pretty good idea of what your current reality looks and feels like.

  You’re holding two clear visions now. One vision is with your mind’s eye, a future possibility that you can see clearly in your imagination. It’s the top of a mountain. You can’t see it with your physical eyes, and yet you know it’s there because all mountains have a top. This is your destination.

  The other vision is with your physical eyes and senses. You look around and see a present reality. It’s somewhere just outside the bottom of the destination mountain. You now realize you’re going to have to go on a journey to climb this mountain if you wish to reach your destination.

  The WTF Zone

  Now there’s a gap between these two places of your departure point and your destination point, between your origin settlement and the peak of this mountaintop you wish to climb where your destination resides.

  This gap is dark because you can’t see it with your physical eyes. You also can’t quite make it out in your imagination, although your imagination tries to paint a picture with a lot of “What if” questions.

  This place between your departure point and your destination point, the gap between the two, is what I call the “WTF zone.” It’s because you have no idea what the eff is there. And this scares you.

  Good things? Bad things? Scary monsters that will eat you?

  You really have no idea. This uncertainty is why many people never venture into the “WTF zone.” That is, unless they have a high need for variety and don’t mind unpredictability.

  If you’re not one of those people who loves the unexpected, then my role is to enlighten you about what you can expect in the WTF zone so you’ll be more certain, albeit never absolutely certain, about WTF you’re getting into by journeying through “WTF.”

  Preparing For The Journey

  There will be a few things you’ll want to have prepared before you go out on the journey. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of these things before venturing out to WTF, you can find all of them in the middle of WTF as well.

  If you don’t know how to find these things, I’m going to grant you a special magic power that will serve you well now, and during your time in WTF.

  It’s called: “Just Frickin’ Ask Someone Where To Find These Things.”

  Now granted, this magic power doesn’t always work, but I’ve found if you keep trying it over and over, like blowing in an old NES cartridge repeatedly, this sorcery will eventually pay off.

  Sometimes you need to use a variation of the spell called: “Just Frickin Ask Someone If They Know Someone Who Might Know Where To Find These Things, And Remember Google Is Your Friend.”

  While not perfect magic, the power of these spells is never to be underappreciated.

  Map

  Many would overcome their fear of venturing into the WTF zone if they just got a map.

  Do you realize that others have ventured out there into WTF and made maps? Maybe they didn’t start at the same point you did and they took a slightly different path, but a lot of the territory has already been mapped out.

  If one is to travel through WTF, they would be wise to pick up a map to see what the landscape entails. They’ll find maps at the library, online, and other places in various forms of books, case studies, training programs, and more from fellow travelers who’ve made safe passage to the destination of choice and created a map along their way.

  Now granted, maps are limited. They only show the path the individual mapmaker took, and it might be different from the exact path a traveler wishes to take or is even capable of taking. Nevertheless, a map goes a long way to giving a traveler, you, a greater feeling of certainty before and during the journey.

  Compass

  If you’re going on the journey, you’ll need a compass to figure out where you’re at. While the direction you need to go will likely continuously change, a compass always points to true north.

  A compass comes in the form of true principles. Principles are big picture “rules of the game,” so to speak. They don’t provide an exact answer, but they always provide an answer of wisdom. They point you in the right direction.

  “Get myself into a peak state before making a critical decision” – will be a wise choice, and not steer you wrong.

  “Take 100% responsibility” – will keep you oriented.

  Companion

  A companion is someone who will travel with you so you’re not alone. They can point out pitfalls in your blind spots – if they’re a true companion.

  Be careful of companions that only point out good things and not pitfalls. Or who just want to shoot the shit and aren’t actually interested in yo
ur wellbeing. They’re not a true companion.

  A true companion will always be willing to say, “Yo, watch your step, dumbass, you’re about to fall into a hole!” They won’t worry about hurting your feelings as much as they worry about you not jacking your shit up by doing something dumb and being blinded by BS.

  Flashlight

  A flashlight helps you see in the dark. It only lights up where you point it at though.

  It’s the power of an “enlightening” question that gets your mind to see things that were once dark. You’d be wise to keep a flashlight and point it around in different directions.

  Here are some places you can point your flashlight:

  What’s my lesson here?

  If I did know what to do, what would it be?

  Who might know the solution?

  What’s a good question to ask myself right now in this situation?

  Be sure to keep the flashlight charged up, or it won’t work. You can recharge a flashlight by ramping up your body’s energy state. Get up, move your body, get the blood flowing, put a big smile on your face, do 10 jumping jacks, dance. Anything that gets the energy flowing in your body to create a positive state will add more juice to your flashlight. This is #Science

  A Guide

  A guide can potentially make your journey through WTF a breeze. They know the way, or at least they know a way. Their way might be blocked with a boulder that fell since they last traveled there, but generally speaking, if you find a good guide, they’ll know the ins and outs of WTF, including the best and quickest ways up to your peak destination.