The influence of the times

Imagine that you are living 200 years ago and that you are quite wealthy. You have a large house with servants. You have all the luxuries that are available at that time. Think deeply about the lifestyle that you would lead. After setting aside sixteen hours for sleep and running your financial affairs, think about what you would be doing with your other eight hours of life.

Consider the culture of the times and what your probable values and morals would be-given the kind of upbringing you would have had at the time. Think about how your personality of today would have to be retrofitted to “cut it” back in those days. Imagine what the “core you” or the “DNA potential of you” would have manifested back then. See if you can imagine what it is about your “seed” that would have flourished and what parts of you would never have had a chance to manifest.

Ask yourself,What do I have now fully flowering that would have been squelched or would have withered then?

What freedoms do I have now that would have been “out of the question” then?

How am I a product of my times now? What cannot grow now-the good and the bad-that my times prevent? Would I have a stronger adherence to my religious values?

Could I have gone on witch-hunts, put someone in prison for being in debt, or watch a flogging in the town square? What is the difference between watching a flogging in the town square and watching a Hollywood movie that convincingly shows a flogging in the town square?

Can I overcome my era, culture, tribal beliefs, and “modern addictions to technology” that keep me “in my place”? What drummers’ beats have me hypnotized? Given food, water and shelter, could I spend a year in a log cabin without anything else but “me”? What would I be like after such a time of solitude?

How can I develop a sense of wonder for all that modern times offer me when I consider that even a fabulously wealthy person back then could not even make a phone call, have fresh fruit in winter, surf the Web, or know the wonders of duct tape? How do I see today with the eyes of a person brought forward in time? Can I appreciate the fantastic world I truly live in today?

What does it signify that I get jaded so easily? Why is everything “so last week” so quickly to me? What is the value of having a nervous system that is such a “newness junky”? How can I make it serve my self-development?

How is my human body an environment that supports or hinders my “perfect self” from flowering? If I were an angel what lessons and growth would I never have a chance to experience?

Can I and, if so, should I transcend everything? Can I act wholly from within-completely uninfluenced by my environment?

What can I do to water my deepest roots?