The "Boxes" We Sometimes Live In

Boxes are good....Right?!

Boxes ARE good...for some things. But they are just as NOT good for other things.

We have all used boxes for:

• Moving Things
• Organizing Things
• Separating Things
• Storing Things
• Protecting Things
• Sending Things
• Unintended but CREATIVE...Things
• Fort Creating
• "House" Building
• Maze Construction
• Cat Toys
• And more... ...Things

Two "things" that boxes are really good at are keeping things IN while keeping other things OUT. 

Who DOESN'T have (at least one) box like this...

I know I do.

Boxes are not just physical...or are they?

You've heard it in relation to thinking...or being, I know you have, you've also said it in some way, shape, or form.

• "He thinks outside of the box".
• "We need a solution that is outside of the box".
• "She is inside her box when it comes to..."

When used in these and other ways, these "boxes" are understood to refer to the way a person sees or understands something, known as a paradigm. The definition of ‘paradigm’ according to google is - a typical example or pattern of something; a model.

We each have "boxes” or paradigms of thinking - believing - feeling - doing.  

The basic flow is this: our thoughts, combined with the meaning we have assigned them from previous experience (believing), dictate how we feel in any situation (read that sentence again). What we feel, then, flows into and informs our actions. Our actions are in direct alignment with what we feel...when we are "in the box". There is no choice "inside the box" because we believe that what we feel and perceive is an accurate representation of what is happening, and we respond accordingly. We experience this repeatedly (mostly mindlessly), specifically in the many situations we encounter each day, and generally in larger areas of our lives, including Health (all areas), Relationships, Finances, Career etc. These cycles accurately reflect the "boxes" we are in, even though we cannot see the boxes. Again, we believe to be true that which we feel and perceive. These "boxes" keep in what we believe to be true, while keeping out what is true.

The truth states that there is no box. Truth is stable, constant, and independent. It stands without judgment or applied meaning. There is pure choice in truth, for we get to see, in the truth, that the "box" is man-made, and full of ambiguity and story. The "box" itself does not exist; it is merely a figment of the imagination...a paradigm, a pattern of thought and belief; there is indeed only truth.

Judgment of, and a spread of man-made meaning applied to truth creates boxes while destroying truth-generated choosing.

Now, you may be wondering about paradigms or "boxes" that produce positive outcomes. There are indeed paradigms or boxes that contain productive thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and actions that lead to success in any area. These "positive" paradigms work until they don't.

We live in a world and a time that is in constant flux. What has worked in one season does not work in another season. We see it over and over again. The retail and on-line shopping industries are an example. Physical retail shops are required to make intuitive shifts in order to stay relevant in the whole of the shopping experience. Positive and productive retail paradigms that worked in the 1980s do not work today. It is the same with marketing and sales; Health, Fitness; Relationships; Education; Parenting, etc. Everything and everyone is evolving. The "season" of usefulness for a positive paradigm is progressively shrinking. 

Paradigms and "boxes" altogether will continue to fall away in favor of seeing "what is" and evolving vs "judging what is" and reacting. Seeing "what is" translates to seeing outcomes for what they are without judgment or story, then responsibly questioning "why" such outcome presented. "What about my process (paradigm) produced this outcome? What do I need to think differently, and believe, and feel, and act from in order to see a more favorable outcome? Or to be relevant in this, or a coming season?"

A shift from viewing outcome as an indicator of "what works", to an indicator of "what is" must take place; and will continue to take place as the world continues to evolve. An allowance of faith, trust and intuition in the presence of "what is", without judgment of it, but obedience to the nudges that come in that presence, will be the new way. It is not a paradigm or a box...it is where truth lives. This is the case in all aspects, business and personal.