This pleasant reckoning

There is a saying that a human being is not a finished product until the day he or she dies. That means that the human operating system– the spirit, is being constantly upgraded as we learn and unlearn. The past few months have been a great roller-coaster of tempers and emotions. I for one have […]

There is a saying that a human being is not a finished product until the day he or she dies. That means that the human operating system– the spirit, is being constantly upgraded as we learn and unlearn.

The past few months have been a great roller-coaster of tempers and emotions. I for one have learned and unlearned so much. The Israel/Palestine conflict has opened another yawning gap in the global geopolitical order bringing the world a step closer to another calamity. A lot of what is going on is inexplicable and unfathomable to my understanding of the psycho-social realities of the modern world. 

I am still quite young and quite clueless, so I am under no illusion that I have to be able to explain and understand everything I come across given the nature and nurture that defines my consciousness. I try, but I have mostly failed. What I believe is that every human being grows in stages of psychological development, operating at levels of consciousness and making decisions about how to understand the world based on their worldview.

Just as we can mark where we are in the passage of our lives by certain stages of development models, we conceptually mark where we are at any moment in time. I believe that the level of consciousness we operate from will coincide with the stage of development we have reached. However, if we encounter a situation that triggers one of our limiting survival, safety or security beliefs we will immediately drop down to the previous levels of consciousness. For example, if I am 33 years old, in the middle of the individuating stage of development, and I lose my job and my savings, I will probably drop down to the survival level of consciousness.

• Tributes as Baba Adinni of Lagos buried
• Kogi police arrest six suspects over assault on Senator Echocho

The first level of personal consciousness is all about survival. To survive, we need clean air, water and wholesome food to keep our bodies healthy and fit, and we need to feel financially secure. How you deal with survival situations as an adult depends on the conditioning you received while growing up. If you had difficulties getting your survival needs met, your parents ignored you when you cried as a bay for instance, or you felt abandoned, you will be grown up to be cautious as an adult, you may also become a micro-manager because you feel that you cannot trust other people to take care of your needs. Whenever you have anything that feels like a survival challenge, your fear-based limiting beliefs from childhood will be triggered. You may become anxious and emotionally upset. Your anxiety will come from the limiting belief that you will not be able to control your environment to get your needs met. If, on the other hand, your needs were always met as a baby, you will be able to handle survival situations without too much stress. In this case, no matter what happens, you will feel confident in being able to control the situation. I thought this explained why supposed groups like Hamas resorted to what a Zionist might consider terrorism.

The next level of consciousness is all about safety. To feel safe, we need to feel loved and protected. We need to feel a sense of belonging. How you deal with relationship situations as an adult depends on the conditioning you received as a child. If you had difficulties getting your safety needs met during the conforming stage of development, you might become suspicious and paranoid of others as an adult. Also, if you don’t feel loved, you may appear needy or want to be liked. Whenever you feel you don’t belong or don’t feel loved and cared for as an adult, your fear-based limiting beliefs from childhood will be triggered and you may become anxious or emotionally upset. If on the other hand, you felt unconditionally loved as a child and always felt safe and protected, you will be able to take care of your relationship and needs later on in life. Does this then explain why the Zionist consciousness is capable of the type of horrifying savagery as is unfolding in Gaza?

Perhaps, the next has to do with finding freedom and autonomy. You will want to discover who you are beyond the parental programming and cultural conditioning you received during your formative years. At this stage of development, you will be asking questions like “who am I?” and “what is important or sacred to me?” In Islamic jurisprudence, this stage signifies a rite of passage in which you have to validate your faith and knowledge. Only when you find answers to these questions, will you discover your true soul or self. Fully expressing who you are without fear of what others may think or say, particularly your parents, peers and the authority figures in your life, gives you the opportunity to make choices that are more in alignment with who you are. The prize that comes with the pursuit of this self-understanding and knowledge is the independence and the ability to operate with integrity. When you discover and express who you are you can remove your ego mask and march to your tune, not to the tune that has been imposed on you by others.

Next has to do with finding meaning in your life, finding what your soul came into the world to do. At this level of consciousness, the question is no longer “who am I?” but “why am I here in this body?” and “how can I fully express myself?” For those who do not feel a particular sense of purpose, this can be a daunting inquiry. For others, who are gifted with a particular talent, your purpose will be obvious. If you are not sure of your purpose, you simply focus on what you love to do and pay attention to what is immediately in front of you. 

When you are in the latter years of your life, you may be fortunate enough to have learned how to master every stage of psychological development, your ego needs and your soul desires, and you will be able to operate from the outlook of a “Full-Spectrum” consciousness. When you are operating from Full-Spectrum Consciousness, you can respond appropriately to all situations that life throws at you with inner calm, without fear, upset or anxiety. Individuals experiencing. 

I have learned a lot. Not matter how much I want this to be a pleasant reckoning, it cannot–because the causative instrument is a genocide that has claimed the lives of 12,000 children in Gaza, some of them babies in hospital incubators!