Let's imagine a person using this process. Perhaps our friend Clarus
Kent has moved and now lives a little farther from work. He is deciding if he
should buy a car. He doesn't have a car, and doesn't want a car, but he also
doesn't want to be late or tired or rained-on when he gets to work, and he
thinks his bike may not do the job any more. He sits down and uses this
decision-making algorithm to figure out if buying a car is the best thing to do.
He defines his possible courses of action. He ignores all but two courses of action, as he has moved through this algorithm before, and he knows that it is rare for him to choose one of the courses of action he first defines. He just keeps things simple and takes it easy. He defines only two choices, as follows: "I will buy a car," and "I will not buy a car." Okay, he thinks, that was Talk space. Now for Image space. He directs his attention to Image space in order to find a simple representation of the decision there. He sees himself with a car, and then he sees himself without a car. Just one simple image for each is enough. All right, that only took about 20 seconds, he thinks, now for Feel space. He knows that he just needs to find the simplest clear representation of the courses of action in Feel space. He directs his attention there, and finds some fun excitement mixed with anxious dread regarding buying a car, and some relief mixed with stress and tightness regarding not buying one. Great, he thinks, in less than two minutes, I have finished the first step, and I already have discovered a lot I didn't know about this decision. He then explores these courses of action. He just works with the definitions, thinking and feeling on and on. He spends about five minutes talking through the decision in his head. He spends about four minutes imagining scenarios that may occur in each of his two courses of action. He spends about three minutes using the Talk and Image he has explored to bring up Feel, and attends to how he feels as it comes up in simple or complex forms. Very good, he thinks, in the past 15 minutes I have clarified my decision a lot. I have determined exactly what two courses of action might be. I have listened carefully to the tapes that have been running through my head the past few days, so they finally stopped and I could hear the more meaningful talk underneath. I have come to understand the situations these two courses of action may cause by imagining them in detail, and I could discard the unrealistic ones while relying on the realistic ones. I have come to trust my feelings on the matter, and have understood what ideas those feelings are associated with, and therefore why I feel that way. This has been productive. Now let's move on. He then allows the spaces to do the work for him. He is surprised to find that talk is quiet, except that he hears the words, "It's okay." Image space is blank, but it is flowing a little and that helps him to relax. Feel is very powerful, and it assures him that he will not drive too much like he used to. This process takes a total of five minutes. Very interesting, he thinks, the past 20 minutes have been very productive. He realizes that he is going to buy a car, and that he will track carefully how much gas he uses and how far he drives versus bikes each month. In that way, he gets the best of both worlds, and increases self-awareness and control of his life. He launches himself into this decision by immersing himself in good feel about it. He drenches himself in that good feel, and then without losing that feel, begins to draw up a chart to track his car usage, and then goes outside and smiles to the world in order to affirm that he will use his car in a responsible way that will increase his and others' happiness. He then researches what car to buy on the Internet. He uses the decision algorithm again, and realizes that he needs to gather more information. He sees clearly what he needs to know before making the decision, and launches himself forward by acquiring that knowledge. He returns to the process, choosing between two cars, an Aquus and a Begwa. Talk space is very clear that the Begwa is the better car even though it is used, but feel is against it. He can't find a decision, so he drops into equanimity regarding the confusion, and then goes out for a test drive. The drive of the Begwa is great, and he decides that talk is the way to go this time. He agrees on a price with the dealership, and then at the last moment, feel becomes Begwa-phobic. He feels a clutching in his chest and does not go through with the deal. He leaves, embarrassed but confident due to the equanimity he has developed regarding his confusion. He uses the process again, discovers that feel is more clear than talk, so he makes the decision against the Begwa. After deeply immersing himself in good feel regarding his final decision, purchases the Aquus. He is happy with his car. It turns out to fit his situation even better than he had thought it would. But now talk won't let him go. His feel tells him to forget about the Begwa forever and ever, but talk keeps yapping away that there is value in it. He uses the algorithm again, and goes through several iterations of the definition, returning to the beginning to re-define again and again before realizing that the correct definitions in talk space are, "I am finished with the Begwa," and "I am not finished with the Begwa." He then goes through the process with that definition even though it seems crazy to not be finished with it. He suddenly remembers that his sister mentioned that she wanted a new car, also. How did he forget? But the Begwa reminded him. He is very grateful that he didn't get attached to certain definitions, but just took a pair at a time until the correct pair presented themselves. He calls her, and she immediately gets excited. Her car is old; it gets terrible gas mileage and she is ready for something smaller. She comes into town to test-drive the Begwa he found. Afterwards, she tells him that during the test drive, it started to make a strange sound. She brought it to a mechanic, and he found something wrong with the engine, a few thousand dollars wrong, in fact. She is shocked, and returns it to the dealer with no more than a sharp complaint. She asks him if he had heard that sound. He says that he didn't hear it, but something in him felt it. Again, he is astonished at the value of the equanimity he has cultivated regarding his subjective experience. They both agree that it is a good make, though, and she soon finds a better one, which she buys and is happy with. Wow, he thinks, due to careful and systematic decision-making, I got what I need, and my sister got what she wants. I did a great job. |
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