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Every experience we have is processed through a filter. This filter is our perception about ourselves, others, and the world around us. Most of the time, these perceptions do not even belong to us, but we have passively accepted them without much thought.
What are your perceptions about the world? What is your perception about your children? How do you react if you feel that something is unfair?
Whatever you believe, often unconsciously, will continually show up in your life as experiences that will play out those beliefs on a conscious level to affirm those belief systems. If you unconsciously believe that life is a struggle or that you don’t deserve anything good, you can imagine how that will go. It might seem like everyone is out to get you or you may be driven to continual self-sabotage without fully understanding the reasons for your behavior. If you believe that “x,y,z” runs in your family and you don’t have any control over it, chances are good that you will manifest it in your life.
Can you imagine, for a moment, how these subconscious beliefs are passed from generation to generation? Can you imagine that these belief patterns are passed on, not only verbally, but even before birth as thoughts, feelings, and fears?
“I am am not enough”
“I always have to struggle”
“I am unlovable”
“The world is not safe for me”
This list of life perceptions that are not serving your greater good can go on and on. Experiences get internalized and passed on as perceptions throughout a family’s lineage. Some of these perceptions are so widespread that they have become universal stories we tell ourselves. A 2017 study* on the transgenerational transmission of environmental information found that environmental factors affected genetic expression of offspring for
at least 14 generations. Fourteen!
This is a field of study called epigenetics. It’s been an amazing discovery which carries great weight. It might even feel daunting. Instead of allowing it to fill us with a sense of overwhelm, maybe even guilt, it should give us great hope. One of the greatest environmental influences we can have over ourselves and subsequent generations is found in our mind through the stories we tell and the lens through which we view all experiences. If we can reconnect to our innate intelligence and resilience, we can begin to view every challenge as an opportunity for growth. Imagine the impact this will have on our lives and the lives of future generations. It’s extraordinary!
We are not victims, no matter what we have been told or taken on. We can steer the ship of perception out of rocky harbors into calm and open seas and rediscover the wealth of choices available to us. We can reconnect to everything good and serving that we already possess and chart the course for abundance in all areas. Bonus: Our children can do this too!
Are you ready to remember?
“Perception is awareness shaped by belief. Beliefs “control” perception. Rewrite beliefs and you rewire perception. Rewrite perception and you rewrite genes and behavior…I am free to change how I respond to the world, so as I change the way I see the world I change my genetic expression. We are not victims of our genes. We are masters of our genetics.”
– Bruce Lipton, Ph.D, cellular biologist
(*Transgenerational transmission of environmental information in C. elegans
Science 21 Apr 2017:
Vol. 356, Issue 6335, pp. 320-323
DOI: 10.1126/science.aah6412)