The process of life is effortless and natural when allowed to flow freely. Continuing the tree analogy, when we witness its growth we see no conscious effort. The more we learn about its growth the more aware we become of a multitude of forces acting upon the tree, but regardless of our knowledge or lack thereof, the tree simply grows. As the tree grows larger, it becomes less susceptible to outside influences. In its earlier life a frail animal could easily tample it lifeless, but years later it can withstand hundreds of blows from the sharpest axe before finally giving way and falling to the ground. Our Life Continuum works much the same way.
Regardless of our level of awareness of the forces acting in our lives, the Life Continuum is unassumingly shaping our personalities. If we are to take control of our lives in a profound and useful way, we must obviously take control of this natural process. It has already been mentioned that we typically gain full awareness of our condition somewhere in the area of our feelings or our actions. Few people have difficulty recognizing their actions for they exist in a tangible, observable realm. It is no coincidence that this height of awareness occurs at the center of the Life Continuum. As we move toward either end of the pattern we are likely to find it more difficult to fully recognize all the aspects of our personality.
By the time our actions have created our habits we may lose a good bit of our awareness as we begin to take the more obvious aspects of our personality for granted. This is illustrated by the common situation where one has a habit brought to their attention by a second party. There is often surprise or even denial. The fact is that the actions which formed the habit in the first place became routinely mundane and eventually fell entirely unnoticed. Such is certainly true with the remainer of the continuum as our character and destiny often are accepted without question, sometimes so routinely that we take away most if not all conscious awareness of them. How many times have you encountered an obnoxious person who had no awareness of his biligerance, or a truly giving person who couldn't understand why people praised him so? One of the greatest quests of modern man has been the seeking of his purpose in life. Without such he fears an inability to control his destiny. Why would something created so naturally be so hidden from our awareness? We seemingly "tune out," allowing the Life Continuum to do its thing as we sit back, an apparent bystander of our own lives.
If the end of the Life Continuum sees our persona slip from conscious awareness due to an ever present commonplace routine, what stands in the way of awareness at the other end of the Life Continuum? As usual, the other end of the pole reveals an opposing force. Unlike the overemphasis of data found toward the end of the continuum, in the beginning we fail to recognize our true self due to a lack of information. Our feelings and our thoughts are much less objective and therefore very subtle and at times difficult to identify or classify. Moving even farther into the unknown lies the force or forces which control our thoughts. It is sometimes impossible for us to conceptualize exactly what forces act upon us to create our thoughts and therefore our feelings. It is indeed difficult to uncover the source of this natural unfolding I am calling the Life Continuum.
Perhaps I can best describe the workings of the Life Continuum by sharing a bit of the thought process I went through while attempting to work out a few questions that came about. When I was introduced to the concept I thought it seemed very interesting, though some aspects of it were not all that obvious to me. I could easily see how our actions could form our habits. Carrying it out to the character and destiny levels wasn't really any more difficult. Looking the other direction, I began to notice the progression was as clear. I had no doubt that our feelings can and do control our actions. We often do what pleases us or feels good, even when we know that it is bad for us. It has always been clear to me that when our feelings and our rational minds collide, the feelings win the battle. This brought about my apparent conflict with the concept behind the continuum. If our feelings are more powerful than our thoughts, how do our thoughts control our Feelings?
I decided to put the theory to a test using an emotion I've had trouble with in past expreriences -- jealousy. Jealousy belongs in the feelings category, so I decided to start there. It is not coincidental that this is the same point at which I suggested many people are able to first begin awareness of the continuum. Taking the feeling of jealousy out to the end of the continuum was not difficult. I used the following situation as an example, first in a negative vein, and later in a positive light:
I considered a scenario where someone else received something of which I believed I was more deserving. This could make me feel jealousy toward that person and about the situation [feelings]. So I might begin to treat the person unkindly and/or make comments which would indicate that I had been slighted. I might even consider a devious attempt to wrestle the thing away from him; after all, it's supposed to be mine. I would then begin acting like a jealous person and would make it very clear to all those remotely related to the situation how deserving I am. Acting much like a spoiled child, I might eventually get what I want or through self-indulgence find something to take its place [actions]. After getting what I want I would be inclined to deem my actions successful. Since we typically repeat our successes, I would be likely to go through the same process again and again. Eventually I might act this way as a matter of habit, going around daily telling those around me all the things I deserve and working to see that I get them. I now have become someone who habitually goes around looking out for himself, attempting to assure that I get what I deserve out of each situation [character]. After this pattern has been established, my destiny will be clear. Though I might refuse to admit it to myself or others, my purpose is to obtain as much power and wealth as I can. I will suffer from the illusion that my worth is tied to what I have [destiny]. All this started because I felt a need to "get what I deserve." This implies that if I don't have things, I am therefore unworthy.
By the time I had played this scenario out from my feelings to my destiny, my original conflict was resolved. I easily saw how my thoughts controlled my feelings. My feelings where based entirely on the idea that I must receive something when I do something well. The idea of not being tangibly rewarded for my efforts was allowed to overshadow the inherent good in those actions.
As is often the case, solving one problem brought about another. What caused my feelings? When I looked at the total picture, it became clear to me that my feelings were based on my cultural programming. I have been taught throughout my life through a variety of lessons that happiness and fulfillment are based on what I receive. Our whole society revolves around power and money or other representative measurements of our worth. I then decided to remove these motivations from the story and try the continuum again. What if I did not feel any need to have others reward me? What if their opinion didn't determine how I felt about the job I was doing? In this case, simply doing the job well would be its own reward. I'd feel good about myself and wouldn't have to call on someone else to validate my feelings. Rather than jealousy, I'd feel fulfillment [feelings]. Since I did not equate the receipt of an external reward with the quality of my work, I'd not even think to assume my fellow man's receipt of the gift had anything to do with his performance either. I could be happy for him that he was fortunate enough to earn the gift. If I wanted it, I would be free to obtain one for myself. There would be no need to drag him down, rather I'd be likely to treat my gift as a means of being closer to him, gaining inspiration from him which would help me attain mine [actions]. Through supporting others and working for the fulfillment of my own desires, I would feel a great sense of accomplishment and inner reward. This feeling would be strong enough that I would wish to recreate on a regular basis the actions which promoted it. Soon I'd routinely praise others for what they are able to accomplish, giving and receiving encouragement every step of the way [habits]. I'd now be a person who cared for the well being of his fellow man, and who did not feel any need to compare my position with his [character]. My destiny would be apparent to all. I would be one who sought to encourage those around him, sharing himself fully [destiny].
Now that I had come to understand how my thoughts were capable of controlling my actions, the continuum fell into place for me. I could see how this pattern operated in its powerful yet subtle manner. Whether or not I become consciously involved in the process, the Life Continuum will work its magic. Understanding this unbound flow made me aware of a very essential point. The key to the journey we call life lies at the beginning of the Life Continuum; the source of the growth process.
When I consider the way the Life Continuum works, a computer term comes to mind; GIGO, or Garbage In - Garbage Out. Whatever enters into our continuum at its source will in some way effect the quality of our life. It therefore seems logical that if we are to take control of our lives fully, we must take control of this source. If our thoughts control our feelings and so on, what controls our thoughts?

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