The Signals of Life
Guidance At
Work A Brief Overview
Dr. Glenn R. Williston
Part II
The Signal System can
To avoid judgment and to keep things
simple, we must translate all signals as red, green, or yellow.
Red Lights mean (1) stop (2) danger (3)
discover! Red lights are meant to motivate, as well, toward
solution or resolution of the problem (challenge). Red lights in
traffic and on your path in life provides you with protection and
essential guidance through and around the mine fields of life
(mind fields of life!); away from everything that is not ideal
for growth, for self-understanding, for safety.
Red lights tell you that the potential
expenditure of time, energy, and/or money is too great for the
return on your investment (Cost / Reward Ratio). They steer you
to your best good and away from waste and danger.
Red also means "this does not meet your
needs." Something is not quite right about a person, place,
situation, issue, or time-frame for you. What might not meet your
needs, might meet someone else's. We see this Truth in the stock
market. For someone to sell a stock, someone else has to buy it:
two opposite needs, neither one good or bad, right or wrong.
There is no judgment, period.
A Master's first responsibility when confronted
with a red light is recognizing the warning. This means stopping
everything: all thoughts, all actions. S/he then evaluates by
asking self, "What's going on here?" Notice that the
question begins with "what" and not "why."
People full of fear and shame ask "why" frequently.
Red means that
The Master does not run red lights. S/he takes
notice and then looks for green. Where there is a red light,
there is always one or more green lights.
In situations where we think we need a green
light instead of a red one, we have the option (but not the
requirement) of trying to change the red light to green. This, of
course, does not mean that we deny, ignore, or run the red
light... or pretend it is green. It means, instead, that we
creatively find ways to
change some element of the situation, and/or
alter our perception, and/or patiently persevere, or just
surrender to the possibility of the time being off. Sometimes the
red light does, indeed, change to green (about 10% of the time
without any action and about 50% of the time with some action,
such as the ones outlined above).
Thus, creative action has an important place in
the Signal System, but willfulness, anger, frustration, control,
and resignation do not.
Green means go. We do not have to question green
lights, for our own personal path is lit with green lights. They
tell us that everything is proceeding according to our needs and
Cosmic Law. No danger exists. We can move ahead comfortably,
sensing and savoring each moment as we go. We just need to be
sure we are not rushing.
Yellow means PROCEED with EVEN MORE VIGILANCE
and caution than usual. Yellow lights change to red or green most
of the time. About 90% change to red. So patient and persistent
observation are necessary to detect the change when, and if, it
occurs.
Thus, red lights tell us what to avoid. Green
tell us where to go, and yellow tell us to continue moving ahead
with great caution.
Signals emerge from our own experiences in
conjunction with our needs. They are individual and speak to us
personally.
Everyone is an awakening Being at some stage of
awakening.
Everyone is a Messenger, Mirror, and/or Mentor
no matter what the stage of awakening.
Everyone flashes signals to you.
You are never responsible for getting others to
"see the light."
You are never responsible for slowing others
down or pushing them along at your pace.
Clarity of focus is necessary for savoring Now
Moment Focus and understanding signals.
Insecurities, personalization, co-dependency,
drugs, depression, and low self-esteem obscure signals.
Judgment is eliminated with the Signal System.
Due to the willfulness of the ego, one must be
careful not to deny red lights or pretend that they are green.
Everything costs time, energy, and/or money.
Signals specify how much of each to spend /expend and where.
Signals act as guidelines for investments in
full, stress-free living.
What appears to be true to the ego's limited
perceptions is actually false in a Master's reality.
At all times, you are always either part of the
solution or part of the problem.
We communicate personally with the Universe
(Mother Nature) through a Needs List, and the Universe
communicates back personally through signals.
In all new relationships, "interview"
the other person over a period of time, months to years, to
gather the signals.
Signals help us to know where to draw boundaries
(Life-Lines) for heathy, non-codependent relationships with
others.
Signals help us draw Life-Lines (boundaries) on
issues related to time, energy, money, health, safety, legalities
(man-made laws), ethics.
We tend to have very little difficulty
understanding green lights: it's the reds and yellows that are
more challenging to interpret, partially because we do not want
reds and yellows. We do not want to be told what to do and when
to do it. We do not want to be deterred from our willfulness,
expectations, and rushing.
We do not like being deterred from emotional
reasoning or jumping to conclusions.
We want instant gratification rather than
patient, persistent, observation.
Getting to the end result means everything in
Western Society and the journey is worth very little. This is
fictional thinking. Signals help us savor the journey and put the
destination in its proper place.
We must remember that we humans have existed on
Earth for 1,600 generations, but 1,300 of these were spent in
caves! What this means is that not only are we unsophisticated in
our spiritual understandings, but our identification with our
black or white, fight or flight nature is exceedingly strong.
Thus our natural (or unnatural) tendency is to
control and overreact when we fear we are losing control.
We want what we want when we want it!
We do not want to take the time to list needs,
research, wait, interview, consider, and surrender to our best
good. We are often too busy escaping pain and chasing instant
gratification. We think, in our ego-based arrogance that we know
what is best for us.
Yes, we do have an opportunity to express what
we think is best for us through our Needs List, and this takes
the power away from the ego.
Life is not based on fate and it should not be
based on fiction.
It is our partnership with the non-physical,
with the Universe and all the energies that comprise it, that
determines what is ultimately best for us. Signals tell us.
Guides (angles) speak to us through signals that
appear in other people, events, situations, places.
Accept intuition so that the signals do not have
to become louder, more dramatic, and more demanding on the
physical, emotional, and psychological levels.
From a limited physical perspective, it seems
that we are involved in one crisis after another, but we must
remember that we are, at all times challenging ourselves from a
higher level to become Master of our Fate, to take responsibility
for solving problems, making healthy choices, and ending the
fight/flight dominance of the ego.
Numerous lifetimes give us numerous
opportunities to meet the challenge, to grow and evolve.
The Chinese understood this when they created
the symbol for crisis: it is a combination of two symbols, danger
and opportunity.
Most often when we are operating out of the ego,
we are aggressive or passive-aggressive, blinding us to signals
Much time, energy, and money is wasted in
willful, worried states.
It is the active-creative state of mind that is
required for seeing signals, solving problems, and meeting the
challenges of change.
Signals can sometimes change, and we must be
observant and patient in the process.
Like Needs, Signals need to be collected and
listed in a special book, but unlike needs, they should be
divided into three categories: red, yellow, and green.
Although we like to pretend that we can remember
and juggle needs and signals in our minds and never take a pencil
in hand to jot them down, this illusion runs counter to our goal
of responsible adult living, and increases the likelihood of
playing victim/martyr roles. Why should we limit our incredible
potential with illusion when we have such a simple, powerful
system that works?
Obviously, not all signals are equally
important. Some are more significant than others. Thus, we can
say that signals come to us in various sizes or brightness. These
differences represent different degrees of importance. For
example, a big red light is obviously more significant than a
tiny red light.
Also, it is important to realize that
information comes to us in increasingly powerful ways to
"wake us up." First, we are granted intuition, through
our sixth sense, by which we are welcomed gently into an
understanding of issues around denial, danger, willfulness,
control, and needs.
Intuition can be experienced as a
"gut" feeling or a hunch or a vague feeling of
uneasiness or discomfort. (We have to be sure that it is not the
ego acting up!)
If we fail to perceive this most subtle level of
signal information, we experience, in turn, greater discomfort or
uneasiness. Small accidents, like a cut (paper or knife) or
tripping are examples of messages at this level. Next come bigger
accidents and their attending complications and pain. If the red
light is still not recognized and corrections made, illness comes
next; then comes cellular or psychological breakdown; then
disease or dysfunction; and finally, we face debilitation and/or
death through serious illness or accident.
To deal effectively with this reality and to
save ourselves much suffering, we must "see" the
earliest possible "tap on the shoulder." Many find that
ascribing points to each signal helps. Or we can literally draw
them in different sizes and colors.
For example, listing each signal with points
from 1 to 10 (ten is strongest), can help clarify a decision.
To get a feel of what a ten really feels like,
think of some recent event or situation during which you
experienced strong negative feelings, like anger, frustration,
hate, resentment, anxiety, humiliation, or boredom. You may have
to go back to childhood to find the most intense example.
Now understand that any person, place, or
situation that makes you feel this way is your personal model of
a big red light. It would be an example of a 'ten' red light. Any
other issue that feels the same way would also be a nine or ten.
The guideline is: the stronger the feelings, the
stronger the signal and the more serious it is.
Step back from time to time to review your list
with its points. When making a decision, add the total number of
points in the red column and compare it to the points in the
green column to see which comes out with a higher score. Your
decision then is obvious.
As with any new way of thinking and being, time,
practice, and patience are necessary. After a while, the system
will be obvious and easy. At first, signals seem elusive: do not
be discouraged. Instead put the emphasis on practice, practice,
practice, and be sure to write them down.
Many who try to use the signal system fail to
utilize it fully. It must not remain as an intellectual concept,
but applied in every situation, every day. This means that
signals must never be just a sense or a feeling, but very
specific written lists.
A client recently was invited to visit friends
in a nearby city. Judith had been very busy with work, and with a
mother who was seriously ill. So she was excited with the
prospects of a few days off to visit an old friend.
"Belle is really looking forward to my
visit," Judith said with real pleasure, "She's picking
me up at the airport and then we are going directly to the play
that Jacqueline, her daughter, is in. Then her husband and
another daughter will meet us at a restaurant for dinner. I will
be staying over for two nights at their place. That's about
it."
The plan seemed simple enough, but even everyday
events like travel plans can provide important information.
Judith's narration seemed unusually brief. She had consulted with
me by phone for many years, so I was used to her usual lengthy
details. She had, in fact, become quite adept at deciphering
signals and the hidden meaning in events.
I suggested that we look at the specific details
of the conversation to see if we could see some message. Judith
thought for a moment and then began to recount more details: It
turned out that Harry was still out of work with the flu, but
possibly feeling well enough to meet them all for dinner. The
girls had been sick with the same flu for two weeks but were
feeling better, and Belle was still fighting it off.
I asked her how she felt about exposing herself
to a virus that would still be in the house, on virtually all
surfaces, including the tight confines of their car. She sounded
puzzled, since she had not even thought of exposing herself to
illness.
She did say she had a heavy work schedule after
the visit, and that she had to fly home regularly to visit her
mother. She had not considered the impact of her own potential
illness on her plans.
Judith began to realize that she had missed some
red lights and that she needed to make creative changes in her
travel plans.
She decided to rent a car at the airport and
drive herself to the play and to the restaurant. She would get a
hotel for the two nights. She also realized that she would reduce
her exposure to illness by picnicking with her friends in the
nearby park and visiting a museum with them.
Excitement over future plans can blind us to
signals, as Judith discovered. Even "positive" emotions
like joy and excitement can produce denial to important
information.
Signals do not come to us first as a two-by-four
over the head; rather, they appear subtly at first and then with
increasing intensity. The strength and the urgency of all signals
can be placed on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 as the strongest
possible signal.
Examples of signal strength and urgency are seen
in the following red light levels:
Level 1: intuition, passing thought, slight
uncomfortableness
Level 2: car won't start; you cannot find your
keys; you get several red lights on the highway; your desk is
piled high with papers
Level 3: you are very tired and you are rushing
Level 4: you cut yourself, you trip on a step,
you break a glass, you ding the car
Level 5: a stranger tells you that you look sad;
your mate refuses to go with you
Level 6: you get a speeding ticket; the car
breaks down; you run out of gas; you feel angry and frustrated;
your lover drinks too much and you have asked him/her to quit
Level 7: you fall and break your arm; your mate
yells at you; you feel confused and very angry
Level 8: you catch the third cold this winter;
you are slapped by someone who supposedly loves you; you are
spoken to negatively by more than one person; you break a
special, valuable object
Level 9: you develop a disease or condition that
requires hospitalization and surgery; you are broke; you are
always exhausted; you work 15 hours a day and resent it; you feel
like things are eating away at you
Level 10: you are robbed, stabbed, shot at; take
a serious fall; declare bankruptcy; are diagnosed with a terminal
illness.
The above are just a few examples of the
hundreds of ways that red lights appear in our lives. Not every
issue progressed through every Level from Level one to Level 10.
Some signals jump from one to four to nine to ten, for example.
Signals always come to us intuitively first, so developing
intuition makes sense from this perspective if from no other.
In most situations, when red lights have
occurred, and we have acted accordingly, the universe presents
one or more additional red lights to confirm that the earlier red
lights were accurate and that our recognition of danger is
appropriate. I call these added red lights, after the fact,
confirmational red lights. Since, "there is nothing either
good or bad, but thinking makes it so," (Hamlet), we can be
unsure sometimes, especially with little experience in
recognizing and interpreting signals, we need to know that our
decisions are correct. The confirmational red light gives us this
added assurance.
Effective event interpretation and subsequent
action leads us down the path of increasing health and
empowerment. It does not eliminate all tragedies in our lives,
but it does help us prevent many and handle the rest more
effectively.
Martin Buber said, "All suffering prepares
the soul for vision." But suffering is unnecessary if we are
willing to look -- to see -- the signals and the messages that
are designed to bring us out of victim role and into victory.
Too much suffering is the result of not seeing.
The Sufis state the same truth another way:
"So many die before they awaken."
Copyright © Dr.
Glenn Williston 1985
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