"It"

By Bill Cottringer

    Our report card in work, relationships, play or anything in life measures one thing—the amount of “it” that we have in our head, hearts and hands and what we do with our share of “it” to help others have more. The more of “it” we have the better, and of course the less, the worse. What is “it?” And what is the best way to get “it?” Unfortunately we can’t even come to a common agreement as to what “it” is, let alone how to get “it.” There are as many definitions of “it” and ways to get “it” as there are people on the planet, plus a few terabytes worth of  others.

     So how do we even know if we have “it” or not? Fortunately other people seem to know before we do and will gladly tell us, and we certainly know very well ourselves when we don’t have enough of “it,” or aren’t using the right ways to get more of “it.” These things you just know.

     “It” is very mysterious because “it” is the common objective we all pursue with varying methods, efforts and results; the really odd thing about “it” is “it” is the results we get from doing what we need to do to get those results. Now this is downright dizzy, so no wonder why so many people don’t know what “it” is or how to go about getting “it.”  Probably too much thinking and not enough doing.

     So what do most of us do in the meantime? Try anyway we can, at least until we experience not having enough of “it” to be inspired to question our own approach to how unclearly we have defined “it” and how we haven’t kept track of what choices we made that either resulted in getting “it” or leaving us empty-handed. And of course we are not at all interested in studying this sequence of events in other people or sharing our experiences with them.

     From my experience, let me define “it” and offer a simple prescription for getting “it.”

“It” = What we all want and pursue; our common objective or desired “reward” for doing what we can do to get “it.”  We commonly call it happiness, peace of mind, meaning, satisfaction, contentment, wealth, health, meaning, enlightenment, or wisdom or lump all these things under the common heading of “success” in making a difference in helping the world to be a better place for us and others. Phew, that is a mouthful!

     At any rate, most of us think we start out without a book of instructions for getting “it.” But that is because the book is a living one, the pages of which are being written each moment. That way it is actually easier to keep up with—all you have to notice is the relationship between choosing to think, feel or act this or that way and the results each choice brings. The smart thing is to continue making the choices and doing the things that get the results you want and stop doing all the rest.

    Too simple of a solution you say? You are right, because most of our thinking that makes these choices and gets these results is unconscious. So really to get more of “it” you have to consciously make one very important choice—to be open to learning how to translate all this unconscious stuff into your conscious awareness, so you can know what you are thinking and doing to get either set of results, positive or negative. That is the first step in realizing progress at making the right choices to get more of “it.” 

     Soon not making wrong choices that keep you from getting “it” becomes a good habit. The empty space actually invites more of “it” into your life. See, there is a happy ending to this all. And it’s really not that difficult. When you know you8 don’t have enough of “it,” slow down and be still and quiet. Look and listen to what you aren’t doing to get more of “it” and do “it.”

Bill is busy writing about “it” to get more of “it.” Of course he has a real job running a security company to supplement his supply. He can be contacted at 425.454.5011 or bcottringer@pssp.net with comments or questions about “it.”  “it” is fascinating.