This quote is from the second in the Star Wars series, when Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and C-3P0 escape from an Empire assault. The damaged Millennium Falcon cannot make the jump to lightspeed to evade their pursuers. Han Solo decides to hide out in an asteroid field, but the nervous robot, C-3P0, informs him that the odds are against him if he were to make the attempt. This is when Han delivers the quote, “Don’t ever tell me the odds!”
There is a certain wisdom in his thinking. When applied to sports, what does it do to the psyche and morale when a struggling team faces an undefeated team? If we believe our dreams are impossible to achieve, the tendency is to play it safe. With the current reality of COVID-19 sweeping the globe, along with the statistics telling us the odds are against us, how do we react?
The energy of the year influences the setting of goals and staying focused on those goals. This can challenge, especially when the goalpost keeps moving (tee hee)! People tend to give up when facing impossible odds, but now we need more than luck. We need skills. We need to trust our gut. We need to remain calm and centered. We don’t need more fear! I have identified many needs, which means it’s time for a whisper on being told the odds:
Another person, group, or organization often expresses their truth, but that does not mean it’s your reality. Many factors can be applied to a global pandemic. Conditions under which a person lives are not always represented by the same factors. It’s unnecessary to deny statistics to accept reality. During times like this, it’s important to maintain personal authority.
When the ego is triggered by some direct threat related to survival, a core instinct becomes part of the overall reaction. If that reaction is overly influenced by fear, mental distortions are perpetuated by the mind. During times of stress, humans identify more with the mind than the body. The mind takes over because of the fragility of human life and a perceived need to create strategies for a successful survival. Mental residue of past suffering evokes the need to validate judgments, often at the expense of making others wrong.
What is occurring with individual personalities and behaviors is a type of positioning, which can involve mental distortions. Purchasing more than one needs is a fear-based reaction to information that often contains an influence by numerical odds. Every perceived threat becomes part of a decision-making mechanism connected to some prior experience engrained in the mental residue of human consciousness.
The survival mechanism can easily lead to false judgments and assumptions, some of which can be irrational or inappropriate. An ability to stop the mind and tune in to the heart is a skill and the best strategy during times of stress. Your inner authority knows the truth, which can help you maintain distance from self-deception. The Earth Realm is designed to test your level of growth during times of susceptibility to group thinking, panic, or fear. Spiritual growth is remembrance. If you can dream it, you can create it. Don’t let others tell you the odds or what they see as impossible, lest you fall prey to mental distortions.
Bring joy, ease suffering and create beauty, then dance like you mean it!
Blessings, Russell
“Against all odds, a seed rises from darkness and beautifies the universe.”
Matshona Dhliwayo
