Chapter 2. Nothing is No Problem. I Have a Problem with Something. Now What?

Nothing is No Problem.
I Have a Problem with Something.  Now What?

(Note -- before reading this, you may want to read the intro to this series)

If the previous chapter left you confused about Nothing, it is suggested that you re-read it.  Moving forward with a misunderstanding of Nothing will likely lead to additional confusion and potential conflict.

This chapter leads to the first exercise that demonstrates some of the peculiar properties of Nothing.  With an understanding of these properties, we will be able to be more effective in our dealings when we are confronted with Nothing.

Many readers are now thinking, "Confronted with Nothing?  What does that mean?  How can a person be confronted with Nothing?"

In actuality, we are confronted with Nothing quite often, without realizing it.  A problem presents itself that immediately and automatically becomes categorized in our minds as a "problem with X".  We then try to solve the problem with X.  Our behaviors begin to be dictated by the belief there is a flaw in X.  Even our expectations of X's future performance begin to be shaped by the perceived problem with X.  If "X" is an individual, they may even notice our changing behaviors and expectations, and as a result, their own behaviors and expectations of you may become altered.  All this can lead to even more things being categorized in our minds as "problems."

That original mental miscategorization is sort of like turning to the user's manual for your VCR to troubleshoot a problem with your television set.  You may come up with a solution, such as making sure the device is plugged in to a working power source, but more often there will be no actual solution to the issue, or the potential solutions suggested may create additional problems.

Properly recognizing a problem as being a problem with Nothing is essential then to begin to effectively address the problem, and reach the desired outcome.  In order to do this, we must first be able to determine where in the process Nothing was miscategorized as Something.

Ultimately, "Problems" arise from the presence of unfulfilled expectations.  These could be conscious expectations, or unconscious ones.  To illustrate this, imagine that expectations are like mental containers waiting to be filled with specific results.  When the results are first perceived, they get automatically filed into the awaiting vessels.  Problems become evident when a result doesn't match the expectation and it gets filed in a new mental container created to hold the actual result.  This leaves the container for the expectation unfulfilled.  The mental vessel that was created to hold the expected result has Nothing in it.  Even if the expected result might have partially fulfilled the expectation, the expectation is still not fulfilled.  There is no middle ground.  Expectations are either fulfilled or not.

This unconscious mental dynamic invariably leaves us with a vast collection of unfulfilled expectations over the course of our lifetimes.  Ironically we become bogged down by the cumulative effect of Nothing.

How then do we rid ourselves of this effect?  If we aren't consciously aware of our unfulfilled expectations how can we consciously alter the undesirable outcomes they have on our behaviors and on our future expectations?

Simply put, we must transform the very nature of Nothing.

Many of you are now thinking something like, "Wait a minute!  I just figured out what you meant by Nothing.  Now we need to change it?"

Yes. 

And no. 

Earlier in this chapter, we mentioned "peculiar properties of Nothing."  In the points to consider at the end of Chapter 1, we suggested that "Nothing is neither fixed nor changeable."

We are not going to change Nothing.  Aside from that sentence sounding like poor grammar, trying to change Nothing would fly in the face of the suggestion above.

What we can change is our relationship to Nothing.  How we relate to Nothing, and all the subconscious emotional baggage we bring to that relationship is what needs to be changed.  Not merely changed like the way we change appearances with clothing, jewelry, hairstyle or body art.  What is needed is a more transformative change like that of an inchworm into a butterfly.

Since we have already distinguished Nothing as a personal, conceptual construct created in human thought, we can see that by altering the way we think about Nothing will have the effect of changing the very nature of Nothing.

When you feel you are ready to attempt to transform the very nature of Nothing, proceed to Exercise 1.