A Lighthouse for Personal Growth

The Powers

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We don’t presume to know anything, nor do we wish to tell people how they should live their own lives.

We have no credentials in philosophy or psychology. We graduated universities with teaching degrees, and we want to be transparent and maintain a sense of humility while we share our attempts to understand life. We share what we found with you because we feel compelled to spread awareness and help where we may.

What follows is a presentation of a cultivated metaphor in the form of a cascading outline. It contains carefully chosen terms used to describe a person who we believe has come to a sharp understanding of the self, life, and whatever may come in the afterlife.

Cascading Outline

Powers

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If the powers are a human body, then love is the body itself and the reality in which it lives.

Power of Instinct

The is a celebration of the subjective self with a focus on survival. Survival instinct is meant to protect our safety from all manners of harm. The self, whether the body or mind, is the only thing one knows to be real.

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We don’t need to learn how to use the power of instinct, but we can learn to use it better.

Self-aware

Being self-aware is simple, but it is complex. It’s not only recognizing that one is alive. It also includes understanding who the self is from the closest and farthest perspective, how it prefers to operate, and what it wants to do. It can take a lifetime to understand the self to this degree.

Qualities of being self-aware:

  1. Self-identity: This quality recognizes the Learner’s individuality. There may be many similar people, but everything about the Learner is special: their thoughts, their beliefs, their purposes in life, and more. They cannot be replaced entirely. You matter.
  2. Perspective: It’s necessary to know that not only is the self an individual but that reality also consists of many other individuals living together. The Learner is but one of these with their own view. While that view is special, it’s also quite limited. You matter, but you are not alone on the ocean.
  3. Healthy: A person mustn’t neglect their body. Despite a few health problems, a Learner is physically active and avoids unhealthy activities, sleep behaviors, and diets. One doesn’t have to maintain a strict exercise routine and look like a muscleman, but it is important to have the discipline to maintain a body that is ready not only to move when needed, but think sharply.
  4. Self-love: Being true to oneself is the ultimate sign of love for the self. Negativity has its place, but a person should be able to treat themselves with gentle fairness and painful truths with dignity. Self-love is also about appreciating one’s own value, whether it’s to the world or to themselves. The self has many things to give and teach the world.
  5. Survival Needs: A Learner understands what they need to continue living in the world and that these are very few: food, water, air, shelter, sleep, exercise, safety, and solitude. Without a general sense of safety, it is very difficult for a person to work on personal issues and improvement because they are in danger. Further, being alone is essential to mental health. Although one doesn’t need education nor socialization to survive, they certainly help. No matter the situation, the Learner does not confuse these needs with wants and desires.
  6. Human Nature: The spirit of the human wants to be expressed in whatever way it chooses. In addition to survival needs, the Learner needs to be human in both nature and spirit. Human nature is to know what one is and what one is not, what one must to do to experience life in their chosen ways. The human spirit is born to be free, and it will seek freedom out when it’s barred, whether that is in the form of external or personal oppression.
  7. Self-respect: A Learner knows the boundaries they must set for themselves to live in dignity. They know what they prefer and what they abhor. They know what keeps their dignity intact and what soils it. A person who possesses self-respect knows how to behave toward themselves, whether it is being honest or maintaining personal values despite how difficult or painful. Respect begins here in everyone. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking; honor is doing the right thing in public.
  8. Limitation: A person in survival mode certainly knows what they can and can’t do. Sometimes, ability can be the thin line between life or death. A Learner knows their limitations but does not begrudge them. They are a necessary tool used to derive meaning from experience. While many limitations are imposed upon everything by the rules of reality, many people unknowingly impose false limitations upon themselves via learned helplessness or conditioning. It can be fun to try to remove some where we can.
  9. Choice Control: We must release the idea of being in control. A person controls nothing in reality. It detracts from the truth to think otherwise. The story is different when we think of our personal reality, what goes on in our own minds. We can control the choices we make. Our choices are met with reality’s consequences, which we can’t avoid. However, if we apply careful consideration to our choices, we can manage the risks well. Regardless of one’s best efforts, though, the Learner understands the consequences are determined by nature. With practice, we can choose the emotions we feel when reality doesn’t match the personal reality. Choosing how to react to those lessons of consequence can be one of the most interesting and rewarding puzzles.
  10. Physical Resilience: This is the humility that comes from being beaten down. A person having experienced physical conflict, whether it is fighting, addictions, being poor, living in survival mode, or else, knows a lot about being physically humble. This person understands what it’s like to have nothing, to experience physical unfairness, fight to survive against threat, need help when injured, and/or to have been close to death. As a result, they gain a closer understanding of gratitude for what they have, who is around them, and who/what they want to protect. It’s not just the idea of being safe, which is covered in the Survival Needs, but it’s the knowledge, wisdom, and gratefulness for having had to crawl up from nothing. A Learner knows how helpful it is to appreciate the piece of bread in their stomach.

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Self-sufficient

A self-sufficient person can depend on themselves for most of their needs and worries. They are both a source of comfort and motivation available at all times. A Learner isn’t always strong because they are still human, but their traits help them endure life’s intense pressures even through solitude.

  1. Reality Separation: A Learner knows the difference between their personal reality and the shared reality with everything else. What they believe to be real is secondary what is real. They know fantasy from fiction, belief from reality, and opinion from fact. They hold on to their inner reality, walk through the shared reality, and are resilient enough in both to endure damage from both. A Learner is capable of holding on to their inner truths without forcing others to believe in and participate with them.
  2. Unshakeable Unloneliness: A person who is self-sufficient can be alone without anxious fear. It may be that they wish they weren’t alone, but they are not broken in isolation. Being alone is OK; being with others is OK. Solitude is needed in order to grow. In being alone, a person can find the quiet power within themselves. That is the same power that helps them be alone because it helps them resolve negative emotions, critically think to solve problems, assess risks, and make goals.
  3. Courage to Try: Though the world seems set to enjoy a person’s failed efforts, it doesn’t stop the Learner from being too afraid to try. It might not be the right time, the setting may not be perfect, and the team may not be ready, but launch anyway. A ship cannot see where the horizon leads by resting in the harbor with its sails furled, but it can rot away as it’s spoiled by wasted time. This is the motivation that propels the self into the wild for the hope that something is actively found, not for something that is passively washed up on the shore.
  4. Realistic Confidence: A person who recognizes self-sufficiency understands the urgency of survival instinctively. A Learner no longer needs validation, affirmation, reassurance, praise, or even recognition for being themselves. Neither do they compare themselves to others and feel self-pity in the wake of it. They understand that everyone has their own background and personal problems, they are confident in carrying their own. They know the odds of survival and maintaining mental health are against them, but they move forward. This is the inner strength that keeps a person from giving up on life. If the courage to try is symbolized by the motivation behind a sailing ship, confidence is the keel of the boat keeping it from tipping over and sinking.
  5. Self-control: Discipline serves a critical role in a person’s life. It takes a great deal of mental strength to resist the temptations of instant gratification these days. Being told “no” by one’s parents is the foundation to this trait. Without this, a person may not be able to exercise a filter against using violence to solve problems. It helps to be able to see delayed gratification as a higher reward. It’s the idea of “work hard now, get the reward later” as opposed to “get the reward now, work later”. It’s the ability to compose oneself during intense emotional stress.
  6. Diligence: A person can take the the small things for granted, mistakenly forgetting that the small things in life actually matter most. A Learner finishes a project not by doing the minimal effort but after applying their full effort, and doing so with integrity. Importantly, a Learner understands that failing is just what comes before success. It is a necessary part of improvement. The effort to survive and improve might not need to be a struggle, but can be (and most often is) in this reality. Failure is strength. How is this different than the courage to try? This is the monitoring effort of the trying. It’s the difference between the captain getting on the ship at all (Courage to Try) and adjusting the rudders to steady the ship’s sailing course.
  7. Pride, Not Hubris: Many individuals deny themselves opportunities because of the false pride of arrogance, also known as hubris. People sometimes forget to realize that everyone has blind spots in which rest neglected issues. Pride in work that is actually done by oneself is not the issue, but the hubris of arrogance in believing that one is beyond things that may actually improve their lives. A Learner realizes that living in denial that one is beyond reproach or further education can be amazingly destructive for one’s potential growth. This also symbolizes the ability to accept criticism and strong advice without becoming offended or defensive. Imagine a hull that is full of holes and the ship is taking on water. A captain proud of his responsibilities admits having allowed the hull to be damaged and starts to bail the water out with a bucket himself. A captain with hubris, however, refuses to acknowledge the mistakes that led to the damaged hull. He does nothing himself to start bailing the water to save his ship and crew. When someone is recognized for their helpful expertise, the feeling of being knowledgeable can balloons into related subjects, giving a false pride, wisdom, or knowledge where it doesn’t exist. The same could happen when someone defers to oneself. The Learner sees these and guards against them.

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Power of Emotion

This power consists of the reactions to reality and the consequences it gives us. When our inner reality doesn’t match the shared reality, our expectations are damaged because we didn’t get what we wanted. Reality is a neutral teacher: it does not favor us, nor does it despise us. However, it retains nearly full control of what happens to us.

Emotions are our method to cope with what we can’t control in reality. A Learner knows this, and instead of living in despair in a world full of limitations, they manipulate the only thing they can control: their choices.

Emotions are challenging, and we don’t need to learn how to feel them. Instead, we need to learn how to understand them, how to appreciate the difficult lessons they teach, and how to let go of them when we accept their lessons.

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Emotions want to be acknowledged, loved, and they want their freedom. When we ignore or hide them, we get sick mentally and physically.

Emotionally-aware

This is when a person becomes aware of their emotions in the immediate moment they are being felt. When emotion rises, a Learner is first able to recognize their emotional state regardless of the situation or their personal connection to the subject matter. Realizing emotions are present is the first step toward reconciliation of both feelings and relationships.

What we feel to be true is different than what is true in reality. The separation is very clear to a Learner. Despite this, one must operate within the boundaries of one’s self-awareness and -respect. The existence of one’s self cannot be denied to exist, and self-expression should not be oppressed in any circumstance–literally any circumstance at all.

Qualities of being emotionally-aware:

  1. The Pause: This is when the person takes that breath which separates them from their emotions and the moment. It is the soulful sidestep that shoots them into the Power of the Witness so that they may be aware of what is really happening.
  2. Emotional Intelligence: This is the understanding of what emotions are, what they do and need, how they impact a person, and how to process them. It’s the understanding that emotions are natural reactions to the mismatch between reality and one’s personal reality. A Learner understands that emotions are teachers, not threats. Hiding or suppressing them is harmful mentally and physically, so emotions seek to be felt, understood, and expressed. Other people’s emotions can also be understood vicariously through empathy. By putting oneself in other people’s place, one changes the frame of reference. Their feelings become the observer’s feelings. In the end, a Learner can say, “I understand,” and they truly do.
  3. Emotional Management: This means that a person has the ability to manage their own emotions without assistance and without relying on others for validation or support. It’s the knowledge that one’s own emotions should never impact others because personal problems are managed by the self. Regardless of fault or blame, a Learner understands that dumping negative emotions on innocent people is never an option. It may be that a person with this quality may still seek guidance with a particularly troublesome emotion. This does not mean that a person should only keep emotions to themselves. Emotions are meant to be expressed, but do so wisely and with courtesy to others.
  4. Integration: This is the absorption and application of life lessons learned from processed emotions. It bridges insight from the lesson and living the lesson. When a person receives new information, the mind goes into a state of imbalance because reality doesn’t match their personal reality. This is a confusing, uncomfortable feeling, and it may take a person time to accommodate the lesson. A Learner understands that integration is vital to growth because ignoring the truths of reality ends disastrously. In this moment, patience and resilience are vital helpers.
  5. Accountability: This is the sense of being responsible for one’s actions, rightfully taking the blame, and expressing their apologies. This is the sense to do what is right by their own set of morals and the set of those they choose to be with. On the other side, they must also recognize where accountability that is not theirs should go. Things beyond one’s control (there are a lot!) should not be accepted as one’s own fault. The wisdom to separate those is important.
  6. Emotional Resilience This is the person’s ability to bounce out of negative mental states, societal unfairness, or social drama. Downward spirals of emotional pain can turn into a dangerous whirlpool of recurring cycles, but the Learner defends themselves with the help of their support group and their personal power. Not only this, but a person with this ability boosts themselves into a positive mindset, like a sudden windfall that pushes the their ship away from the shoal.
  7. Genuine Authenticity: A person confident in themselves is able know who they are. The Learner has explored the depths of their personality. Maybe they don’t know every aspect of themselves, but they understand the gist. The Learner is able to be themselves in the face of adversarial criticism, and they are able to sleep well at night. They don’t care about what others think of them or how they look, and they aren’t seeking to impress anyone. The ability to live without lying to oneself where one’s internal manifesto and external actions are in harmony with the laws of nature.
  8. Emotional Maturity: This is the ability to understand that complaining doesn’t help, emotional blackmail is counterintuitive, and other forms of immaturity are likely more caustic than healing. It’s the knowing that truth will prevail in the end, and by being true to oneself, maturity is an eventuality.
  9. Stoic Calmness: This is the ability for a person to manage their emotion. It’s not that they are emotionally flat, but they are emotionally prepared. Since they understand they cannot control reality, there will be times when events occur that are or are not favorable. There’s a deep appreciation for either, and in the face of them, there is a deep feeling, but a calm surface. It’s when the captain sails on a glassy, calm water surface. He throws the heavy anchor, but instead of a huge splash, there’s hardly any reaction, yet the anchor sinks deep. Thus, any emotionally turbulent event does have a meaningful, even savory, impact for a Learner: it just doesn’t show much.

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Self-reflective

This represents a person’s ability to check themselves and assess their life with honesty and humility over hubris and denial.

Qualities of being self-reflective:

  1. Emotional Responsibility: This quality is about managing relationships with other people. A person is able to understand when they are not feeling their best emotionally. As a result, they monitor how they treat others. They see it as their task to manage their emotions first. A Learner understands it’s OK to seek help when the emotions are too confusing, and they find help through their support system of family, friends, and professionals. Most importantly, a person who is emotionally responsible knows that hiding, suppressing, or not expressing emotions is harmful to the self and others around them. A Learner doesn’t hide, but they face emotions not as scary monsters, but educational peers.
  2. The Whole Self: A Learner doesn’t believe in the idea that they are broken somehow, that they must attach themselves to people or things, that some positive or negative force is affecting them, or that someone else completes them as a person. They are a whole person already, and while there are many blessings that come with a complementary companion, they are not an essential part of the self. This balloons into a broader aspect: faith in humanity. Every person is worth their true effort to improve. A Learner sees people as generally good, trustworthy, and that they don’t need saving, just a little guidance. No one is broken; everyone is whole, and they’re exactly where they need to be.
  3. Listen to Silence: This is the ability to sit alone and without distractions, ask yourself leading questions, and to listen to the answers you tell yourself. Every person has the ability to sit in solitude and go inward. This means that you give yourself an interview to learn more about yourself.
  4. Belief Anchor: A person’s belief system allows or disallows things to affect them. For instance, if a person is afraid of public speaking, it could be for a number of reasons. Most likely is the lack of practice, but some people may believe they can’t do it because it’s an irrational fear. They allow or give permission to this fear to affect them. They see that something can affect them, which is an awareness that would fit in the Witness. They go further to believe that something is actively affecting them, thus giving power to belief. It’s like a captain who wants to launch his ship and go sailing, but he sees a storm that he believes is coming for him specifically. He chooses to stay on land! A Learner with a belief anchor says, “I see that storm that might be a problem for me, but I choose to sail anyway.” It’s a way to speak one’s power and make it be the winner. Who said perception is reality? Maybe it should be belief begets bounty!
  5. Active Listener: A person who jumps to conclusions, makes glaring assumptions, and, knowingly or unknowingly, ignores clarification is not listening. They could be confident and well-meaning or purposely harmful. It’s as though another captain is sailing their ship, but they are still standing at the helm! They might be filling in the unknown blanks of the shared reality with their insecurities from their personal reality. Whether it’s from conditioned behavior, learned helplessness, or unexamined beliefs, their behavior can quickly deteriorate a situation. A Learner approaches every person with ears intent on listening, clarifying when they encounter the slightest confusion.
  6. Mentally Healthy: This goes hand-in-hand with emotional intelligence. A person cannot expect to function well in the world when they have mental crises caused by avoiding painful emotions. There are real mental health problems that may or may not affect a person’s ability to be a Learner. For instance, it may be difficult for a person without brain activity to think about their existence. A Learner regularly takes a self-administered diagnostic checkup on their mental health. They process their emotions appropriately. An optimal mental ability can only help a person find their place in reality.
  7. Moral Integrity: The origin of morality is a question that many philosophers debate: do morals come from gods, the self, or culture? Whatever the answer, what is morally good or bad is clearly up to the person. A Learner could say that morally bad would be anything that one, in their healthiest states, wouldn’t want done for/to themselves. It’s what moves as many people possible toward the ultimate good of universal love. It’s when a captain says, “If I were at my strongest, clearest, and being true to myself, is this the wind that I want filling my sails?” A person must also use their social awareness, objectivity, and systemic understanding to know that everyone is different. Things they wouldn’t mind happening, others might resist, so whatever one decides as morally good or bad should have a diffused edge, not a solid, sudden cut off.
  8. Intuitive: Everyone has an intuition, which is a gift from one’s deepest connection to this reality and all others that (probably) exist. Intuition is the ability to interpret messages from imagination. A Learner understands that imagination is part of intuition; it tells us that other things might be possible in this reality because it thinks outside of it. It dreams up unicorns and dragons, but also unique, practical ideas that may help us in predicaments. First, through imagination, we receive messages that use a personal dictionary of symbols. Next, using emotional feelings, we intuit the meaning of the message. Finally, using reason, we pass the decoded message to our logical mind to figure out the steps of achieving the goal in this reality. Imagination message > Intuition translation > Reason delivery > Logical processing! Intuition is used to guide a person toward their preferences and away from their aversions.

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#1 Quote

Perception is reality.

— Lee Atwater


Socially-aware

It’s important to react to people because we live together. One might be busy, but at least it is fair to respond to someone with kindness when they make an attempt to be social. One may never know if that person they ignored will become important to them later. In a similar sense, it isn’t at all fair to release a bad day of emotions on someone else. A person with social-awareness isn’t awkward with others or unkind, but they are friendly, kind, and helpful, regardless of their current emotional state.

Qualities of being socially-aware:

  1. Social Tolerance: The world is filled with people; some of them are likable, and some are not. Regardless, a Learner is able to be near anyone and do so with respect. There isn’t a social discrimination or exclusion present in appropriate situations. Everyone has their own way to live, and the Learner is able to live within diversity regardless of their own preference. The world is big enough to share.
  2. Human, not Robotic: Be a human in the world, not a robotic appliance. Upon being greeted, a Learner smiles, responds kindly, and shares in the humor of existence. A person nowadays may think it’s odd to talk to a passing stranger because of some danger or simply for the number of people around us. The state of a Learner is generally stable enough to allow a fresh perspective where every day is a gift and every person is a reflection of them. Therefore, how can we not connect and notice our similarities first rather than our differences?
  3. Social Balance: The world is filled with people seeking to press their advantage over others. A Learner helps the innocent when they are weak because of what they feel to be morally right for the sake of one’s improvement. They help the guilty when they are overwhelmed by righteousness in excess. For instance, in the face of a bully, a Learner will help the victim. On the other hand, they will protect a known thief against a mob of workers who seek more than a fair punishment.
  4. Sincerity: This is not only the belief in and doing the morally right thing and that people who really seek help are worth the trouble. It’s also meaning it with a full and good heart. People can easily see through faked emotions, and changing oneself to fit situations or other people is a betrayal of the self. People can tell when one is being disingenuous, and it costs nothing to be one’s true self. A Learner knows that being sincere is wise because people will give their respect more readily. One should do things because it makes them feel wholesome, not because of how good one looks doing them.
  5. Civic Awareness: This is the ability to be an active and good citizen in one’s city. This means that one behaves appropriately with kind courtesy and polite manners by following rules and laws. One isn’t loud, cleans after oneself and pets, doesn’t litter, uses crosswalks and only when it’s safe to walk, takes a caring pride in cleanliness, and more. Trashing the space in which one lives is counterintuitive to a healthy lifestyle. It would be as though one’s appearance is well groomed, but a pile trash surrounds their house. A Learner understands that respect is not only for people, but the civic and natural environments in which they live.

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The Power of Logic

Although this is our first introduction to structured thinking, it is not the only power in which thinking occurs. In this power, we begin to understand the mind and how it interacts with reality. However, we cannot understand logical thinking without first understanding reasoning.

Reason is the bridge that connects intuition (which is flexible, unstructured thinking) to logic (sequential, structured). It’s how feelings move into contemplation and decision, how a guess becomes a hypothesis. Everyone has intuition, and everyone can reason, but fewer people learn how to use logic.

Logic is the ability to assess reality, reference background knowledge (including instinct, emotions, personal history and education), and think clearly to solve problems reduce risks. Of the three powers we’ve discussed, logic is the only one we have to learn how to use because logic is a skill. A person doesn’t instinctively know how to use logic to its fullest potential because it takes practice.

Logic, in modernity, exists in two different categories: formal and informal logic. Informal logic is the critical-thinking skills of everyday life. Formal logic is the kind of “professional” logic used in academic situations, such as psychology and philosophy. By itself, logic is the type of thinking that deals with facts and truth.

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Intuition is the insight into a higher perspective; logic is the step-by-step application of that insight.

Intellectually-humble

This is critical to any person who attempts to understand anything: they know nothing. This comes from the idea that we are all involved in a living experiment, and because of that, the true meaning of the experiment of life and all things in it is unknowable. The experiment involves everything in the universe, even humans, and we don’t have the ability to know everything. Knowing something for certain can never (probably) happen, so we live life leaving room for our temporary answers to be updated with more accurate truths.

Qualities of being intellectually-humble:

  1. Asymptotic Truth: Truth reveals itself in pieces, which lead to a bigger truth. However, the whole truth will never be revealed. It’s like the captain’s parrot analogy. We forever get closer and closer to finding the truth, yet it always escapes us. The mathematical concept called an “asymptote”. It’s a line that approaches another line but never touches it because of the infinity between them. A Learner understands how to apply Socrates’s “I know nothing” statement and the asymptote concept to life.
  2. Intellectual Resilience: This is the ability to accept that making mistakes and being wrong is part of the process of learning. The process of learning is powerful due to the fact that we fail. A Learner understands that being incorrect and making mistakes must be an accepted part of life. This is also true of the soundness or strength of one’s logic. Since it is a skill, it takes time to develop into its best potential. One who has intellectual resilience is prepared to fail and seeks opportunities to test their growth.
  3. Temperance: Emotions would say, “I need this to make me happy,” but logic interrupts. “That’s not the source of lasting happiness.” Temperance is the way to maintain balance in all things: manage expectations, maintain a healthy diet, taking a break from work to get some exercise, and more. It’s a key aspect of walking a path between shadow and light equally. For example, hope uses expectations like gold coins in a treasure chest, but logic remembers. It uses background knowledge to temper expectations, managing the emotions involved so that one doesn’t loose balance, like a captain managing the ocean swells to prevent capsizing. On managing expectations, it isn’t about lowering them to avoid disappointment. One will feel disappointment anyway because we can only manage emotions, not control them. Instead, a Learner changes their mindset to say, “I’m glad I didn’t get that job because it isn’t for suited for me. Maybe I avoided some future troubles because this door closed for me.” There will be other opportunities, and one will be the most suitable.
  4. Rationalization Avoidance: Rationalization is an emotional plea to maintain the integrity of one’s personal reality. It’s a denial, a desperate move to maintain the illusion of control over reality. It’s like a captain aboard a sinking ship saying, “We aren’t sinking! All this water in the ship is because of last night’s storm.” A Learner understands they control only their choices, and attempting to equalize what’s really happening to what we want to happen is a fool’s errand. A person with this ability doesn’t make excuses or twist the narrative to fit what they imagine or want to be real.
  5. Open-minded: This is the ability to remain open to new ideas even when they disprove or clash with one’s own ideas. It’s the skill of listening more than arguing. If it is true that we can’t know everything, then it is possible that anything could be right. If there are multiple realities, then it could mean everything is right somewhere. A person who is open-minded is receptive to information, while a close-minded person is resistant. A Learner understands that being open-minded is a fluid way to adjust to what is real. An open-minded captain flows with the current around rocks, but a close-minded captain sails right into disaster.
  6. Courteous Clarification: Sometimes, taking a moment to clarify definitions, phrases, or personal stances is a good practice for clear and open communication. When engaging in discussions with others, it’s important to be aware of personal meanings. One way to remember this is the phrase “equal words, equal meaning”. Language is clumsy, and we have to filter our huge thoughts through the bottleneck of terminology. This ability is also giving the other person the benefit of the doubt. Instead of reacting emotionally to statements, take the time to clarify their meaning. A Learner understands that this is a preventative measure against misunderstandings.

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Discerningly-aware

This is the ability to use thinking skillfully to not only interpret reality, but discern what is preferential to one’s values. Everyone can feel the wind, but it takes practice to understand how to adjust the sails of the boat to progress toward the captain’s destination. It takes a distinguished process to walk through life, know the way to one’s goal, and keep away from distractions. Discernment is the tool.

Qualities of being discerningly-aware:

  1. Affirming Language: A person must not say, “I am chasing happiness” because of the hidden implications. First, it implies that they do not already have happiness. Second, the goal of “chasing” or “pursuing” a goal means exactly that: one will always chase it and never catch it. A Learner understands by saying, “I am happy,” one claims the the state of being happy. They have achieved the goal already. A person with this ability is aware of how language can have subtle effects on our emotions. Instead of thinking one is poor, a Learner sees where they are rich. They are aware of what they have, make conscious efforts to affirm it, and entertains a critical appreciation of it all.
  2. Logical Agility: This is the ability to effectively shift between various situations and efficiently solve the problems. Seeing someone do this in a short but intense moment of action is a memorable sight. It’s like a captain shouting orders to the crew to save the boat during a storm: furl the sails, hoist the anchor, batten down the hatches, steady the helm, secure the lines, and hold on! It’s an important ability to have in order to practice prioritization, risk management, critical thinking, and situational awareness. It’s the proactive way to maximize reaction when it matters most.
  3. Actionable Clarity: A person could be so involved in the details of life that they forget they have the ability to effect positive change to their circumstances. If a part of one’s life doesn’t match their preference, one needn’t feel like there’s no escape. There’s a way to maintain responsibilities while compromising for freedom. It may not be a total release from circumstances that becomes the solution, but it could be. A Learner understands that the clarity needed to change one’s circumstances can be crucial to relief.
  4. Precise Grace: Forgiveness is an important aspect of growing. However, once a person is harmed, forgetting the actions that led up to that betrayal would be a form of self-harm. A Learner understands that it’s not healthy to hold on to grudges and that it’s wise to remember the pains they suffered and who caused them. Trust comes readily to a person with this ability, and they believe most people are good. Once that trust is broken, friendliness hardens, and it can take a long while for this person to lower their guard against their betrayers.
  5. Helper’s Release: It’s not one’s responsibility to help people, especially when people don’t want help. There can be a time when one feels like they need to save or help people, but a Learner can see the error of this. There may be no way to help, the person may not need the help, and the person may not be aware that they need help. A Learner understands that the easiest help one could provide is to offer to listen. Anything beyond that depends on the other party. There is also something about being a helper that is like being a teacher: it’s not wise to give the student all the answers. Pushing the student in the right direction by asking the right questions can be just like providing help. The learning is in the doing, not in the hearing because a person can hear the teacher’s answer. However, if they don’t listen (process or understand the answer), it may be forgotten. For many people, practical experience is more effective than hypothetical theory.
  6. Cultural Awareness: Tolerance and respect lead to great first impressions. When a person interacts with a different culture than theirs, they do so with the idea that there is a totally different perspective on etiquette, politeness, and way of thinking. This is not a point of stress, but it is something to be conscious of and to give space for, especially when being a guest of a culture one has never before experienced. A Learner understands that the need to be more sensitive and accommodating is vital to maintain mutual respect and open communication. This helps to avoid making the members of that culture feel insulted and isolated.
  7. Suspicious Doubt: A person is wise to think beyond what people communicate. It’s importing to not only listen to what people say, but also deduce what they are not saying. A Learner keeps room for doubt and suspicion, never fully trusting what excuses or reason they are provided. This isn’t because they believe humans are untrustworthy by default. It’s because it is the wisest strategy to protect the self from potential hardship. It’s an advanced survival trait that senses the environment in a way that the instinctive mind might miss. A person with suspicious doubt can see through manipulation attempts, such as politically correct language or doublespeak. They keep alert to the doctor who doesn’t want to cure his patients because in doing so he’ll be out of a job.
  8. Forbidden Banishment: This trait is about the understanding that knowledge is meant to be shared because it is an enabling power. Any forbidden piece draws the attention more; it calls to the soul louder because the hidden knowledge must be of some powerful use. A person might say, “Why is this forbidden? Why not teach this instead of forbid it?” A person may not understand the reasoning behind hiding knowledge. If it may be harmful, teach that it is harmful. We don’t hide the knowledge that fire will burn down our house if we play with it. It’s like a captain hearing about a hidden island on a forbidden map. Even if the danger is rife, the captain wants to set sail on the free and open ocean.
  9. Rule Discernment: This quality is the ability to know when to follow rules and when to break them. This is a personal choice that matches with values, but in the service of the ultimate good with respect to all, there may be times to go against what is indoctrinated to the masses. This is the mark of rebelling against oppression, fighting for freedoms, and maintaining the order of ultimate good on Earth. When the captain of the ship leads the crew toward certain death, mutiny arises, and the captain’s power is taken away for the ultimate good for the ship, the crew, and the captain.
  10. Love Fidelity: The closeness to a universal love can be measured by one’s personal sense of love. For example, a person naturally seeks behavior that they find preferential. However, sometimes a person’s preference may harm others. If that kind of behavior creates victims of acts the performer wouldn’t want done to them, then the behavior could be said to be deviant because it leads one away from the path of brotherly love or human kinship. A Learner understands that conforming to or rebelling against what others believes to be right isn’t what the practice of love fidelity is about. Instead, it is about avoiding behaviors that lead to victims of intense hardships, like betrayal, oppression, violence, and manipulation.
  11. Situational Awareness: Being able to understand the subtle survival, emotional, and social hints of what is happening in the moment is important to being able to make good decisions quickly. This is being aware of everything one sees, from the sticks strewn on the sidewalk to the arrangement of people around them to the construction on the skyscraper happening tens of floors above them. It’s the ability to “read the room”, or understand the undertones and the mood of a given scenario. A Learner understands that it takes a lot of practice in self and social awareness to begin to understand the context of situational awareness. It’s like an experienced captain saying that a terrible storm is coming at night while it’s a bright and cloudless day. Knowing the signs not only helps one know what to do socially, but how to make quick, logical decisions and survive.
  12. Moral Honor: This is the ability to publicly do what matches with one’s private moral integrity. One may be personally driven to define their own moral integrity, but circumstances may otherwise drive them to dishonor their morals in favor of something else. It’s like a captain who believes slavery is morally wrong, and he commits to never doing it. However, a king offers him a lot of money to capture a person so that they may become the king’s slave. If the captain captures the person, he dishonors his moral integrity, so he is morally dishonorable. He betrayed himself. A Learner understands that matching integrity with honor is the best path toward the ultimate good, even when it is painful. It’s following the moral compass, not going against it.
  13. Dramatic Absence: A person with this ability does not thrive on drama, but tolerates it and even helps others through it if needed. Drama can be energetically draining, particularly to someone who notices participants who fail to make use of their own logic.
  14. True Truth: The idea that truth is a fractal that can never be fully obtained by organisms within the reality.
  15. The Journey: This is the process of finding the golden gift of the self’s original power. The process can be long and arduous, but it starts in asking existential questions, then seeking the answer through various activities. One by one, the activities fail to give the golden gift of self-awakening, and only by turning inward does one find the gift. Many people start looking for the answer in things outside the self: career, philosophy, religion. These things can only help you find the answer because it’s a process of elimination: they show you where the answer isn’t. A Learner understands that, eventually, everything will point to oneself. One needs the journey outside the self only to find the answer in the return to their inner self.

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Power of the Witness

This is the first half of the golden prize we all seek as humans even though we are already born with it. However, it’s likely the least utilized ability of all. It’s simply the ability to quietly, nonjudgmentally observe things as they happen without pretending to know or understand. It’s the highest form of objectivity: the watcher, watching the watcher, watching the watcher. The ability to delay the human’s natural tendency to label, define, and categorize something is a critical aspect of escaping the mindset trap. It is a trap because to achieve the Witness, we have to do the opposite of what it means to be human: playing along with the game. Assumptions and knowing have been addressed in previous powers, but here is where they should be applied first and foremost. Don’t assume, don’t know, don’t judge; just watch.

By doing so, we elevate our frame of reference. We become a passive watcher of what happens. Imagine a captain who sails a ship, but no matter what they do, they cannot affect the course. The ship sails where it goes without the captain’s will. It might be saddening at first, but it can become similar to the feeling of floating relaxed on a flowing current. The only thing left to do is to watch what the ship sails by. The game of life reveals itself, and everything becomes visible.

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All things were visible from the start of life; we just had to slow down and let go of the wheel.

The Witness is the part of us that is the passive observer. It’s a powerful ability because it is the wise pause before the action. It sees everything: how life leads to death, how death leads to whatever happens after we die. It’s the cycle of physical life, and it causes the self to face metaphysical questions of existence: why am I here, what happens after I die, is this the only reality? Through these questions, we are forced to face how much we don’t know. In doing so, we unlock an even higher perspective than life, and we understand that we are part of the same power that created everything.

Spiritually Free

We are free from the indoctrination of what Earth’s best educational institutes have instilled in us since our earliest education. When one achieves this trait, one has learned what perhaps may be the forbidden fruit of knowledge: we are free spirits.

Qualities of being spiritually-free:

  1. The Cost: There is a certain ruefulness that befalls one who sees through the illusion of life’s game. A person no longer values the same things that society does. Those values become trivial, and it’s not because of an inflated sense of ego. It’s because the values are divisive and not aligned with what the person has seen: a greater sense of unity. The rueful mood might sound like there’s an aspect of regret, but it’s not like that. It’s a sense of having lost one’s “innocence” of the old self. The old ways, companions, and even family members may begin some kind of slow departure from one’s life. The benefit of such a cost may come into question: is moving toward ultimate good worth the cost? The answer should be yes because one stands to gain one’s true self.
  2. Dissociative Drift: This sounds like something bad, but it is a good step toward seeing the whole picture. This is a syndrome that can be felt after a “spiritual enlightenment,” and some people refer to it as killing the ego. It’s acknowledging a lingering feeling of resignation, being tired of life and reality. It’s a disorienting phase where the old self falls away and the birth of a new self comes. It can feel like a person’s living spirit is temporarily knocked out of the body. Before it swings back inside, one feels estranged, like an aimless ghost lost in space. A Learner knows that there’s a price for seeing through the illusion: there’s a sense of loss that happens when we see the game of life for what it is, and there’s a period of time that follows when we feel disconnected, disassociated, and uninterested in anything because, in our new self, we don’t understand the meaning of doing anything anymore. If everything loses its meaning, why do anything? This is the last step that leads to the agent because it drives us to find out our own purpose of being here. Everyone may feel a driving force after they work out the disconnection to life, and whatever that turns out to be is the reason why.
  3. Metaphysical Awareness: In the attempt to observe everything in imagination, one must eventually venture into what happens after death: metaphysics. It may start with simple questions: why are we here on Earth? What is the meaning of life? Is there anything after we die? Many use religion to start answering these questions, evolve into general spirituality, and eventually, they may land on the idea that everything is connected. Everybody is one. This is closer to the ultimate all-inclusive concept of enfolding love.
  4. Duality’s Translucence: This is the ability to see through duality as a force in this reality. It’s not that duality dissolves, but the reason behind it becomes clear. Nature has extremes, but they exist in order to balance them. The answer for any question is always “yes” because questions may often polarize a topic. Is this right, or is that right? In some cases, one pole of the topic is correct and vice versa. What becomes apparent is that the two opposing extremes are actually the same thing, and one cannot exist without the other. However, the answer to almost every issue is astride the two extremes in order to achieve the balance. Why is the balance so important? It’s balance that love calls for because it accepts this and that: all things. We need both to grow in this reality. Thus, there is no evil, no good, no wrong no right; there is only the growth from choice that leads us to our preference.

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Systemically-aware

This is the foresight of how a moral act affects the web of reality. It’s the highest understanding a human could humbling claim because it supports unity over division, celebrates individual wholeness. This trait helps us understand the natural life and the spiritual one in the broadest of terms: the oneness with everything, that we exist uniquely individual, but integrally whole, and that we should look for similarities with others rather than differences. We see how the game of life works, and we can better anticipate the choices that will bring us closer to the ultimate good.

Qualities of being systemically-aware:

  1. Realignment: This is about the inspiration to start a new cycle of life with the understanding one has gained. It’s the idea of releasing the need to feel in control of things other than your choices. The Witness sees everything, and just after the sense of resignation from the dissociative drift comes a realignment. That new alignment is not only letting go of control, but also to be the human you are in the reality you now occupy. There are still some years left, and a Learner understands that one does things not because they have no meaning, but because they are creating their own meaning. After this realignment, one becomes more prepared than ever to do that for themselves.
  2. Curious Mind: This is the ability to engage in the world with genuine interest. Curious minds frequently seek new knowledge, thereby expanding the experience. A Learner understands that one should have a degree of cautious curiosity in order to maintain the motivation in one’s agency. It’s like a captain who prepares carefully when sailing to new lands. He returns safely, and people begin to go to him for information.
  3. Moral Objectivity: This is the trait that sees morals as objective truths. It means that all actions are valid human experiences that should not be judged as either good or evil, wrong or right. This is because good and evil are illusions and that preference and aversion are the more accurate terms to use. The switch in terminology is a reminder that love accepts all actions, all people, all things because each is an essential, irreplaceable part (at least in this reality). However, there is the overall tilt toward the ultimate good because love pushes for self reflection, responsibility, and improvement. A Learner understands the reason why “evil” and “pain” are “allowed” to happen.
  4. Circumspection: This is the ability to see things from many angles before committing a concept to a personal belief system. There is a period of contemplation, a series of questions, an assessment of intuition, and much more before a person takes something and adds it to a system of beliefs. This is like a captain checking the veracity of a cartographer’s addition to the navigational map of a newly discovered island. The captain will test the map, sail to the island, and inspect the map’s record of the island carefully before considering the map true and accurate. This often includes avoiding absolute language, such as “always”, “never”, “everyone”, “no one”, etc. where possible. It’s can sometimes be misleading to make blanket statements that cover large groups of people or situations.
  5. The Gratitude Loop: This is about appreciating others as much as oneself. It’s better to say “thank you” rather than “you’re welcome” in every situation. Take the example of giving food to a hungry person. The person thanks one for the food, but one thanks them for the opportunity to be helpful. A person would likely want the same thing for them when they are hungry and without food. Both participants say “thank you” to each other. Saying “you’re welcome” could imply that one is in a higher position and giving to a lower. This can suggest that one has more than the other. It implies that appreciation for the help is expected and that the other should be grateful. It further hints that not giving thanks would be an insult. A Learner knows that the act is the most important, and words are not necessary regardless. The appreciation is felt, but the words are a consideration.
  6. The Storm Before the Calm: This is about the realization that chaos comes before calm. Many know the phrase the calm before the storm, but it also works in reverse. It works on different scales: world order, personal life, and weather systems. Both of these phrases exist to explain the ups and downs of natural life. Imagine a toy that spins around on a point. It spins for a long while before it starts to lose momentum. The toy top starts a little wiggle, which turns into a wobble. It’s this moment that reveals the slow chaos toward stillness. The calm present before the wiggle returns. When we notice things in our life starting to go “wrong” or chaotic, we know that we will be fine after. Things may be different, but the only thing that never changes is that things change. The Learner understands the idea that all chaos passes, and there’s no cause for worry. For the shadows to be cleaned, the light must shine. Lies are exposed before truth can prevail.
  7. Negative Wisdom: This is the ability to realize that negativity is more noticeable than positivity. When hours of quiet study pass, the minutes of annoying noise immediately regrettable. When a day filled with compliments ends, the negative comments are most memorable.
  8. The Social Map: This is the ability to see the accepted path, or social map, for success of one’s own culture. It’s paired with the ability to recognize whether or not the path suits one’s goals. The social map generally looks like this: primary education, university, marriage, a house, children, and so on. The trap of the map is that everyone seems to use the same compass, and people start to feel the need to fit into the mold. For those who don’t find the usual path suitable, they tend to feel forced to follow it, no matter how much of themselves they need to ignore and sacrifice. The Learner sees many paths, some that differ greatly from cultural and social expectations of them. They know that whatever they choose will lead them closer to their purpose.

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Newly Motivated

After having experienced an awakening, one feels empowered by their discoveries. A person feels a sense of belonging like never before. They feel at home and at peace because they know their life’s purpose. This isn’t the same kind of motivation that may come with a new year or a new job. The enthusiasm remains rather even. Even the motivation may plateau after it reaches its highest peak. The key aspect is that the motivation never decays. The Learner has been through that many times already, and knowing their purpose is the antidote to motivational apathy.

Qualities of being newly-motivated:

  1. Soul Parity: This quality is the idea that everyone is the same. It’s about unity over division and a kind of subjective objectivity. This is the general introduction to the expansion of one’s inner power. It leads to holistic individuality.
  2. Holistic Individuality: This is the realization that we are unique souls that are part of a larger soul. As the feeling of the dissociative drift begins to fade and the soul parity is well understood, one may come to a new realization. While we are all the same, we are uniquely different. We are all connected together by energy, and we operate a larger “machine” together as individual, unique, and necessary “parts”. It’s holistic because it is inclusive in the machine we are a part of, and it’s individual because we work individually as separate parts. It’s like many captains of many boats working together as a naval fleet. Each captain (mind) and each ship (body) are individual and unique, but they move in force as one. Holistic individuality is like this, but in timeless perpetuity.
  3. You Inverse: This is the inspiration that one is the universe and the universe is oneself. Oneself and the universe are the same polarity, just different extremes. Like cold and hot exist as two extremes on a pole called “temperature”, you and the universe exist on the extremes of a pole called “love”. The self represents individuality, limitation, and dependence, while the universe represents sameness, liberation, and independence. The two things are inseparable because they are the same dualistic pole. A Learner knows that they are the same person as everyone else. They say to someone, “You are me, and I am you.” The reason it is so easy to love and respect everyone is because one sees other people as expressions of themselves.
  4. Mindfulness: This is the maintenance of one’s state of mind, or mindset. It could be relatively easy for a person to slip backward into an older mindset. Mindfulness is the idea of maintaining the Witness frame of reference in the present moment, Being aware of the cloth against one’s skin, the smell of nearby flowers, the sight of sunlight, the taste of food, and the sounds of a chirping bird are ways to remind oneself of that nonjudgmental state of awareness. It reminds of the Pause, the slowing of emotion, and the delay of reaction. It provides one the space to think clearly and be aware of what’s happening so easily that it becomes habitual and so seamlessly that it becomes second nature.
  5. Foundational Goal: This is the clear purpose of one’s life. It’s like the anchor that places them fully in their human body vessel. If one clearly knows what it is they’ve come to do, then life is no longer directionless. There’s work to be done, and after seeing the game for the illusion, the meaning of doing this work becomes redefined—it isn’t work anymore. It turns into a joy that makes being alive worth enduring the drawbacks.
  6. Metaphysical Sense: This is the confidence that lasts through the world crumbling around a person. It is the faith that even as the ultimate disaster of death unfolds, one still exists afterward. A Learner might fear the method death, but the assurance that after death comes a new life, whether that is borne of a religious or spiritual belief is a preference of oneself. However, if it is a religion, the causation of one’s salvation becomes important. One should consider taking personal responsibility over their own salvation and should not vacate that into the hands of a deity in a process called “surrogate transcendence”.
  7. Metaphysical Responsibility: This is the ability to avoid surrogate transcendence and take one’s own salvation as a personal responsibility. The power to do this is in all of us, and we mustn’t give it away or fool ourselves into thinking that we need a savior. This could be the difference between religion and spirituality. When we believe that we need a savior, we weaken the power naturally seated within us. The belief in a god is a personal choice, and there’s nothing wrong with it. However, if the religion is so far away from the spiritual message it proposes, then we may need to discern the honest truth more carefully. There’s a powerful distinction between the person who says, “God will handle it because He will protect me and is responsible for my soul,” and the one who says, “With God’s help, I will make it through by myself”. The first gives away responsibility for their soul, while the second has a helping hand. A Learner understands that help is acceptable, but the ultimate responsibility of salvation lies with the self.

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Power of the Agent

This is the other half of the golden prize we search for as humans. Agency is the ability to interact with and change reality. It may be a surprise that this is one of the powers because we don’t need to be aware of the fact that we can do things. However, it may be true we take that for granted. We sometimes overlook our ability to effect change to the world or how we live our lives. With everything we’ve been through in the search for the golden prize within ourselves, we start to understand the value of what we do because the things we do carries the weight of love. The things we do matter. Do we prefer to move toward ultimate love by respecting others? What will you do?

Consciously-aware

This is the noticing and understanding of our ability to impart our will on reality. It’s accepting our role as a human on planet Earth and composing ourselves as such.

Qualities of being consciously-aware:

  1. Ethical Agency: This is the sincere feeling of belonging in the human body and having agency in it. One humbly realizes their importance in the game. They accept their physical agency in this life and in this world in the ever-present now moment. It’s as if the captain was charmed by the mysterious Siren’s song into questioning himself, and he suddenly breaks the spell. He remembers he has a boat to sail, and he has a renewed, strengthened sense of vitality. A Learner knows that along with this power comes a responsibility toward ethical love. The saying, “Do unto others as you would have done to yourself” becomes a mantra of guidance.
  2. Limitless Patience: This is the trait that allows one to constantly refresh their patience such that it never comes to an end. A Learner is patient enough to play the short and the long game. The short game is all about the day-to-day choices one makes, while the long game extends this idea not only throughout years, but beyond one’s current lifetime. The long game extends even to the origin of all things. This is like a captain who meets endless disaster after disaster, yet he takes each day one at a time. Despite all the troubles, the captain’s joy for life isn’t lost at sea.
  3. Delayed Reaction: This trait is about observing one’s feelings and delaying the decision to choose a reaction. Reacting instantly could be disastrous, while delaying a response could allow for the issue to be resolved before one chooses a response. This can help to avoid troublesome conflicts and give a little breathing room for stress relief. When a faster response is prompted, one can act upon their logical agility to help. Also, this ability to delay and choose a reaction makes manipulators ineffective. A Learner cannot be pressured into making a choice, and in being asked to do so, senses the potential for a manipulative trap. It’s like a captain seeing a waterspout approaching the ship he is sailing. Instead of changing performing any maneuvers, he does nothing, and the waterspout dissipates.
  4. Encompassing Unity: This is the trait that allows one to reject hierarchy and status in favor for unity. A Learner understands the practical sense of hierarchy in a world driven by knowledge, skill, and diligence. One could say that functioning as a employer-employee relationship as a necessary component of life as it is so far. However, such hierarchies should not be applied on a spiritual level. To say that a person is a spiritual rank above another should be a position contrived more from pride rather than virtue. A Learner understands that it is necessary to avoid systems that encourage divisiveness over unity, especially when it comes to personal spiritual power. It’s a way to say that the captain is the leader of the ship, but off the ship and even in the afterlife, there is no difference between him and a crewmate.
  5. Impermanence Acceptance: This trait is understanding that impermanence is a key aspect to what makes experiences, people, and this life meaningful. As a result, a Learner strives to appreciate all things with a love equal to their own self-love, but the removal of those things only strengthens their importance. One learns to detach oneself from the idea of permanence and embrace the moment, the people, and experiences as fragile temporal treasures. It’s like a captain who sails upon a ship that he knows is present now, but will be reduced to splinters by time. He may feel a rueful feeling, but he is more driven by the appreciation he feels for his ship in that moment. A Learner knows that Impermanence gives meaning instead of taking it away.

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About the Cascading Outline

In the program, we use a cascading outline, meaning that what is at the very top of the list is present at every stage below it. Love occupies this place, and it is the driving force in everything.

Here is a brief description of each category in the outline.

Powers Within love are the powers a person should learn to master: Instinct, Emotion, Logic, the Witness, and the Agent. Each of these are explained below. Further, each power contains a list of personality traits and character qualities.

Personality Traits Within each power are personality traits that suit a Learner. These abilities, or powers, were selected because they are easy to understand. Everyone has them, there is no hidden meaning, and they are part of every day life.

  • Instinct: the self
  • Emotion: the others
  • Logic: the solver
  • Witness: the observer
  • Agency: the action

These are labeled as TX, where T means “trait” and the “X” represents a serial. For example, Instinct is T1, Emotion is T2, and so on.

Character Qualities More specific are the qualities that build good character. Each trait has identifiable qualities.

These are labeled with the associated trait serial as well as

2026-06-02 19:39