Thought forms that have not ‘grown up’ with the rest of you, don’t realize that [...]]]> Having an ‘over-the-top’ reaction to something?  Feeling triggered beyond reason?  It’s possible that a piece of your mind remains stuck in child-consciousness – that level of the mind that continues to believe, and react, as you did – way back when.

Thought forms that have not ‘grown up’ with the rest of you, don’t realize that it’s ‘now’.  These thought patterns continue to respond as you did in the past (as a child or adolescent) which means — you’re really not here in the present, or at least, a part of you isn’t.

Child-consciousness is difficult to recognize because its voice is often clothed and covered in a myriad of defense systems.  So you rarely, if ever, hear the echo of the child buried beneath.  

Anger, withdrawal, anxiety, and fear are among the many masks of child consciousness.  It also hides behind behavioral disguises such as smoking, overeating, alcohol dependency, and perfectionism, to name a few.  Illness is another one of its favorite ‘costumes’.    Below is an example of how child consciousness played out with ‘Dave’, a 47 year old male:

Dave was used to chasing women.  In fact, Dave preferred the chase more than actually going out on dates.  Dave never married and began to wonder why.  He decided to enter therapy.  During his therapy sessions, Dave talked a lot about his father’s long-term affair and how much he wasn’t home during Dave’s pre-teen and adolescent years. 

As Dave’s awareness began to increase, he realized that he made a certain conclusion that was still controlling his behavior:  His father cheated on his mother and he would do the same.   Dave also concluded that a commitment would only lead to bad behavior, and therefore, chasing women was ‘safer’. 

Ok, so now that Dave had this insight, it would seem that all he needed to do was feel the pain of his father’s absence, re-educate his thought patterns (that he’s not his father), and redirect his behavior, right?  Not necessarily….

You see, the problem is two-fold.   Dave didn’t bond or receive the attention and love from his father – which is the easier of the two to heal.  The more complex, and elusive, issues are the false conclusions that Dave chose to believe as a result.  For example, Dave missed his father, so he tried to get him to come home more often by exerting excessively ‘good behavior’.  Dave also concluded (mistakenly and unconsciously) that his father was not coming home because something was wrong with him. 

Based on these false conclusions, Dave tried to become ‘better’ and ‘right’.   Dave began to exert extra effort into everything.  He tried to please, to be good, to excel – in sports, academics, yard work, it didn’t matter what – as long as he kept trying.    Stopping to acknowledge or appreciate his accomplishments was the only thing Dave didn’t try, because that would cause him to feel what he didn’t accomplish – his dad’s return. 

Dave’s strategy worked as an adolescent.  It distracted him from feeling the sadness of what he truly longed for.  And, his excessive efforts did get him attention and recognition. His excessive efforts became a major issue, however, when he tried to apply his adolescent solution to his adult life.  In Dave’s adolescent mind, he never attained love and affection, he only chased after it.  His adolescent intention was never to ‘give’ love; it was to ‘get’ love.  That doesn’t work in an adult relationship. 

As Dave’s process of emotional development unfolded, the wisdom of his inner divine consciousness began to penetrate.  As Dave felt and grieved the screaming demands of his unmet childhood needs, his ‘excessive trying’ began to cease.   The voice of the child finally began to simmer as his adult consciousness intervened.   

So what does all of this psychology have to do with God?  I think Jesus Christ said it best, “Thy must experience according to thy belief” and “The truth will set you free”.