Genius Stone Blog

The price of paying more attention to our beliefs than the complex multidimensional flows of cause and effect seen in the Gulf of Mexico, our financial systems, and in the health and well-being of our people is great. Oil is pouring into the Gulf because the process of regulation and technology could not keep up with the complexity of drilling for oil. Our financial systems are failing because no one really wants to let go of the existing system, and our middle class, who fuels our economy, is shrinking because no one seems to understand how, or cares, to strengthen them. Trust in government, business and our leadership in general is at an all time low. Yet all we do is try to be right about our agendas. Danger signals are everywhere, yet we fear being wrong more than having a desire for success.

Arrogance Combined With Ignorance Is Deadly
Focusing our consciousness on our beliefs, thoughts and political agendas instead of understanding how present reality is emerging into the future will destroy our nation, as it has destroyed many others. Standing arrogantly on a belief without understanding present reality is the most deadly form of ignorance. Operating like this is like a basketball team arguing in the middle of a fast break. It just does not work, and yet we cling to beliefs that have nothing to do with what is happening in the moment. The teams who have the best talent, coaching and, most important, are able to get into the zone more often, win championships in sports and provide a great microcosm. We as a nation, and many of our businesses, seem to be locked into what we believe to be true instead of paying attention to what is happening. Believing we are the greatest nation, sports team or business on Earth does not change the flow of cause and effect that has the momentum of a runaway freight train.

It Is Time To Change The Game Plan
We need a time out, and some coaching. We must learn to understand and acknowledge reality by placing our consciousness on the flows of cause and effect that are emerging in the present and respond to those flows like a team in “The Zone,” instead of arrogantly defending our beliefs. Stop, take a deep breath and realize that what we believe will not stop the momentum of climate change, the debt crisis, failing businesses, and the raising dissatisfaction of our people. We must work together like a team in “The Zone” or we will lose the game of life here on the planet, or in our businesses. Acknowledge reality, see how it is emerging into the future, make a plan and act with courage, while you keep an eye on the present.

Use More Common Sense and Genius, Instead of Belief
A genius has beliefs, but uses them as a platform for discovery, instead of being defined by them. A genius does not cling to what they believe to be true, they are practiced in letting go once they begin to discover present reality. They are masters of combining existing flows to create something new. They have their consciousness focused on the present to see how it will turn into the future, like an athlete driving to the basket in “The Zone.”

The Past Is A Weak Teacher
Most of our understanding about the past is highly filtered by the beliefs we were holding during our experience at that time, and further distorted by our present beliefs and moods. Our memories, history and beliefs about the past are generally distorted; yet we argue about it and often lose friendships, miss business opportunities, and create political systems that do not work.

Reality is unfolding in the present moment and will extend into the future. If we can hold our beliefs lightly and truly understand the present, we will see how it will lead to the future. Start with understanding present reality, no matter how ugly, and look forward. Leave the past behind, where it belongs. Don’t stand in front of a runaway freight train thinking “I have never been hit by one before” hoping for a miracle. Hope is a feeling, not a strategy for success.

How Do We Create A Better Future?
With the help of comments from my readers, I will explore how to create what I call “FastBreak” solutions teams that respond to the present and create the future. Since I do not know everything, I need your comments and wisdom. So please reflect on what I have written, and provide my readers with your solutions.

In Roman Mythology Genius was a “guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth.” To unleash your Genius would mean to stop resisting your spirit’s advice and collaborate with the Genius that has been given to you.
GENIUS CREATES BEAUTY

Genius is, as I define it, collaboration with the natural flow that extends from the present, and from the knowledge, intention and consciousness of an individual or group. It is achieved through Integrative Presence, which allows you to integrate all the realities of the moment simultaneously while combining them with your intention.

A story from William F. Russell, who was a star player with the Boston Celtics, who won 11 championships in 13 years:

“Every so often a Celtics game would heat up so that it became more than a physical or even mental game, and would be magical. That feeling is difficult to describe, and I certainly never talked about it when I was playing. When it happened, I could feel my play rise to a new level. It came rarely, and would last anywhere from five minutes to a whole quarter, or more. Three or four plays were not enough to get it going. It would surround not only me and the other Celtics, but also the players on the other team, and even the referees.

At that special level, all sorts of odd things happened: The game would be in the white heat of competition, and yet somehow I wouldn’t feel competitive, which is a miracle in itself. I’d be putting out the maximum effort, straining, coughing up parts of my lungs as we ran, and yet I never felt the pain. The game would move so quickly that every fake, cut, and pass would be surprising, and yet nothing could surprise me. It was almost as if we were playing in slow motion. During those spells, I could almost sense how the next play would develop and where the next shot would be taken. Even before the other team brought the ball inbounds, I could feel it so keenly that I’d want to shout to my teammates, “it’s coming there!”—except that I knew everything would change if I did. My premonitions would be consistently correct, and I always felt then that I not only knew all the Celtics by heart, but also all the opposing players, and that they all knew me. There have been many times in my career when I felt moved or joyful, but these were the moments when I had chills pulsing up and down my spine.

Sometimes the feeling would last all the way to the end of the game, and when that happened I never cared who won. I can honestly say that those few times were the only ones when I did not care. … On the five or ten occasions when the game ended at that special level, I literally did not care who had won. If we lost, I’d still be as free and high as a sky hawk.” (William F. Russell, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man, 1979)