The Three Principles

It’s time I finally write about the Three Principles, because that’s what I learned about in late 2013 that has really sped things up for me, my clients, and my friends and family. I’ve mentioned Gulf Breeze Recovery before, the inpatient drug and alcohol rehab facility that I started working part-time at in early 2014. In less than two years, it’s a pretty impressive place. The founders set out to create a non-12-step rehab for folks who wanted another option. I’ve said before that 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous have helped millions of people, and they continue to do so each and every day. Different strokes for different folks, though, so it’s always good to have another option. When researching what their modality would be, some synchronistic events led them to something called the Three Principles and a guy named Joe Bailey. Joe is awesome, and he’s been training us the whole time. I might write about him sometime, because he’s pretty cool and I think that sharing some of the things that I know about him might be able to help you. He has some books, too, that you might be interested in. Like Fearproof Your Life: How to THRIVE in a World Addicted to Fear.

So what are the Three Principles all about? In a nutshell, it’s all about the fact that we are living in a world of thought. It’s all freaking thought. You can only ever feel your thinking; you cannot feel the world directly. Not possible! You are literally creating your own movie all the time, every moment you are alive. Wow. And we call this movie “reality.” Ha, that’s the last thing it is! Personal reality, yes. Absolute reality, absolutely not. The more you see this, the more peace you will experience. Period.

The other big thing is that we are always connected to a source of intelligence that knows what’s best for us. So we have that going for us… You could call it inner wisdom, intuition, or even common sense. They are one and the same. And they are alive inside of you right now. The more you live from this wisdom/common sense rather than the ego chatterbox, the more peace you will experience. Period.

So that’s the ten cent version. More specifically, the Three Principles refer to Mind, Consciousness, and Thought. Recall that a principle is something that’s always true. It’s a fact. Science is full of principles, like the principle of gravity. Psychology, however, has always been nothing but a bunch of theories. There have never been any principles. This might explain why counseling has always been so hit or miss. It never really has had that great of a success rate, to be honest. The Three Principles movement is an attempt to change that, pointing out that there actually are some principles involved in a human’s psychological experience of life. Here we go…

Mind is whatever powers us all up. It’s like electricity – you can’t see it, but you know if it’s not on because the lights won’t work. And it’s a constant; it’s just there, pushing everything behind the scenes. I often say, “Relax into it,” and this is what I’m talking about relaxing into. A Christian would call this God, a Taoist the Tao, a Star Wars lover The Force, and perhaps a quantum physicist Oneness (yes, it’s a scientific fact that everything is connected. Literally. Right now. Including you and the farthest star. Whoa.). You get the idea. There’s something powering us up. And for those who don’t like religion, that’s perfectly fine. You might want to check, though, to make sure you’re not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Thought is anything going on upstairs, any mental activity. It includes beliefs, perceptions, etc. It’s how we see things. It includes our conscious thinking as well as the more unconscious chatter, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Most of it is invisible. And Consciousness is this magical power that constantly brings how we’re seeing things to life through our senses as a real, lived experience. It’s the special effects department. It’s what creates instant fear in me the second my eyes land on a snake, either real or in a picture. And Consciousness is a constant – it just brings Thought to life 24/7. That’s what it does, whether you are aware of it or not. End of story.

The idea is that it takes exactly these three ingredients for any human to have a psychological experience. These are the building blocks. When I realize Mind is behind it all, I can rest more and let a bigger flow carry me, even when I’m very busy and working hard. I can still “relax into it.”  It’s an attitude. This is what my client was talking about when she said she feels like she’s no longer driving; she’s riding. This woman. And the flow can handle the most minute details as well as the most perfect timing, too. We’ve all experienced this before. Now we can practice living from there more and more of the time.

When I realize that Thought + Consciousness is constantly creating my reality, my reality, a movie that only I see, I start to see that everything out in the world is actually neutral, and I’ve been unconsciously coloring it the whole time. This is where my feelings come from. Wow! Now the cat is out of the bag. This process is no longer unconsciousness. The charade is up, and I can take responsibility for how I feel. Not you, not my job, not my car, not my body, etc. If I want to change any of those things, I’m free to explore doing so. But I can choose as much peace as I can in the meantime.

So those are the Principles in a nutshell. It’s simply about understanding how your reality is constantly being created. You can choose to use this understanding however you want. And it’s like gravity; whether you are aware of it or not, it still works. I’ve noticed, though, that the people who learned about this long ago and have a pretty deep understanding of it are very relaxed and chilled out. It takes A LOT to rattle them. And these people used to be anxious, insecure, low self-esteem, depressed, etc. – just like anybody else.

Here’s a really good website with lots of videos about this: www.threeprinciplesmovies.com. Hover the cursor over Play Movies and you’ll have lots of options. And like anything, if you don’t like what you’re watching, just move on – there’s so much there. It’s helped me to hear about this from many different voices, each with their own angle. And to not try to “figure it out.” Just turn the head off, relax, and absorb. The more deeply you understand this, the more your innate peace and wellbeing will rise to the surface to be experienced. It’s always there; it can only get covered up by how we’re seeing things in that moment. It can’t be harmed or damaged in any way, though.

All the best on your journey in life, and let me know if I can help speed things up for you. Lord knows I’ve “done it wrong” just about every which way you can! This mostly comes under the category of trying to “figure it out” with my head or my intellect, like you’d figure out math. Nope. That’s definitely the slow way. I’ve been there and done that and am really weening myself off of that old habit as we speak. It feels so much better, too. So here’s to a much faster way to peace, the way of the heart and of feeling. Enjoy!