I have never been able to get my left and right correct. When I’m driving, if you tell me to turn left, I will instinctively turn right. I have to mentally focus on what was said, and mentally decide which way that means to go. Or I get it wrong every time.
I have even tried to second guess this by turning the way I thought was opposite to which way I would instinctually go. Even doing this I get it wrong half the time. I have resigned myself to accepting that this is just the way it is.
One thing I do is put my hands up in front of me … The left hand forms an “L” when the thumb is extended. But, this really only works for me if I put both hands up in front of me and decide which hand forms the “L” and which hand forms the backwards “L”. Why is this?
I am so used to reading and seeing things “backwards” I have learned to adjust very quickly. Nothing is really “backwards” or “forewords”. I just take what “is” and try and to make sense of it. My mother told me the other day that when I was very young I wrote backwards. Of course she was worried that something was very wrong. But when I learned that I needed to write “the other way” I adjusted. Perhaps the sense of being “wrong” inspired me to work very hard at being “right”. Now I am very good at anagrams and working with scrambled letters or missing letters because this is what I do. All the time. I am one of those people who can easily read sentences with missing vowels or letters because I have practiced this so much. But when I write … I will often miss vowels or mix up letters. (Spell check has been kind to me. Auto-correct not so much.)
While some would think this “condition” is a “problem” and a handicap because it can inhibit functioning fully on the earth plane, there is another way of looking at this issue. What if everything is always both…backwards AND forwards – and maybe even scrambled? Depending on your frame of reference. Depending on your perspective. And when you spend a lot of time looking at things from different perspectives and then jump into a chosen perspective where you need to actually take action… like read or write… it takes time to adjust?
Have you ever been to a country where you had to drive on the “other” side of the road? Being from Canada, I grew up driving on the right side of the road. One year I spend just over a 6 weeks driving around Australia and New Zealand on the left side of the road. It took awhile to adapt. Certainly the most difficult part was all the roundabouts where you forget which lane to turn into when you want to get out. Also troubling was when I had to turn left or right at intersections. Otherwise, you really don’t have to think much about it. And after awhile it just becomes second nature. You just “think” that way while you’re there.
When I came back home to Canada it took some adjusting. The hardest part was places like shopping malls – where some days I literally had no idea which lane I was supposed to be in. If there wasn’t a car immediately in front of me to show me what lane THEY were in so I could just copy, I would get it wrong at least 50% of the time.
People who learn different languages have similar issues. After they have spent some time working with a particular language, they begin to “think” in that language. That is when they can go from simply being technically correct in what they are saying, to really understanding the slang and the nuances of the language. Because in order to really understand what is being communicated, you have to think a bit like the communicator. Which means understanding expressions, not just words. When you are rested, and you are “on”, switching languages can be quite fluid. But when one is tired, or not able to focus on the task at hand, everything gets a little jumbled, words and ideas get mixed. Frankly, it can all become one big mess. Sound familiar?
So this is my understanding of how this all really works. When we see things jumbled, or we see things backwards, or we completely miss things, perhaps we have just been spending our time somewhere else, considering things from a completely different perspective. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing. In fact, most times the ability to see multiple perspectives could be considered an asset. The key, then, is not to dwell on the fact that you see things backwards or get things mixed up. The key is just to realize it is happening and find some tools that will draw you in to focus when your focus needs to be on one particular perspective. Like when you’re driving a car, for instance.
It is not how long you can stay in one place, or stay focused, that matters most – it is if you can find your way back when you leave, and how quickly you can do that.
So, the first key to navigating is to be able to recognize where you are when you are “there”.
What does it feel like? What do your senses tell you about where you are? Can you go deeper? Can you experience more? Can you interact with your environment in the manner which you desire? Or do you need to practice? – spend more time there. Find more focus.
The second key to navigating is to be able to find that place again.
Life is a journey. We are always going places. We are always changing. Change is inevitable. So, in reality, you will never stay exactly in one place. So the second key to navigating can’t simply be the ability to stay in one place. The key to navigating is to learn relativity – where are you relative to where you were, and then acquire the tools necessary to get there from anywhere you find yourself.
What tools, or vehicles, do I need to do to get back to where I want to go?
If you want to get from one city to another, from a top-down perspective you have several methods, or vehicles to choose from. You could walk, bike, ride a bus, drive a car, fly, or maybe even take a boat. It all depends on where you want to get to – how far you need to go, how much time you have, and what resources you have at your disposal. Even though there may be many options, maybe you only have access to a few. The more you practice – the broader your perspective, the more skills you will develop, the more “vehicles” you will have access to, and the greater number of places, or spaces, you will be able to access.
Practice is Key
As a practical manner, in the example of my learning to read – I was drawn to do a lot of puzzles when I was a kid. I loved not only crossword puzzles, but word games and logic problems and number problems. All sorts of puzzles. It wasn’t work to me. Oddly, I found it fun. But what it did for me is develop many skills with regards to thinking, language, and forms of expression. It increased the number of “vehicles” at my disposal in terms of interpreting and understanding numbers and language. And all that practice made it so I could find things much quicker, as they were more familiar to me.
I have not “solved” my issue of seeing things backwards and forewords and every which way. But, you see, I don’t feel that it is necessary to “solve” it. In fact, I appreciate the fact that at times I am not “plugged in” to a particular reality, and that I can travel to different places and experience new things from a fresh perspective.
What I have done is developed the skills to flourish in a particular environment when I want to, or need to. So I can immerse myself in that particular experience. And then I can leave. Without attachment. Because I am confident that I can return.