Choices and Illusions by Eldon Taylor Page B

therefore par-
    takes of every believed limitation that accompanies our private
    self-perception.
    If we think back to nina in the chicken yard, some additional
    clarity can be added that translates directly to most human eagle/
    chickens. Within each of us is an almost unlimited possibility—the
    eagle potential. Within each of us is the sum of all those conflicts, failures, negative message units, and the like—the sum of self-imposed, albeit typically culturally imposed, limitations. Within
    each of us exists the need to be accepted and also the fear of loss—
    loss of friends, respect, acceptance, love, and so forth. Within all of us is a cry to soar, in the vernacular of the eagle, and at the same time, a fear of leaving the comfort of our little chicken houses.
    Within all of us are the secret failures, low or base desires, deeds, and so forth that constitute our perceived actual selves. All of this tension usually holds us almost rigid and stiff, nearly cataleptic, if a change truly threatens any of our four self-images. To add fuel to the fire, change is what most of us truly desire. A true catch-22—
    damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
    So how do we safely discover, or uncover, our true potential?
    What are the limits to our potential—or how high is up?
    Innumerable biographies of great people share at least one
    common denominator—these individuals believed they could do
    something everyone else, or at least nearly everyone, thought was
    impossible. These people are the heroes of our world. What made
    them so convinced they could succeed, despite the crowds that
    argued to the contrary? That’s the next question. If every one of us possessed that conviction and power, would we not all succeed? If
    the solution was so obvious as to negate choice—that is, if we saw
    so clearly our direction, ambition, goal, and purpose that there
    was nothing to choose between—what could stop us from real-
    izing that path?
    let us now look a little deeper into the nature of mind and
    perception, and then perceptual defense mechanisms—indeed,
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    CHOICES AND ILLUSIONS
    defense mechanisms in general, but remember and think about
    this popular notion: There are three C’s in life: Choice, Chance, and Change. You can choose to take a chance and change!
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Chapter 5
x
    whaT we PerCeive
    and fail To PerCeive
    “The only way to discover the limits of the
    possible is to go beyond them, to the impossible.”
    — A r t h u r C . C l A r k e
    If choice can be an illusion, what other illusions might we live
    with? This is such a large subject that we won’t even try to take on the question in a comprehensive way. We will, however, look at it
    sufficiently to clarify for our purposes the most relevant illusions.
    Our first illusion is due to language. language labels every-
    thing, and once that is done, that which is labeled is “diminished,”
    in the words of philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard.1
    nouns are the names of persons, places, and things, yet many
    nouns refer to things that do not exist. For example, take the noun griffin. Arguably, a mythical creature matches this word, but no such creature actually exists. Further, some nouns are really about form, not about things themselves. Take the word chair. In the Platonic sense, chair refers to a form, that of “chairness.” When we attempt to describe a chair, we can be surprised at the definitional ambiguities. not all chairs have arms or four legs, are stationary, or even are meant to be sat upon, yet somehow when we see a chair,
    we recognize it as a chair.
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    CHOICES AND ILLUSIONS
    Our first illusion is due to language.
    Years ago I wrote a piece titled “Sticks and Stones Will Break
    My Bones but Words Will Slice and dice Me.” The article laid bare
    a penetrating