I love this one. I've been limited in my life, quite a fair bit actually, but I recognise the truth in this quote.

It can however take some explaining, so bear with me while I talk about how the mind works.

The subconscious mind, which is the part of our mind that controls everything we don't consciously think about- metabolism, heart beat, body temperature, hormones etc. is aware at any one time of 2 million pieces of information. TWO MILLION. This amount of information would be too much for conscious awareness, so the subconscious mind filters out anything it deems unnecessary to pay attention to.

It will pay attention to what it thinks is important- especially if it thinks something is dangerous or in some way harmful to the organism (that's you and me!). So if you're afraid of something, it will pay attention to that and make you more aware of that, in order to activate the flight or fight response.

Now, it also uses memory to give meanings to things. Memory based on all the events and experiences of your lifetime. So, with all that in mind, you can see how reality is completely subjective- no two people will ever experience the same reality. Meaning is given, via emotional reactions and responses and belief-systems, to something based on memory- and memories are stored based upon events that have happened. So everything that ever happened to you has shaped who you are, right now.

So what's this got to do with limitations? Well, they are illusions in the sense that they are based upon memories, experiences, and the way your subconscious mind has understood and coded things. Often fears, anxieties and the like are coded very early in age, so that we can't even remember WHAT happened to make us that way, we just know we are anxious around X or afraid of Y.

This isn't an illusion because it is very real to us- we feel real feelings, the fear is real. However, it IS an illusion because it doesn't have to be that way- it's based upon how we perceive it- and perceptions can change. Some people unfortunately have the belief that their reality is fixed and their perceptions and reactions to things can't and won't change- and because of that belief- they don't. Until they change that belief, their reality cannot change.

Limitations are illusions in the sense that they are given meaning from memories of things- and I'm not talking conscious memories here, things we actually can recall, but things that the subconscious mind has remembered and attached some meaning to, such as- oh boy, can't let that happen again, must therefore produce fear in all similar situations! The subconscious mind generalises. For example, if you were bitten by a dog at 5, it might have been a scary, nasty, horrible dog- but in order to protect you from that happening again, your subconscious mind decides all dogs are scary and nasty, and thus you feel afraid whenever you see one.

So, limitations are illusions because they are based on a primitive part of the mind fixing reality in a certain way- but the fix is not permanent. It can be changed. The first step is to believe that it IS an illusion- however real. 'Reality' doesn't have to be that way. The next step is to try different solutions, and listen to the feedback you get (see previous post:'there's no failure, only feedback') until you find something that works- and you begin to realise, you can overcome your limitations.

All limitations are illusions.