who are you playing against

you are having conversations in your mind—you are having them with people outside your mind—and who you are conversing with is affecting what you think

whether these conversations are internal (to you) or external (to you) the content and the nature of your conversation partner is guiding and causing and limiting what youre (able and likely) to say (and do !!)

you might be having these conversations with the news

you might be agreeing or disagreeing with someone whose point of view is more limited than yours

you might be conversing with someone or something that nudges you to be greater than you already are

and who all these people are (who youre conversing with) is affecting the course of your thoughts

because youre engaged with them

youre dancing with them !!

so when they move—you move (and when you move—they move =)

be aware of who youre conversing with

when you make a statement—what are you responding to ??

sometimes i say something in a conversation with a friend (where really im not conversing with the friend—but with the news) this thing i say is something i would not have said if i hadnt seen the news

so im conversing with the news (even though im in a conversation with my friend) being aware of that is what im talking about

or sometimes im conversing with myself—and i realize im thinking thoughts that i wouldnt be thinking if i wasnt really playing against my friend—if i wasnt in a long-term conversation with my friend i wouldnt be having those thoughts

be aware of that !!

who are you playing against ??

it might not be (the person who youre talking to right now) it might not be someone who exists—it might be someone from the past youre still carrying around after all these years

(who you are playing against) determines the scope of your ideas—if youre stuck responding to someone whose mind is smaller than yours (it will stunt your growth)

if you respond to a different kind of thinker (even yourself) then your conversation partner can push you to a new kind of awareness

so be aware of who youre talking to

and who youre playing against