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A New TPQ (Thought-Provoking Question)
In a recent breakfast conversation with a dear friend, we visited about the most constant messages we each received as kids. And how those messages still influence your thinking and behavior — even if you have reached a higher level of awareness.
We know that social conditioning creates permanent grooves in our neuropathways. And the more intense the conditioning (such as trauma or violence), the deeper the grooves. Epigenetics shows these family-oriented social conditionings can be carried in the DNA to the next generation.
While the above is more associated with experiences, messages are the words we hear — spoken or unspoken. They become the norms and framings for what I call the 5 Relationships:
- God/religion (belief, non-belief, agnostic)
- Money/career
- Health/well-being
- Education/knowledge
- Sex/intimacy
These five areas (and I’m certain there are more) become relationships that influence every area of our journey through the continuum of adulthood. They also frame our actual relationships — who we partner with, who we befriend, how we raise kids, etc.
Phrased as a thought-provoking question (TPQ), it would be …
