Conditional programming is a process started at a young age. It comes from a variety of sources that intermix and lead to who we become as adults. Some of the main influences are by our family and friends, the society we live in, religious institutes, government, schools, and the media. Today I’m going to give a brief discussion on each of these sources of programming so you can reflect on how they’ve affected you.
Let’s start off at the beginning of the list, our family and then friends. Our family is the start of our programming. Our family begins to instill in us our first values, and is the source of our earliest traumas (See my post titled “Family and Ancestral Trauma, and How to Heal”).
Was a tight knit family important growing up and you were expected to sacrifice yourself for the betterment of the family unit as a whole? Or was it independence and expression that was more important? Did you have support or did you have to fend for yourself? Were you told to be quiet and not make a scene because your parents wanted to have that Stepford Family image? Was wealth and power more important, or were those things considered evil? Was success the most important thing and you were expected to be the star quarterback or head cheerleader? Was physical or emotional abuse the norm and/or used as punishment when you didn’t act in accordance with the rest of the family?
We’re essentially trained by our family how we’re expected to behave in order to fit into the family unit. And we adapt to this for fear of being ostracized by them, a primal fear because we’re dependent on them for survival. We’re punished when we don’t fit into that box the family expects us to squeeze into. This leads to various coping mechanisms and manipulation strategies so that we can get our needs met because as children, and even as adults, we don’t feel safe expressing our needs to our family.
Our earliest friend groups condition us in much the same way. We are conditioned to behave and act a certain way if we wish to fit into that friend group. For many of us our friend groups were an escape to safety from our family at the cost of squeezing into yet another box to gain acceptance. It’s a well known saying that we become the sum of the five people we associate with the most.
Another factor in our programming growing up is the society we grew up in. What type of area did you live in? Did you grow up in farmland in the midwest and were expected to help out on the family farm instead of creating art? Did you grow up where violence and survival were a way of life? Or did you live in a nice suburb where you knew all your neighbors and you lived a peaceful life? Our environment plays such a massive role in the shaping of who we are. The events and community we’re exposed to in our daily lives shape us into who we are. You can read astrology charts, and do numerology studies on people, but you always have to factor in the environment to truly understand the reason a person acts the way they do.
This next one might upset some of you, but it’s still true. The religions we’re brought up with and exposed to have a large impact on our programming and development as well. Most of the religious institutions we know today were built on controlling the masses. I focus on Christianity in this segment because that’s what I’m most familiar with. Fear of a horrific afterlife was an easy way to keep the illiterate masses in line. These institutions became so ingrained in the power structure that any outside thinking led to harsh punishments and persecutions to crush any perceived threat to their power. This is why so many religious texts have a variety of “interpretations,” often used to fit the narrative the religious leaders have in play.
For instance, in the Bible Jesus was not teaching others to worship him, but rather a way to live to reach your Highest Self. It was how to reach the Christ energy he was teaching. There are many correlations to the teachings of Jesus that are incredibly similar to buddhist teachings. In fact, many theorize that during the gap in Jesus’s life in the bible that he traveled to the East and learned many of the things he taught. Think of the massive shift in messages from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Many books have been found that held extra events for both testaments but were omitted because of who wrote them, or because the content went against the narrative those in power wanted the masses to know.
The religious leaders of the church shun these notions, because with it, they are no longer needed, and thus lose their power. Unfortunately, especially in today’s society, many people need religion as their moral compass, because they lack one of their own. There are many great lessons we can take from religion, but we shouldn’t need it to decide how we live and act.
The governments we grew up in are another factor we have to look at as well. What were your nation’s values? What do they promote Capitalism, or communism? Are they Conservative, or socialist? Did you grow up in a country that was more pacifist or one that was constantly in some sort of war?
One way the government programs us is through the school system. Over the years we’re trained day in and day out to sit down, listen to and do what we’re told, learn what the government wants us to know, and how to take a standardized test. The government chooses what to teach and what not to teach, what they deem is worth knowing and what needs to be omitted or be claimed as false history. Funding for music and art programs are constantly being cut and over the years new things are being pushed to “normalize” certain behaviors from society. Young children are expected to sit and stay still for 7-8 hours and suppress their playful and exploratory nature.
The media is another way the government conditions and programs us throughout our lives. The news, movies, and TV shows are all used for propaganda. The government, no matter the country, pushes the narratives they want the news outlets to promote. Television and movies push the agenda in subliminal ways that slip under the radar and slide into our subconscious. Movies show a fairytale love ending, making it seem like love is easy to achieve and maintain, and when it’s not people get frustrated and leave instead of working through issues and growing together. Plenty of movies show a future run by machines for decades and now we have AI growing and expanding in our daily lives.
Commercials are constantly pushing for new medicines with side effects that are worse than the symptom they claim they are curing. There's a constant push to keep us medicated instead of healing. They want a medicated population that's easier to control.
Pay attention when you watch TV and see how the shows you watch now and growing up affected your thinking and the way you viewed the world. These tools are often used to normalize and prepare us for events about to happen. (More on this coming soon)
Music is another way we’re programmed. How often do you listen to the lyrics of the songs playing? What are the messages in those songs? Do they build you up, or lower your frequency? What frequency are you listening in? 432 Hz or 440 Hz which is detrimental to humans? Even tiny details like that are used as ways to program us.
Each of these topics could and have had multiple books written on them. We are affected by all these things and more when it comes to societal conditioning. This is how we’re controlled and trained to drift through life, instead of opening ourselves up, living authentically, and reaching our highest self. Reflect back on your past, especially your childhood and see how these things have influenced your growth. What things do you want to break free from? Sit with yourself to figure out what has held you back from being your true and authentic self, and how can you break from that programming and achieve alignment. For a much more in depth book to read on this topic I highly recommend “Outwitting the Devil,” by Napoleon Hill.
I hope this article helps you see ways you were programmed in life and from there can find ways to unlearn those habits and coping mechanisms to continue your healing and growth. Once again, thank you for reading, and have an enlightening day.
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