Imagine if you didn’t know how to read.
You’d be looking at the screen right now, seeing a jumble of letters with no sense of what they were.
Words would just be markings on a page with no meaning.
The letters would appear to be set out in a code, decipherable only to those who know how to interpret it.
Nevine Michaan says that one of the great skills of life is learning how to break codes.
The Purpose of Learning How to Read
As Nevine points out, the purpose of learning how to read isn’t to read.
In a literate culture, the purpose of learning how to read is to participate life. Reading gives us agency over decisions. When you know how to read, you can read a menu and order from it. You can read the signs around you. You know when stores are open, where to turn, what people are writing about.
When you know how to read, you can participate in the conversation.
Participating in life is how we derive joy.
Reading is one of the first ways we learn how to decode.
The more codes we learn, the more we can participate in life, and the more joy we can experience.
The Codes of Life
Everything in life is structured in codes.
Patterns are codes.
Cycles are codes.
Numbers are codes.
Words are codes.
Astrology is a code.
Issues in the physical body are codes.
Emotions are codes.
Your habits are codes.
Consider as an example the human body. To a lay person, a bunch of disparate issues — hip pain, foot pain, blurry vision, neck pain — might seem like a collection of maladies. It’s like letters on a page.
But a professional skilled in the code of human function sees beyond the letters to the word.
A mediocre professional might see words and treat each issue separately.
A skilled professional who looks at the issue holistically, might see that these words form a sentence. This allows the professional to treat the cause of the problem.
Deciphering the Codes of Human Challenges
In my business, I work with clients who come in through different “doors,” depending on what they need and how they find me.
Some of them come to me in my role as a real estate broker, for help buying or selling a home.
Others come to me for coaching support related to business, life, productivity, emotional wellness, or family issues.
And some come to me in my role as a yoga teacher.
No matter what door they come through, my work is the same: I look at the patterns to decode the issues and help them address the cause of their challenges.
The potential real estate client may actually need a new job or a renovation, rather than a new home.
The solopreneur who isn’t taking action in their business may not need better strategies. They may be avoiding action in their business because of a problem in their marriage or with their kids that leaves them feeling angry and disempowered each day.
The person who is struggling to create space in their joints and move with ease may be saddled with repressed emotions and a heavy toll in life that is weighing them down.
My ability to see the patterns, to decipher the codes under the surface, allows me to help my clients address their issues at the cause.
The Importance of Learning Codes
The more codes we learn, the more tools we have available to us to decipher our experience better and help others.
When you know how to decipher codes, you can target solutions to actual causes of problems instead of aiming to fix the effects. And that’s when real sustainable change happens.
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