The mere possibility that we could be causing our own suffering is hard to face and takes great courage. If you are this very moment considering taking the 7-Q North Path Entrance Test below, I would like to applaud you in advance.
It took me more than half my life to accept such a reality, even after a very close friend pointed it out to me several times. I just had to see it for myself. And that is why I founded The North Path blog and why I am currently working on my upcoming book, The North Path. Sometimes we all need a little help … a little push. Sometimes only the helping hand of an objective third party can wake us up to a new eternal human truth so powerful that it will change our lives forever, perhaps even bring us the first real joy and freedom of our adulthood.
Below are seven questions. They are yes/no questions. These questions should be answered on your own, when you have at least 10 minutes of undisturbed time alone with minimal noise and distraction. Aside from courage, the only other exam fee required is complete and utter self honesty.
In order to protect your privacy, please do not write your answers here on this blog in the comments area! Feel free to copy and paste the questions, but please do not share them on the Internet without crediting: thenorthpath.org. Thank you.
- Do you believe that life is complicated in some way?
- Have you experienced events in your life that you define as traumatic?
- Do you suffer from bouts of deep sadness?
- Do you believe that the past exists?
- Does it make you uncomfortable to have little or no control in an important situation?
- Do you often react quickly to other people’s words and actions?
- Do you value recognition from other people in your job and in relationships?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then your “I” is imprisoned by someone else’s view (or your own) of L.I.F.E. (I will be defining this acronym in an upcoming blog post).
You are aware of The North Path, or you would not have made it here.
But you are not walking The North Path.
I offer my hand to you, the hand of an “I” that spent many years incarcerated by L.I.F.E., by the world of the “me,” a realm constructed of ego-based, control structures. Some of these control structures are reactions to very human fears. Some of them are indoctrinated into us by society from an early age. Some of them are based on causality, leading to false beliefs that must be reckoned with in order to break free and to find joy.
The renowned philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, believed each belief, each idea, that we hold tight to our intellectual bosoms, imprisoned our minds. If this is true, then we all live in some kind of prison. The only question is: how big can we make it? Together we can make it big enough to find joy and freedom. I fervently believe this. But to do so we have to be vigilant and passionate enough to remove all those control structures that are chaining us and making us sad slaves to our own false ideas, or to those of others.
If I did it, then you can do it. Come along with me and I will teach you how to walk The North Path. It will not be free of difficulty, but it will be your true “I” … walking into the pure, indigo light of true joy and freedom.
Let us walk together and encourage each other.
Yours in the infinite joy of the “I,”
Phoenix Richardson.