Freedom, Choice & Flexibility

Imagine if you have a fear of flying. You would probably do everything you can to avoid taking a plane. Avoiding airports or taking planes isn’t very freeing is it? You’re not really in a position of choice because your options for travel or going on holiday are being reduced by your fear. The same would go for any fear; we deliberately take steps to avoid doing something [because it’s too scary], so in fact we’re being forced to follow a particular route of action.

The same goes for a negative emotion. Let’s say you absolutely hate dishonesty in others. You wouldn’t be free to be dishonest if the need came up because you hate it too much! You couldn’t choose to be dishonest because, as far as you’re concerned, your only option would be to be honest (not helpful if a robber in a black and white stripey top is asking you for the combination code for the safe) and this is all because your thinking isn’t flexible enough (and hence your behaviour) to allow for times of creative dishonesty in your life.

Often, it’s our inability to act with freedom, choice, and flexibility that causes us stress and angst. By neutralising the negative thought, feeling or emotion, we restore our ability to act with freedom choice and flexibility with it and it’s this which enables us to be mindful in our lives. Living mindfully will not only help us to live with less stress, but it also means that we’re better able to respond to what life brings us moment to moment.

Head Trash is ANYTHING that prevents you from thinking or behaving with freedom, choice & flexibility.

Neutrality

When I first learnt about neutrality, I thought it meant feeling neutral about something. It’s easy to see why, but that’s not quite it. In fact neutrality is the opposite of polarity so perhaps this is a good place to start. Here are some definitions of polarity;

Polarity

1. the state of having or expressing two directly opposite tendencies or opinions, etc
2. the presence or manifestation of two opposite or contrasting principles or tendencies.
3. the positive or negative character of a word or other item in a language.

So it therefore follows that neutrality is the absence of these two aspects.

Neutrality is achieved when we are free of emotionally charged, thoughts, feelings and emotions. Strong fears, stresses, worries, limiting beliefs and emotions all trap us in a mode of behaviour that is not always helpful to us, or those around us.

Once we are free of the inherent polarity of these emotionally charged, thoughts, feelings and emotions, we are free to experience neutrality and this gives us freedom, choice and flexibility in our thinking, feeling and behaviour.

Neutrality = freedom + choice + flexibility

Once you have cleared the excess emotional energy around something, you’ve achieved neutrality which frees up your thinking and therefore your behaviour.

The Basic Framework

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