Living in the Gray

My apologies for being such an infrequent blogger!! I'm back though and hoping to get on a regular blogging track now. 

One thing I've known about myself for a long time now and frequently remember my dad saying to me when I was younger was about how I tend to view the world and situations in "black or white." What does this mean exactly? Those of us that suffer from this form of extreme thinking tend to think in extremes and all-or-nothing thinking. I honestly used to view this as a primarily positive characteristic I had, but looking back I am able to see just how greatly it limited my life. 

I'm a Type A, change-hating, perfectionist folks. So are the ladies I work with. So, black or white thinking tends to go along with those other traits.  Don't get me wrong, this way of thinking can and has helped me achieve goals and dreams.... But what it really does is limit and hurt me more than anything else!! Let's get real here.... How often do we truly encounter extremes in life? They just don't happen that often and if we force ourselves to continue to think in this way, we end up becoming rigid, inflexible, and our anxiety just skyrockets when the "unexpected" happens. When we continue to think in these terms, life actually seems kind of bland and colorless. 

So, I know what you are thinking.... What do I do about this?? Don't worry! There is help! It's calling "living in the grays." In reality, life happens on a continuum where they are various shades of white AND black (gray)!! If we can start to acknowledge that truth exists on both sides of the extreme and begin to find the middle path, we can open to our lives to infinite opportunities!!! Just think about all the possibilities!! 

How will you start to identity all the shades of gray in YOUR life? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is it me? Am I the crazy one?

Funny how certain themes tend to weave their ways into various settings. I'll have the majority of my clients talk about the same theme during a week. Sometimes, it stirs up something in me too...that gives me additional insight into one of my own struggles. This particular theme has been one I myself have personally struggled with during different seasons of my life (just manifesting itself differently now) and one of my clients has continued to struggle with at various times in her life.  Things clicked tonight in our session... At least for me... Think she's still processing it. ☺️ One of my favorite sites is a site called "Elephant Journal," filled with various stories and blogs. Yesterday I came across this one.... http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/10/i-am-not-who-i-once-was-who-we-become-after-trauma/  (sorry I'm not tech savvy enough to do a hyperlink on my phone! 😬). If you don't feel like reading the entire post, it's basically about how someon...
Read more

Attachment

Attachment.  It's a word I hear frequently in my work as a psychotherapist and as a yoga teacher.  As a therapist, I've used it in the context of an individual having an attachment disorder, unable to bond with others.  This can be a result of many things, abandonment, neglect, or abuse just to name a few.  There are attachment disorders which can result in a myriad of issues during one's life.  However, I am not going to be focusing on these types of disorders today.  Today, I want to focus on the concept of "non-attachment" which is something that is always buzzing around in the yoga world.  Long story short here with some Yoga History... there are 8 limbs of yoga... the physical practice of yoga (asana) is just ONE of the ways to practice yoga.  There are many other ways, including the Yamas and Niyamas, which is basically the "dos and don'ts" in life.  It's like a moral compass if you will.  Aparigraha is one of the Yamas and it ...
Read more

Move On.... Or Move Forward?

"Move on" or "I need to move on from this." Or even worse...the dreaded "you should just move on!" Phrases we commonly hear these days when we've encountered something difficult or traumatic in our lives.  But how do we do this? A few months ago, I decided I was quite annoyed by this phrase. I don't like the idea of "moving on" as it feels as if I'm leaving something (or someone behind). I also don't believe in regrets. Every choice I've made, every difficult situation I've encountered has been a part of who I am today and what has helped me to be where I am today.  With loss, there's the notion that we are expected to "move on." How can we do that when the loss is so significant that we can't possibly imagine how to do that! To me, it seems and feels, that I'm leaving the person behind, that I'm also somehow betraying that person and their memory. (More on that topic later though) So the way I se...
Read more