For what it’s worth…
First world living has made us lose touch with what is actually terrifying…
we sit on our computer chairs staring at one or more screens and think up all kinds of what-ifs while the most terrifying thing we actually experience is a slight pang of hunger that has us rushing to the fridge. Society has placed us in a cocoon in which we are almost completely disconnected from life’s more traumatic triggers (the untimely death of a loved one, having to unwillingly confront our own mortality) and the trigger we are most likely to experience is a “slow-burn” sensation of dissatisfaction with some aspect of our healths, careers, and/or our relationship with ourselves and others.
Our friends, family and even significant others while well-meaning couldn’t possibly be there for us every step of the way… they are on their own journeys and are best served by others willing to play interdependently with them. Interdependence assumes independence. We must master independence.
The rational first step in becoming independent is learning how to read and analyze ourselves (cultivate self awareness) and figure out at what level of awareness we are playing. Once we’ve exhausted taking stock of ourselves… then comes the hard part of asking… what don’t I know?
In THIS video, Derren Brown applies a method that is simple but rarely used effectively.
1. Trigger – treat any occurrence that puts you off balance as something to reflect upon
2. Realization – recognize that there is a problem and what about yourself is the issue
3. Visualization – create a picture of a future that addresses your realization
4. Allow – Accept what manifests regardless of the context in which it shows up and use it to generate a successful outcome
5. Cultivate courage (taming of fear) by doing something terrifying
6. Test courage repeatedly until the problem you realized you had seems insignificant and easily surmountable
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 for the rest of your life.