It’s not easy to be objective when you’re looking for insight within yourself, especially when you feel as if you’re on the edge of an enlightenment of sorts. It is easy to get wrapped up in the emotion of the moment and to view each habit, tendency, or reactions from a place of defense and justification.
Here is a lesson I’ve learned from my Yoga practice that allows me to be able to look at characteristic tendencies I have from a third party perspective, which then allows me to create some real change of habits. I have learned that no matter what the situation is, it is important to place no judgment on the habit, tendency, or reaction to the situation. Defense and justification come from a place of judgement on one’s self and by taking that judgement away, it is as if the habit, tendency, or reaction is neither good nor bad. Instead, they just are.
In other words, there are no “right” habits, tendencies, or reactions, and therefore no “wrong” ones either. Once there are no “right” and “wrong” judgements on your solutions, you allow your mind to see a fuller scope of the situation and evaluate your solution with a neutral stance. Identifying the habits you’d like to change about yourself isn’t hard, sometimes it seems as if life is a constant reminder. But when you can identify them through a neutral view point, you can come up with reasonable and incremental steps through which to create real change.
I like the saying, “there are no rights or wrongs, there is only reality”.
Why is this helpful?
Everyone is their own harshest critic, that’s the saying, isn’t it? But if we are able to proceed with evaluations from a neutral place, we are able to get a more well rounded idea of the situation and create some real change.
The other side of the coin
Taking away the judgement on your actions, when coming from a place seeking change, also allows you to give yourself a break, if you will. Being kind to yourself and allowing for change to happen in small increments is a sort of self love, and real self love is the only channel through which I’ve experienced long term change.
What is a situation that you have come up against that has helped you later in life because it gave you a perspective to another situation you were been confronted with at a later time?