Emotional Agility - Susan David
I came across an interview with Lewis Howes and Susan David that was quite wonderful, so i will share some of her points here:The World Health Organization predicted that depression would be the #1 cause of disability by 2030. It reached that number in 2017, globally. This reminds me of something Charles Eisenstein said in TMBW, "When the conscious mind cannot find a reason to say no, the unconscious says no in its own way. More and more of us cannot bear to stay in the “old normal” any longer."Is this what's happening?
- the only certainty is uncertainty
- 1/3 of us judge our emotions instead of feeling the feeling
- Emotions allow us insight, leading us to be able to tweak things; they are the tools that help us communicate with ourselves; beneath our difficult emotions are signposts to things we care about
- Emotional Rigidity - when our emotions, stories and thoughts drive us, rather than our intentions, values and who we want to be in the world
- Victor Frankl - between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose.
- Emotions are data points, not directives; saying there are right or wrong emotions is like saying your right leg is better than your left leg; Rather, open your heart to feel the full range of emotional experience
- Allow yourself to be
Practical tips:When you say, "I am ______" (insert emotion), we are saying that ALL OF ME is _____. But it's simply not true. Seeing it as just that one emotion takes away the space between stimulus and response.Instead, notice the thoughts and emotions that are present.- notice that I'm feeling sad- notice that I'm feeling angry- I'm noticing the thought that I'm not good enoughA healthy relationship with emotions is about being compassionate with ourselves, recognizing we are doing the best we can with what we've got. Create a space inside where you can fail.Susan ends off with a South African greeting, Sawubona, which means, "I see you, and by seeing you, I bring you into into being."Thank you. :)