Balance is the most underrated skill.
The more I come to know myself, the more I realize I tend to be a binary creature. Black or white, light or dark, love or hate. I find that my brain tries to react, and control all information and experiences, assigning them a simple binary value.
I (and we) do this because as our world becomes more complex, there are so many details to manage, and it’s easier for our brain to manage simple details, rather than complex equations. So, in order to try to make sense of our world, and our place in it, we simplify the details.
It constantly requires observation and modulation from my higher self (frontal lobe) to restrict, control and modify the binary nature of my lower self (limbic system/primitive brain), because reducing things to a binary structure often leads to an over-reaction to a complex small event, which in turn can intensify smaller oscillations (events) into larger problems (oscillations).
Frequently, I find that when I am afraid of something, I tend to see that something in the binary values I assign to experiences, and I react according to that perception, when it may not be there, or it is there on the periphery of potentials, but I see it as an absolute because of my fears.
To quiet my fears, and find balance, requires courage, acceptance and stillness.
So I meditate to find stillness, use courage to face my fears, and acceptance to allow the fear to wash over me, and remain after it has gone.
I try to balance.
And it’s very, very hard.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings