Just For Today. V.A.T.
What if, rather than being dictated by our automatic thoughts, every action we took today was mindfully connected to our principles and values of choice?
True mental freedom can never be about disputing thoughts and fighting against them. True freedom is the learned ability to difuse from the content and notice the nature and pragmatic usefulness of a thought. If it’s useful, go ahead and act on it; if not, then accept its presence and pass. Quite simply, you are not your thoughts; you have your thoughts.
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) promotes mental liberation via the practise of a higher perspective and an observant self (called defusion). The paradox is that the less you oppose thoughts, the less they stick around.
Our minds are filled with thoughts, most of which are in service of anxiety, fight-or-flight instincts. Our minds have been evolving for a long time, but they are still lagging behind in terms of modern living. There is rarely any risk that necessitates dread, rage, worry, or paranoia, but our minds are incapable of accepting that rationale. They are preoccupied with identifying and mitigating any risk, even if it is merely an idea in the first place.
To choose to open up to our values in the present moment is a practical, adaptive, and compassionate way of living. We must practice because our minds do not do this automatically.
Values serve as a lens through which to evaluate the effectiveness of any ideas. The basic choice is whether these thoughts pull me closer or further away from my principles. On this anvil of truth, one can act with confidence.
Bill Stevens