Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Dec/Jan 2019 Aspire Magazine Final | Page 54
8. B
LACK-AND-WHITE THINKING We
see everything in categorical terms, with
no shades of gray, few options, and no
possibilities of compromise. This rigidity
in thinking, which can lead to a serious
derailing of response flexibility, is also
known as neural cement.
9. I NABILITY TO DISCONFIRM We are so
rigid in our opinions that no new information
can change them.
You may recognize similar patterns in your
thinking.
EXERCISE: IDENTIFYING
THOUGHT PROCESSES
THAT DERAIL
RESILIENCE
1 R
eview the list above. Identify any
of these patterns you recognize
as operational in you or in people
you know, without attaching any
shame or blame. For now, simply
acknowledge any patterns you
identify that you might want to
rewire later.
2 P
ick one pattern relevant to you
that you’re willing to investigate; it
need not be the one that is most
difficult for you.
3 T
rack this pattern in your thinking for
a week. Notice when this pattern
is operating in your thinking; notice
when it’s not.
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BECOMING AWARE
OF YOUR COMMON
PATTERNS OF
PERCEIVING AND
RESPONDING, AND
ACKNOWLEDGING
THEM IN YOUR
CONSCIOUS
AWARENESS, IS
ESSENTIAL IF YOU
WANT TO REWIRE
THEM.
Becoming aware of your common patterns
of perceiving and responding, and
acknowledging them in your conscious
awareness, is essential if you want to rewire
them. Steadying your awareness with more
and more difficult objects of awareness is
reflective resilience.
Mental constructs can be very stable and
long-lasting, more like the climate you live
in than the weather that changes from day
to day. Emotions that might flit through your
awareness in a matter of minutes or half a
day (weather) can settle into a longer-lasting
mood (climate). The moods we deem negative
—depression, discouragement, despair—
are the ones we’re more likely to notice and
want to shift than the lighter-hearted moods
of joy or contentment.
As human
preferences,
www.AspireMAG.net | December 2018 / January 2019
beings, we adopt roles,
priorities, and goals that