How We Relate

By Scott Coulter I read something the other day that got me thinking about the difference between obsessing over something and being aware of something. In our case, that something is diabetes, but it could be any number of things — our financial situation, relationships, other health matters, careers, you name it. It is so easy to fixate on the thing itself — on diabetes, on our job, on our relationship, etc. — and forget to pay much attention to the MANNER in which we are relating to it. And that’s unfortunate, because it is the manner of how we relate that most directly impacts how we feel, what we think, and how we move forward. Obsessing is… We all know what it feels like to obsess over something. I find it most useful to frame it in terms of how it feels on a physical level. There is a tightness that creeps in when we obsess. We see this tightness in our muscles, in our quickened pace, in our quickened speech, and in our quickly spiraling thoughts. When we obsess our brows furrow, our teeth clench, and our breath speeds up. In terms of our thought process, our view of the future narrows when we obsess. It’s almost as if we are wearing blinders that only allow us to see a few possible roads into the future, a few possibilities, blanking out all of the other possible outcomes. When we obsess, we tend to overdramatize, and overgeneralize. The flexibility needed to see a broad future evaporates, and we see only a tight, narrow vision of ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs