RE: Re: Buddhist quote--self-esteem

[Guest guest]

Getting into the business of managing your thoughts or feelings (including

self-esteem) so that you can live most effectively is a little like managing

clouds so you can live most effectively. There may be some level of cloud cover

that is optimal for working, but clouds are notoriously hard to manage. And,

while we have our hands and eyes pointed up towards these unruly puffy objects,

we trip over obstacles that could be avoided and miss small things we could love

that lay right there at our feet.

ACT is like working when there are clouds and when there are no

clouds....including the clouds that say... " I don't like it when it is this

cloudy! "

peace all,

G.

205 Peabody Building

Psychology Department

University of Mississippi

Oxford, MS 38677

ph:

fax:

academic homepage:

www.olemiss.edu/working/kwilson/kwilson.htm

also check out

www.onelifellc.com

www.mindfulnessfortwo.com

www.facebook.com/kellygwilson

www.tastybehaviorism.com

www.abnormalwootwoot.com

[Guest guest]

- DEFUSION sounds like managing thoughts into useful and unuseful categories; or buying or not buying thoughts. Have I taken too much license with the words? BillTo: ACT_for_the_Public From: kwilson@...Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:38:18 -0500Subject: Re: Re: Buddhist quote--self-esteem

Getting into the business of managing your thoughts or feelings (including self-esteem) so that you can live most effectively is a little like managing clouds so you can live most effectively. There may be some level of cloud cover that is optimal for working, but clouds are notoriously hard to manage. And, while we have our hands and eyes pointed up towards these unruly puffy objects, we trip over obstacles that could be avoided and miss small things we could love that lay right there at our feet.

ACT is like working when there are clouds and when there are no clouds....including the clouds that say..."I don't like it when it is this cloudy!"

peace all,

G.

205 Peabody Building

Psychology Department

University of Mississippi

Oxford, MS 38677

ph:

fax:

academic homepage:

www.olemiss.edu/working/kwilson/kwilson.htm

also check out

www.onelifellc.com

www.mindfulnessfortwo.com

www.facebook.com/kellygwilson

www.tastybehaviorism.com

www.abnormalwootwoot.com

[Guest guest]

I think defusion is a little broader than that. Without getting to technical and geeky (which I am very capable of) it is the extent to which thoughts rigidly organize behavior and insulate it from contact with other things that are going on. Defusion is the lessening of that relatively rigid control that thoughts exert over behavior. Defusion techniques facilitate the loosening of the death grip of these thoughts. One thing that comes out of that is the ability to notice whether a thought is useful or not. But watch it....you can become fused with the ABSOLUTE NECESSITY of getting the sorting done right.kind regards,

G. 205 Peabody BuildingPsychology DepartmentUniversity of MississippiOxford, MS 38677ph: fax: academic homepage:www.olemiss.edu/working/kwilson/kwilson.htmalso check outwww.onelifellc.comwww.mindfulnessfortwo.comwww.facebook.com/kellygwilsonwww.tastybehaviorism.comwww.abnormalwootwoot.com

- DEFUSION sounds like managing thoughts into useful and unuseful categories; or buying or not buying thoughts. Have I taken too much license with the words? BillTo: ACT_for_the_Public From: kwilsonolemiss (DOT) eduDate: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:38:18 -0500Subject: Re: Re: Buddhist quote--self-esteem

Getting into the business of managing your thoughts or feelings (including self-esteem) so that you can live most effectively is a little like managing clouds so you can live most effectively. There may be some level of cloud cover that is optimal for working, but clouds are notoriously hard to manage. And, while we have our hands and eyes pointed up towards these unruly puffy objects, we trip over obstacles that could be avoided and miss small things we could love that lay right there at our feet.

ACT is like working when there are clouds and when there are no clouds....including the clouds that say..."I don't like it when it is this cloudy!"

peace all,

G.

205 Peabody Building

Psychology Department

University of Mississippi

Oxford, MS 38677

ph:

fax:

academic homepage:

www.olemiss.edu/working/kwilson/kwilson.htm

also check out

www.onelifellc.com

www.mindfulnessfortwo.com

www.facebook.com/kellygwilson

www.tastybehaviorism.com

www.abnormalwootwoot.com

[Guest guest]

Yes!!!! Leave it to an engineer/contingency planner to take something simple and "boil it down" into something complex/difficult. Thanks /Randy et al for the steadying clarity. BillTo: ACT_for_the_Public From: public@...Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:01:04 +0000Subject: Re: Buddhist quote--self-esteem

> Defusion techniques facilitate the loosening of the

> death grip of these thoughts. One thing that comes

> out of that is the ability to notice whether a thought

> is useful or not. But watch it....you can become fused

> with the ABSOLUTE NECESSITY of getting the sorting

> done right.

& Bill et al,

I think the writing has done (Mindfulness For Two,

Things Might Go HT Wrong, etc.) speaks to this in another

way, too - i.e. the ambiguity and uncertainty which is

inherent in the world, and to which "minds" often react

(well, mine sure does) by attempting to set up rules, seek

and hold onto consistency without noticing when consistency

has become rigidity and no longer tracks with the world, etc.

And I'm reminded of something Steve wrote on this list

a few months ago about life - something that comes back to me with

increasing pertinence:

"This is not about being a good boy and getting a gold star."

Small words, big implications.

-Randy