action and reaction

November 21, 2005

Miriam says:

>>It is when I or another seems to over-react to

another's behavior that draws attention more to the

person in reaction than to the, what?, " react-ee? " <<

--It's often helpful to imagine the situation without

the person who is seen as the problem... could an

observer infer something about that person by the

reactions of others? If so, the environment has been

sucked into the person's problem and will likely keep

them stuck. Some people are so good at getting their

environment to reflect their own dysfunction back to

them that a perfectly healthy person wouldn't be able

to climb out if their mind were suddenly transferred

into that person's body.

>>Makes sense, as re-act seems to come from

unconsciousness " wanting out " more than from conscious

progressive ability to " come towards with passion "

(compassion).<<

--It seems common for people to put on armor,

believing their environment is a hostile one, and for

that armor to trigger other people's armor, and so on,

back and forth until the whole thing escalates and

nobody can see the other person's underlying humanity.

It's possible our species will destroy itself, or at

least its current standard of living, through that

kind of escalation. Seeing through all the armor to

what's underneath is a rare ability, and being able to

act on that insight is even rarer.

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Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

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