Psychic Weight
how igor ticksImagine a weight tied around your body, imagine it dragging behind you, slowing down your motions, preventing you from going where you want to go. Imagine never taking it of, and getting now relief regardless of when you sit or sleep. Now imagine that’s not a physical weight, but instead a mental weight, a psychic weight if you will. Psychic weight are the thoughts that prevent your mind and emotions from being fluid and light.
Types of psychic weight
Aversion and the resistance
Aversion is the desire to not face something. This often results in procrastination, and in extreme cases addiction. When left too long aversion can result in shame, and paradoxically the thing that you refuse to face, can often be tackled, and once tackled feels invigorating.
Personifying emotions can be helpful, and aversion (and procrastination) are personified by the resistance.
Mind monsters
Say you have a prize horse that you’re training to win the Kentucky derby. Do you feed this horse ketchup and peanut butter? Of course not - you need this horse to win so you feed it the highest quality oats you can find. Now, isn’t your mind far more important than a race horse? Surely you shouldn’t be focusing on silly things like anger and ego, these unhelpful thoughts are mind monsters. Make sure there are no mind monsters in your Idle Loop
Triggers
Like the trigger on a land mine, we have thoughts that have caused us damage and emotional scarring. These thoughts are triggers, and when they happen we have a “un realistic” response to them. o
Analogies:
- Land mines
- RSI
- Aggravated sports injury
Open decisions
Open loops
Shame
Pride
Ruminating a parasitic idle loop
Beating yourself up
Grasping
The desire to not lose something - make less money, have someone die. The antidote here is realizing that everything is impermanent, in fact you will die at which point you can keep nothing.
From the prophet:
- For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them to morrow?
- And to-morrow, what shall to-morrow bring to the over-prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
- And what is fear of need but need itself?
- Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?
Antidotes
Separate pain from suffering
Eat the frog
Getting things done
CI/CC (Circle of Influence, Circle of Concern)
Talk it through
Meditation
This too shall pass
Emotional First Aid
Examples from my own life
Bathroom remodel feeling “f@#$” over
During our bathroom remodel, I felt the contractor was trying to f#$ us over, and I got incredibly worked up, I couldn’t sleep for multiple days. Ultimately, the contractor corrected the work, but me getting worked up, just made me a mess.
Insecurity around money
I used to be very insecure about money, I couldn’t buy a 1/2 gallon of milk because it was more expensive per ounce then buying a gallon of milk. And don’t worry, this was happening well into the time I was buying 100$ on my bar tabs.
Needing to finish a self evaluation
Needing to finish a document at work
Small things that got really big
If you don’t do small things, they get bigger and bigger and bigger.
Examples of Pride
Useful thoughts.
- As usual, the 7 habits helps.
- Habits keep psychic weight get handled.
- Grandmother mind