1. Fear is a bad thing. We must push through or ignore our fears. We shouldn’t listen to the part that is afraid.
Fear needs to be heard and understood before it will move forward.
Often that is all that is needed to release the block once and for all.
2. Change can happen only through pushing and force. We’ll never change if we let up on ourselves.
Change never happens through force. Opposition and force just create more resistance. “What we resist persists”. When we support the resistance, it relaxes the hold it has on us so we can make the changes we want.
3. Being stubborn is bad. We must overcome it and force ourselves to do what is right.
Stubbornness is an admirable quality of persevering in the face of opposition. It expresses an inner strength that can be utilized when needed.
4. Self criticism, guilt and shame are necessary to goad the lazier parts of us to do what is right.
Often we judge and try to override our “lazy part” in an attempt to get rid of it. This is where the saying “ what we resist persists” applies. In this case we are resisting the resistance and only enhancing it further. The more we criticize, guilt and shame ourselves, the more we keep the block in place. It ensures that the criticized part will not be heard, and everything will stay the same.
5. We intentionally sabotage ourselves as if there were parts of us that want us to fail and be unhappy.
There is no part of ourselves that want us to fail or hurt us. All parts are ultimately on our side and want what is good for us. Bringing attention to these parts with a compassionate and curious attitude instead can often loosen up its grip and begin the process of release.
6. We, or parts of us, really are “lazy” or “lack discipline”, and that is the problem. Will power and discipline are all that is needed.
Will power and discipline keep us stuck when they come from identification with a part of ourselves rather than our whole self.
In an action block, there is a part of you that isn't being heard. Ironically, that's the same part of you that seems to be in charge: the one that isn't taking action. It has you in its iron grip, and yet it's lonely, isolated, unacknowledged. No one has really asked it yet, "How come you're so set against taking action?"
Adapted from Ann Weiser Cornell
“The Power of Focusing”
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