starting to define the questions. THE POWER OF OBSERVATION The ability to observe is absolutely critical if you want to change yourself in any way. Observing, in its highest form, is called mindfulness. a meditation term. What it calls It’s for is to clear your mind and simply going on. notice what’s just notice the familiar things. See if you can observe Don’t everything, dispassionately, without an agenda. When you can do that...when you can observe without trying to fit what you see into any preexisting paradigm...it’s often surprising the kinds of things you discover. For example, back in the when you pump 60’s couldn’t your own petrol, drive into the service station near our I’d apartment and have to ask the attendant to it “Fill up.” Some days I could say it perfectly without a hitch. Other days, when the attendant came over, I I was knew going to block, and to resort to starter phrases like, I’d have are can ya fill it up “Mmmm, ahhhh ‘ow ya an’ please.” Why were those days different? If I were focusing only on my speech, never been able I’d to explain it. But by then I was routinely looking at all aspects of the speaking situation. You know what I finally realized? On the days when I was getting on with my wife, I had no trouble. But on days when I was feeling angry or resentful or hurt and was holding all my feelings in, those
starting to define the questions. THE POWER OF OBSERVATION The ability to observe is absolutely critical if you want to change yourself in any way. Observing, in its highest form, is called mindfulness. It’s a meditation term. What it calls for is to clear your mind and simply notice what’s going on. Don’t just notice the familiar things. See if you can observe everything, dispassionately, without an agenda. When you can do that...when you can observe without trying to fit what you see into any preexisting paradigm...it’s often surprising the kinds of things you discover. For example, back in the 60’s when you couldn’t pump your own petrol, I’d drive into the service station near our apartment and have to ask the attendant to “Fill it up.” Some days I could say it perfectly without a hitch. Other days, when the attendant came over, I knew I was going to block, and I’d have to resort to starter phrases like, “Mmmm, ahhhh ‘ow are ya an’ can ya fill it up please.” Why were those days different? If I were focusing only on my speech, I’d never been able to explain it. But by then I was routinely looking at all aspects of the speaking situation. You know what I finally realized? On the days when I was getting on with my wife, I had no trouble. But on days when I was feeling angry or resentful or hurt and was holding all my feelings in, those
how_i_recovered_from.docx