“It Is What It Is”
When I hear people say “it is what it is,” it is often said with an air of dismissal, of invalidation of the dis-ease the person is experiencing because of a difficult situation. It is a collapse response - our mind and body saying that there is nothing we can do and so we must surrender because there is no other choice.
Are you “processing,” or are you ruminating?
…Sometimes, however, we almost lose time cognitively analyzing something - that fight we had with our boss or colleague and how many outcomes we can imagine instead, or that embarrassing thing we did in high school that still rides the nightly thought carousel when we’re trying to fall asleep. These re-imaginings can feel like a scratch on a record, can get our heartbeat racing, and can interfere with our ability to be present in the moment at hand.
Moralizing Mistakes
Where did you learn to moralize your mistakes? At what point in your life did you learn that making a mistake means something about who you are as a person?