Underststand

[pljames]

How does one determine one is insane if one thinks they are sane? I am tired of living with this thought. I try to live by common sense common logic and rational reasoning. But my rationality seems to be ill rational. I am on my last nerve. I do not ask for problems yet they happen. Sometimes I feel I should be institutionalized. This e-mail is one of these times. Sometimes we are happy sometimes in total emotional chaos.The question is...Why?

I feel I need to be in therapy for the rest of my life.  Twenty years ago I hand a head trauma. I don't take my medicine like I should thinking I do not need it but I really do.
Feedback please. pljames

[sakoz]

pljames; A while back you told us you 'transcended' "ego", that is, witnessing consciousness "pulled back" or "out of" 'ego'. Now your  'melded' back "in". ( It's difficult to stay "out" of ego.)
Just remember when you were "out", how "good' that was. Make notes, or print out your above post and contrast it to when you shift to a 'higher perspective'. (You might even laugh then)

The day you reported 'transcending' ego; did you notice if ego could see it was being observed? Of course not, ego would need a image of the observer, in this case, consciousness being invisible would not be recognized by ego, it's a one-way, asymmetrical.

[slinkysally]

How does one determine one is insane if one thinks they are sane? I am tired of living with this thought.

Well, it can be difficult to tell sometimes if there are problems with the ways in which one thinks and feels (i.e. whether or not one is "insane") because these types of definitions ("problems", "disorders", etc.) are things that can really only be determined through one's relations with other people. It's how typical one's thoughts, feelings, behavior are, in comparison with other people, that form the basis for these classifications.

The nature of the problem very well could make it harder for the person themselves to classify themselves in this manner... but the fact that you would be wondering these things evidences the fact that there are certain things in your life, certain things about yourself, that aren't satisfactory, perhaps they are causing pain or suffering, or are keeping you from living the life you want to live....

I think the important thing here is to forget for a moment these types of considerations ("Am i insane?" "How could I tell if I was?") and put some focus directly on the concrete things in your life. How would you most like your life to go? What kind of person do you most want to be? What kinds of people are in your life currently? How do you behave? How do you feel? How do you feel about change?

Things like that. We could go through this stuff, see what we find, and go from there. Setting out clear goals and spending some time assessing the specifics in your life opens the door to being who you want to be.

[rethinkPERFECT]

My two bits worth is that I have been working on a concept that I call Rethink Perfect - The Upside of Uncertainty for Friends, Colleagues or Lovers.

I have to admit that dealing with uncertainty is a difficult thing. But I agree with Slinkysally and forget about such huge questions with such black and white answers as "I am insane" or "I am sane", I don't think life was meant to be so simple especially dealing with us humans.

I am 52 and have spent most of my life trying to understand uncertainty and balance between dichotomy (black and white) thinking. Now some people might consider me insane or far from sane but I would say they have their own problems that they are dealing with. It is very hard to judge accurately.

The biggest "trick" I have found to finding a more pleasant life is to get some rules of engagement when dealing with others. I think that I can trace all the failures in my past relations to not having such agreements in place before I engaged with them. Working out your own rules of engagement i.e. how you would like to be treated is another story of uncertainty and can take a life time to work out.

Anyway, uncertainty is not a dirty word it just takes a lot of patience to learn to accept, but I am not certain about that!

[sakoz]

Uncertainty  related to Unknowing?

This may sound trite, ( but not to me). "Shifting" to a higher perspective/understanding puts us in the position of "puppeteer";- and 'ego', conditioning, habits as the "puppets"
From higher perspective, "we"use 'ego', conditioning, habits as 'artifacts' instead of vice versa.

I would like to know more about Rethink Perfect.  ( reframing comes to mind, any semblance of similarity?)

[rethinkPERFECT]

Rethink Perfect comes from a theory I started with, some 26 years ago, called "I could be wrong" and from this seed of thought it has grown a whole idea/concept for dealing with relationships. I have yet to test it with someone of the opposite sex but as with all ideas, it seems resonable to me (its author).

You can find it at rethinkperfect.com under the Contents link. I spent the last two years putting together the outline of a book and I am looking to take it for a test run while I am on my mating cycle.

It is mainly based around getting rules of engagement agreed to of which I have found 6 words beginning with A that seem to provide all I need to keep me "happy".

Three A's for speaking:
Adjustable, Accountable and Acceptable language

Three A's for responding:
Appreciate, Acknowledge and Apology



My brother & me have formed these agreements and trialed them and they seem to work, so far.
No point coplaining after the fact when I can complain responsibly by preempting break downs in
conversation before they occur.