In my last post, I discussed a question I got from a client regarding the positive power of negativity. After reading my post he responded with this,
“I guess my problem is that I choose to suffer, get pissed off, become the victim, scream, ‘Why me!!!’ or go into a state of hopelessness…”
Here’s my response:
It’s not your problem that YOU choose to suffer, get pissed off, become the victim, scream, “Why me!” or go into a state of hopelessness… It’s your Drunk Monkey’s problem. The problem you have is that you think what The Drunk Monkey is doing is important, real and valid.
With further examination you discover the what The Drunk Monkey does is just automatic biology. No different then pooping. You don’t make pooping mean anything. It’s stinky, nasty and inconvenient. You just accept that your body does this and you make room for it in your life. So it is with your thoughts. They are angry, judging, vengeful, upset, pissed off, worried, annoyed etc. This is all a mechanism for avoiding potential danger. The only problem is, you are not in danger.
Give The Drunk Monkey Space
So you just give The Drunk Monkey the space it needs to whine and complain, make everything and everyone wrong and be worried. Then you just go about your day, skipping, happy-go-lucky… knowing that The Drunk Monkey is just doing its job, in a world where it has become irrelevant.
One Comment
I think you’re right on. It’s so much easier to just let the Drunk Monkey do it’s thing than to battle it out. As with pooping, if you don’t resist it, you usually feel better afterward!
Dr. Brant