Have
you ever felt sort of – or very – stuck in a behavior pattern that doesn’t really
help you or improve your life? What psychologists call “maladaptive behavior”
can be any form of addiction, as well as other patterns you might not think of as an addiction: micro-managing people
or isolating from them, for example. Mal,
as in Spanish for “badly,” plus adaptive = badly adaptive behavior. These maladaptations are
strategies custom-built by a child to manage the stresses of childhood, then grown up to adult versions that aren't particularly effective at coping with adult stress.
Whenever
I engage in one of these patterns, I always hope to realize – ideally
sooner, rather than later – that it’s a sort of IM from my body/mind/spirit that
something is awry. Hello? Carol? Some
Childhood Treasure clearly needs more mining or polishing!
So
what are your maladaptations? Reflect for a moment on the behaviors that make you
think, “Why do I keep doing this?” or “Whoa, something must really be bothering
me.” What behavior provokes the thought, “You know, this is really not good for
me.” Almost anything, even a typically healthy pattern, can be maladaptive when
done in excess, like dieting and exercising to extremes, obsessing sexually, or
sleeping 12 or more hours a day.
“You are sending off energy - emitting energy - right now, from the center
of your being in all directions. This energy - which is you - moves outward in
wave patterns. The energy leaves you, moves through walls, over mountains, past
the moon, and into Forever. It never, ever stops.” ~~Neale Donald Walsch Facebook post, 08/03/16.
This statement is a complete, total, physical-realm, capital-T, scientific TRUTH. I mean that, really: it's physics; it's measurable. And this statement has a spiritual implication of personal responsibility that stuns me with its importance. This unstoppable energy I emit with every breath and beat of my heart: what kind of energy IS it?
Do I fill the world with anger, fear, resentment, blame, and pain? Or do I send out wave after wave of love, joy, gratitude, empathy, curiosity, and enthusiasm?
My energy. My choice.
