← Walking the Middle Path
Dialectics
Two things that seem opposite can both be true. Acceptance AND change.
The ideas
- There’s always more than one way to see a situation.
- Everything is connected.
- Change is the only constant.
- Change is transactional — you affect your world, and it affects you.
Both can be true
- I’m doing the best I can AND I need to try harder.
- I can be independent AND want help.
- I can be mad at someone AND love them.
- I can accept myself AND want to change.
- I can disagree with a rule AND follow it.
How to think dialectically
- Ask Wise Mind: what am I missing? Where’s the kernel of truth on the other side?
- Swap “either-or” for “both-and”; “always/never” for “sometimes.”
- Make small changes on purpose to practice — a new seat, a new route.
- Let go of blame by looking at the many causes behind behavior.
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