The overall purpose of themiddlepath.net is to forward an up graded version of human consciousness and behavior. The current version is one I refer to as “Survivalist.” A survivalist consciousness was crucial to humanity’s struggle to endure as a species. It is characterized by a ferociously hardcore, competitive, fragmentation of nature—the ancient Reptilian brain. It is “Us” against our environment, and against others of our own species in a bitter competition for survival. However, what was once necessary for our survival is now poisonous!
All of my clinical work is driven by one purpose: maximizing wellbeing in life. And, the key to superior wellbeing is emotional management.
By “maximizing,” I mean on ongoing life process. As good as things get, they can always get better. If one area of life becomes perfect, there will always be other areas to work on. By “Wellbeing,” I mean all the best stuff, like a healthy mind and body, material sufficiency, great relationships--especially with yourself--creativity, fun, and the jewel in the crown, peace of mind. By “In life,” I mean the inclusion of others and our physical environment as part of self. As individuals, we must come first in our lives. But there is no superior wellbeing to be had if others around you (and even elsewhere) are doing poorly. And, naturally, there is no superior wellbeing in a seriously degraded environment.
The best way I know to ensure superior wellbeing is to learn how to manage your emotions. In spite of how we commonly talk about feelings, emotions are a complex, over arching biological system or process that helps determine our behavior. Included in this system are thoughts, physical reactions and sensations, and even behaviors.
The problem generally with the human emotional condition today—your problem and mine--is that we have evolved and are programmed in a way that is no longer suitable to our current situation on this planet. During our struggles to survive as a species, what evolved was what might be called a “survivalist” consciousness, the old kill or be killed reptilian brain. We needed a survivalist consciousness because of the ferociously hostile environment we evolved in. To survive, we humans became super anxious—like bunnies—super ferocious—like sharks—and rampant—like weeds. Not only did our ancient survivalist ways help us survive, we thrived and became top of the food chain. The irony, and the problem, is that now that we having finally “arrived,”many of the emotional ways that got us here are no longer appropriate. Many of them are, actually, iatrogenic—a medical term meaning that something once a cure, is now a poison.
I can’t say what will happen to our species, but Emotional Management—EM--is designed to bring your brain into the 21st century. In the process of managing, and ultimately transforming the way you are emotionally, EM will help you deal with persistent emotional and behavioral problems, chronic barriers to your wellbeing.
The course is spoken word and accompanied by a written manual. I have put the introduction to EM on this site for you to download. I am currently in the process of completing the course.
Click Here to Download The EM Course. The document is PDF format, and if you do not have the PDF viewer you can download it here.