Happy Memorial Day!
I wanted to spend some time with you today reflecting on values. Values inherently lead us to think about the past and future. Many military women and men have died in the past to give us this future. What is pursuing happiness if not pursuing your values? Through my practice of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), I more and more become aware of my pursuit of happiness, my freedom to become the person I might most aspire to be.
And let's be honest... I become more aware of my drive to be who I intentionally set out to be because I'm older and wiser. Every day. Tomorrow I may shift my aim just a bit because yet again I'll be older and wiser. I'll learn from my past because of my commitment to these values.
I recently had a conversation with my sister about this very topic. She told me that she never thinks about how she is intentionally developing herself or creating her pathway across life. She just notices things about herself, and simply accepts that she is who she is. As a psychologist, that's soooo different from me. I have to admit she has great self-esteem.
I notice through my training, I've become aware of the small flinches of unhelpful thoughts that distract me, the uncomfortable feelings that can paralyze me, or the small habits that can become a lifetime of inaction. I would say I have "realistic" self-esteem. My sister is very happy, and so am I. She is very present-moment centered, whereas I try to see the thread connecting myself from the past, to the present, to the future.
ACT is said as the word, to mean "doing." Today's video takes you through a brief exercise that allows you to experience the future you tied by a thread to today's you. By finding what really stands out as important to you across a lifetime, you find your values.
An interesting feature of ACT, and what I really appreciate in my sister, is the ability to give nonjudgmental acceptance to present-moment thoughts and feelings, even when they're uncomfortable. If you do the exercise and you find you're out of alignment with a cherished value, it may be uncomfortable. Just like my sister, accepting the uncomfortable feelings brings a sense of accepting who you are in totality.
What's most interesting about ACT, is if you can see the invisible thread from who you are now to the future you that you cherish, you'll know exactly how you'll want to act to get there. It's like your own personal map for life.
In sum, the acceptance part and the commitment part of act are both important. We're living beings moving along on a journey. I hope you enjoy this brief educational exercise. It's designed to help you understand what ACT is. If you want to learn more, you can establish services with an ACT provider in your state.
Warmly,
Dr. Blevins
Helping you become the parent your child needs
Videos are for informational and educational purposes only. Information is not intended as therapy, healthcare, or psychology of any kind. It does not create a psychologist-patient relationship. While I believe the information and resources I provide from third-party sources is accurate, reliable, and useful, these third parties are solely responsible for the information and services they provide. For this reason, I expressly disclaim any and all responsibility for the content, accuracy of the individual usefulness of this information, and services.
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