Emotional Scripts

Our deepest wounds are often self-inflicted.

They provide a stage upon which we impose and reenact elaborate emotional scripts. We play out our — and cast others into their — respective roles (hero, victim, micromanaging authority figure, etc), over and over again, without thinking.

When we’re on-stage our actions, beliefs, and behaviors are impulses driven by a strong emotion — typically fear. We can’t trust our logic during this time, because the lizard brain takes over and only lets in information that reinforces our fear. All other evidence is either rejected or bent and twisted to conform.

This is human experience we all share.

We are capable of breaking the cycle.

We can outsmart evolution, but it’s hard and it takes practice. When you find yourself reciting a familiar script, just notice. It seems deceptively simple, but recognizing that your response is disproportionate to the actual circumstances is the hardest part.

Resist the urge to fix it or repress it. Let it be. It’ll become easier to let it go and move on.

Feel it in the moment and unhook yourself. Small changes can make a big difference.