Everything we do comes with a judgment. The funny thing about judgments is that they aren’t objective. Something that I consider good might not be good for another person. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. A good question to ask regarding these judgments is where they come from. A lot of our judgment comes from an emotional reaction. Disgust is a great example. When we see something that isn’t pleasant to the eyes or in terms of taste, we instantly have a negative emotional reaction and then label the object of our reaction as bad. What if we were to live a life where we weren’t emotionally triggered by what we deemed good or bad? Having a more neutral outlook can change how we view life.

A neutral mindset observes thoughts, events, and experiences without instantly labeling them positive or negative. This does not mean we suppress our feelings or pretend not to care. It’s a practice to see things as they are rather than what we think they are. It’s all to be more objective in our subjective perspectives. What’s the biggest benefit of a neutral mindset? Many of these include a less proclivity to think negatively and reduced overthinking. Something I think many of us truly need.

The Ups and Downs of Life

If you were to break down our lifestyles into the most common denominator, how would you describe it? The lifestyles we create are all built on gains and losses. We take action to gain or lose something. That’s it. We work hard to gain more money. We exercise to lose weight, and we go on dates to gain love. I can continue with the examples, but please let me know if I’m wrong. Our entire lives are predicated on what we gain and what we lose. Whether this dynamic is wins and losses, success and failure, or right and wrong doesn’t matter. It’s all incredibly binary. It’s either one or the other. Once we realize this is a fact of life, we can stop much of the anxiety we incur as we grow. When something goes wrong, we panic. When something goes right, we praise it. Our life then becomes an emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs. A neutral mindset puts us on even ground.

I’ve written that detachment is the greatest form of love. Here, I will tell you why. Detachment isn’t an indifference to life. It’s quite the opposite. Detachment is a curiosity towards life in such a way that we don’t react to life but observe and respond. Love comes with an appreciation and allowance of what is to be. If we react, especially negatively, to what is, we don’t allow ourselves to love our current situation. When we detach, we detach from our triggers so that we can first pause and then respond with empathy and clarity.

Questions and Responses