05-23-2016, 10:47 PM
The last 2 or 3 nights I've had some intense dreams working on some ongoing blockages. One of the patterns that I ended up 'crystallizing' had to do with the phrase in the title of this thread, that of "Stymied Causation".
The second word first: "Causation". Causation is a thing or quality by which we associate our actions and intentions. For eg, if we have one of those cards (work identity card, public transport travel card, even a credit card) with a magnetic strip, then it will give us 'access' at the appropriate check points. We 'scan ourselves' in, and a barrier opens, or a door, or whatnot. That's what I mean by 'Causation'. We take a particular action or thought, and we expect a certain Result to happen as a consequence. It's the moment of action.
By "Stymied" I mean in the sense of thwarted, or non-successful. So in the example above, something that is "stymied' would mean that nothing happened when you scanned your card, or an error message results, or it doesn't recognise the card as being valid.
So, in short, the phrase "Stymied Causation" is pointing to the same sentiment or experience as that of "Frustration"; I was just trying to tackle it in terminology and concept in a more explicit way.
/ /
So everyone knows what Frustration is. In young kids, it usually results in anger when things don't go their way. They cry, they shout, they throw a temper tantrem. They want something, but their mother or father says no, or they can't have it straight away. Either way, they respond.
In adults, the response to "Stymied Causation" can be more varied, and associated with reactions that may not be so obvious that Frustration is actually the underlying Cause.
In Reality, the real world, "Stymied Causation" is going to come up all the time, because the world rarely ever conforms 100% with the Model of Expectations that we have in our heads. So we take a particular action, and the world doesn't respond exactly (or at all!) to our input, and we experience the phenomena of "Stymied Causation". For someone who has the attributes of being "flexible", "adaptable", "easy going", they will recognise the feedback, and take the appropriate change in approach. It's no problem to them, but it's seen as just another way to align more naturally to their surroundings and other people. They change their approach.
For someone who might be relatively fixed and 'rigid', they might register the "Stymied Causation", but choose to keep doing their own thing, or not try to adapt. There may be other reasons in the mix for why they don't choose to register or acknowledge the "Stymied Causation".
I can give an example from my own perspective. Growing up in an Asian Culture, I was exposed to the notion that one shouldn't complain or make a fuss. In fact, to cause too much attention on oneself as a youngster was an invitation to some kind of physical punishment. And so when 'frustration" was experienced by me, it was kept inside, and it was learnt just to be buried and "disappeared". And this in turn meant burying the adaptive feedback that "Stymied Causation" offered, because I wasn't allowing myself to feel the frustration, and then altering course as a means of working with that frustration.
One of my close friends has a different defensive mechanism against "Stymied Causation". Instead of experiencing the anger in full that happens when things don't go one's way, they turn it into Sarcasm, and use the energy to lash out at others or things. It becomes intensely destructive. Anger in itself is quite fiery; but in my friend, it is actually channeled and becomes a tool of destruction. As you might imagine, it has caused a lot of issues for him throughout his life, as it was a (maladaptive) response to "Stymied Causation".
When I look at my Night Shift Manager, one of the things that makes him so effective a Leader is how he deals with situations that aren't expected and that throw a spanner in the Works. He is cool under pressure, even when key IT systems are failing, and can evaluate and adjust to things, moment by moment, with feedback from other staff. He is truly adaptive to circumstances. "Stymied Causation" is not an issue for him; it's just the means by which he comes into moment-by-moment alignment with Life. And his approach is not just at work; I know this is the personality approach that he has.
/ /
In depression, each "Stymied Causation" becomes another reason seen by the Individual that the world is against them, that they are ineffective, and that nothing that do makes a difference. In a way, they even stop trying to change their Situation, because their inner belief patterns have configured around past failures to accept that "Stymied Causation" is just a given, and they have no real say or input into how things will play out. Every new "Stymied Causation" is just another piece of valid evidence to justify their state of consciousness; that they are ineffective, and it's all futile. Nothing can change, because it's been 'proven' in the past that when they tried to do something or fulfill a goal or dream, that it just failed. They were Stymied, and their power or ability of Causation is a non presence.
/ /
So in truth, how we deal with Frustration is a local personality issue. But it's a secondary pattern. Allowing ourselves to experience the core pattern of "Stymied Causation" is what allows us to experience the authentic and honest feedback that Life is always providing us. Things are always in flux, and so we are always going to be stymied in some situation or another. Things will be late, something will not be present on a store shelf, we will have computer problems. Some people get angry and break things, others get sad and blame themselves. But if we allow the truly resonant "Stymied Causation" to be acknowleged and registered, we can then be truly in the moment with the facts and the parameters around us. And then take the most appropriate course correction that we think we have available; which may include getting more information (from others, from google) before we can make a suitable action. But it's not about being paralyzed and getting swept up in the secondary Emotions/Feelings, which is most often happens when we have developed these secondary response mechanisms to "Stymied Causation".
We can choose a different approach, once we are aware of this Phenomena. In fact, it seems blatantly obvious now, writing about it; but before these dreams and deeper insights, I didn't really have a way of grappling with the Concept.
Again, to others who are flexible and adaptable, this may seem the most obvious thing ever
But for others who were exposed to more punitive childhood situations, and not blessed with parents who were flexible and adaptable and well-reasoning, various associated emotions may have been inlaid at a very deep level.
So those are just my thoughts for now!
The second word first: "Causation". Causation is a thing or quality by which we associate our actions and intentions. For eg, if we have one of those cards (work identity card, public transport travel card, even a credit card) with a magnetic strip, then it will give us 'access' at the appropriate check points. We 'scan ourselves' in, and a barrier opens, or a door, or whatnot. That's what I mean by 'Causation'. We take a particular action or thought, and we expect a certain Result to happen as a consequence. It's the moment of action.
By "Stymied" I mean in the sense of thwarted, or non-successful. So in the example above, something that is "stymied' would mean that nothing happened when you scanned your card, or an error message results, or it doesn't recognise the card as being valid.
So, in short, the phrase "Stymied Causation" is pointing to the same sentiment or experience as that of "Frustration"; I was just trying to tackle it in terminology and concept in a more explicit way.
/ /
So everyone knows what Frustration is. In young kids, it usually results in anger when things don't go their way. They cry, they shout, they throw a temper tantrem. They want something, but their mother or father says no, or they can't have it straight away. Either way, they respond.
In adults, the response to "Stymied Causation" can be more varied, and associated with reactions that may not be so obvious that Frustration is actually the underlying Cause.
In Reality, the real world, "Stymied Causation" is going to come up all the time, because the world rarely ever conforms 100% with the Model of Expectations that we have in our heads. So we take a particular action, and the world doesn't respond exactly (or at all!) to our input, and we experience the phenomena of "Stymied Causation". For someone who has the attributes of being "flexible", "adaptable", "easy going", they will recognise the feedback, and take the appropriate change in approach. It's no problem to them, but it's seen as just another way to align more naturally to their surroundings and other people. They change their approach.
For someone who might be relatively fixed and 'rigid', they might register the "Stymied Causation", but choose to keep doing their own thing, or not try to adapt. There may be other reasons in the mix for why they don't choose to register or acknowledge the "Stymied Causation".
I can give an example from my own perspective. Growing up in an Asian Culture, I was exposed to the notion that one shouldn't complain or make a fuss. In fact, to cause too much attention on oneself as a youngster was an invitation to some kind of physical punishment. And so when 'frustration" was experienced by me, it was kept inside, and it was learnt just to be buried and "disappeared". And this in turn meant burying the adaptive feedback that "Stymied Causation" offered, because I wasn't allowing myself to feel the frustration, and then altering course as a means of working with that frustration.
One of my close friends has a different defensive mechanism against "Stymied Causation". Instead of experiencing the anger in full that happens when things don't go one's way, they turn it into Sarcasm, and use the energy to lash out at others or things. It becomes intensely destructive. Anger in itself is quite fiery; but in my friend, it is actually channeled and becomes a tool of destruction. As you might imagine, it has caused a lot of issues for him throughout his life, as it was a (maladaptive) response to "Stymied Causation".
When I look at my Night Shift Manager, one of the things that makes him so effective a Leader is how he deals with situations that aren't expected and that throw a spanner in the Works. He is cool under pressure, even when key IT systems are failing, and can evaluate and adjust to things, moment by moment, with feedback from other staff. He is truly adaptive to circumstances. "Stymied Causation" is not an issue for him; it's just the means by which he comes into moment-by-moment alignment with Life. And his approach is not just at work; I know this is the personality approach that he has.
/ /
In depression, each "Stymied Causation" becomes another reason seen by the Individual that the world is against them, that they are ineffective, and that nothing that do makes a difference. In a way, they even stop trying to change their Situation, because their inner belief patterns have configured around past failures to accept that "Stymied Causation" is just a given, and they have no real say or input into how things will play out. Every new "Stymied Causation" is just another piece of valid evidence to justify their state of consciousness; that they are ineffective, and it's all futile. Nothing can change, because it's been 'proven' in the past that when they tried to do something or fulfill a goal or dream, that it just failed. They were Stymied, and their power or ability of Causation is a non presence.
/ /
So in truth, how we deal with Frustration is a local personality issue. But it's a secondary pattern. Allowing ourselves to experience the core pattern of "Stymied Causation" is what allows us to experience the authentic and honest feedback that Life is always providing us. Things are always in flux, and so we are always going to be stymied in some situation or another. Things will be late, something will not be present on a store shelf, we will have computer problems. Some people get angry and break things, others get sad and blame themselves. But if we allow the truly resonant "Stymied Causation" to be acknowleged and registered, we can then be truly in the moment with the facts and the parameters around us. And then take the most appropriate course correction that we think we have available; which may include getting more information (from others, from google) before we can make a suitable action. But it's not about being paralyzed and getting swept up in the secondary Emotions/Feelings, which is most often happens when we have developed these secondary response mechanisms to "Stymied Causation".
We can choose a different approach, once we are aware of this Phenomena. In fact, it seems blatantly obvious now, writing about it; but before these dreams and deeper insights, I didn't really have a way of grappling with the Concept.
Again, to others who are flexible and adaptable, this may seem the most obvious thing ever
But for others who were exposed to more punitive childhood situations, and not blessed with parents who were flexible and adaptable and well-reasoning, various associated emotions may have been inlaid at a very deep level.So those are just my thoughts for now!