Beyond Polarisation

In a time of change, so many diverse ways of thinking are around ...often with quite contradictory approaches.

I came across what appears like a dilemma of thought today, in scanning a magazine of recent releases in the 'alternative thinking' scene.

There were loads of books advocating the kind of thoughts that how we think ( either positively or negatively) is the major contributory factor to health and well being. Then another book which was advocating the flaws of this apparently positive way of thinking...the fact that it can so easily make people feel guilty about being ill as they have 'caused' the problem, thus compounding their problems, the reality that there are millions of children born into adverse conditions before they even have time to form their thought processes and therefore their illnesses cannot possible be explained away in these terms.

It struck me yet again how easy it is for views to polarise, to become in direct opposition, one to the other ...that one must be right and one must be wrong. How easy it is to become dogmatic in the face of the flaws in the 'opposite' argument.

This caused me to review how important it is to realise that we only ever have parts of the picture, and that to stay open to the ever growing truth of life is embracing the reality that at best, we only ever have a fragmented and partial view....it may need many different overlays on the same situation to come close to any true appreciation...particularly in a time like today where out terms of reference are expanding so rapidly.

In this particular stand off,surely one can accept that our mental and emotional states does affect our health dramatically, whilst taking on board that our cultural, physical and genetic background are a huge influence too. Life ranges from the physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual ....we are all unique individuals, yet appear in a particular culture and moment in history. Perhaps,one could say, some are privileged in that they can explore the wider range of human individuality and possibility whilst many others are severely limited by the needs of physical survival because of the place and circumstance of their birth.