If Not, Can You Increase It?
People are most comfortable when they have autonomy, that is, when they are in charge of themselves. Children lack autonomy to varying degrees depending on their age and on their parents’ childrearing practices. Adults lack autonomy to the extent that they are constrained to schedules and duties not of their own devising (entrepreneurs and the otherwise self-employed have an advantage here). Although having maximum autonomy does not in itself guarantee comfort it certainly helps. How so?
By Enabling an Optimal Stimulus Level
Comfort occurs when one is experiencing an optimal stimulus level. If your work is too demanding, it is overstimulating. And if it seems boring, that is because it is understimulating. Those who are voluntarily unemployed or retired may initially enjoy the comfort of their autonomy but they will need to generate additional stimuli to remain comfortable.
The Situation with Children is More Complex
Their ability to enjoy autonomy is limited as they are not yet able to take care of themselves. They need to be protected from over- and understimulation by an adult. When a child is very excited about something, he is over-stimulated. He works to discharge this tension and regain an optimal stimulus level by talking or shouting, or running around; his parents would hopefully understand why he is behaving that way. When a child doesn't have enough to do, he is under-stimulated (bored), and needs to be provided with some activity that will help him regain an optimal stimulus level.
How Can You Maximize Your Autonomy?
Are there adjustments you can make at work? Or should you change your job? What about at home? Is your time there your own? Or is your autonomy compromised by the needs and schedules of others? Are there changes you can make there? If you aren’t working, are you flexible and creative enough to take advantage of your autonomy?
An Inner Guide Can Maximize Your Autonomy
If you have been following my blog, you have read about how, using the Emotional Comfort® Tool, you can create new mental pathways in your mind that can help with various problems. It is also possible to create a very special mental pathway, which I call an Inner Guide, that can gradually solve all of your discomforts and problems, without your having to create each individual pathway. An Inner Guide does all the work for you.
Soon I will be offering a course, Achieving Emotional Comfort®, that will show you how to create your own Inner Guide. In the meantime, keep using the Emotional Comfort® Tool because, by developing a regular practice of self-hypnosis, you'll be assured of success when you create your own Inner Guide. If you don't already have it,
GET THE EMOTIONAL COMFORT® Tool
