THE WHITE TIGER: THE SUM OF ALL FEARS...
True suffering is being trapped in your own head - Adam Snowflake
Being Eaten by a Bear
Fight Flight Freeze is your AUTONOMIC nervous system. It is your automatic nervous system. It does not need your beautiful and ingenious cortex to function - in fact, it will take your cortex off line so that you will survive.
It will prevent you from thinking that it is a better idea to make friends with a bear, by inviting it into the cave for dinner, rather than running from it, so you do not become it’s dinner, ie Timothy Treadwell. It will OVERRIDE/HIJACK conscious thought to get you (your thinking brain) out of the way.
Stuck in a Hijacked Mind
In the presence of insecure/unsafe/risky attachment, Fight Flight Freeze gets stuck in the “ON” position. (As discussed in The Foundation Series - 1, The F-Word, The Foundation Series - 2 and Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned) Fight Flight Freeze [FEAR] will become our DEFAULT setting. In other words…it becomes a State of Being. That State of Being is ANXIETY.
From the Outside Looking In
Sometimes, the best way to understand something, as it is reflected in our own life, is to see it played out in the life of another.
This week, the post is going to be a little bit different.
This week, you are invited to watch a living example, that demonstrates all that The White Tiger has been iterating since the first post.
You are invited to watch a documentary.
Chasing the Present
In “Chasing the Present,” James Sebastiano, Jr sets out to find a solution to his persistent and sometimes crippling anxiety.
The point of the documentary is to chart James Jr’s journey in his struggle with anxiety, however the portion that is amazing and fascinating is the witnessing of the dynamic between James Jr and his father, James Sr.
It is the dance of insecure attachment. We are given a front row seat to watch the painful drama caused by the unsuccessful struggle to connect, played out on a real life stage.
It is a high value exercise, as you can literally SEE what The White Tiger has been teaching. The visual adds impact, which, in turn, adds another layer to the depth of understanding.
Spoiler
James traveled the world, looking for understanding of, and an answer to/solution for, his anxiety…the entire time, the answer was sitting across the table from him in the diner.
The solution was/is never outside of one’s Self-the solution always lies within. It does not require magic carpet rides, months with gurus, or primal screaming.
Getting Unstuck
The road that leads to Psychological Suffering is paved with the Sum of All Fears -Fear of Rejection - which manifests as unrelenting ANXIETY. It matters not whether the thrum of anxiety is waxing or waning, low or high, clinical or subclinical, it is persistent. It is stuck in the “ON” position.
The process of getting unstuck begins by understanding that you are not broken. There is nothing “wrong” with you. You are just stuck in Fight Flight Freeze.
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The White Tiger is written sequentially. To gain the greatest understanding, it is recommended, and helpful, to read The White Tiger beginning with the original post forward. All preceding posts can be accessed by clicking this link https://substack.com/@thewhitetiger