Neutral Is Not Negative
You may have gathered this by now, but my natural response to people and situations is one that’s positive. Sometimes, annoyingly so:
The water softener finally bit the dust, and we woke up to water spilling all over the floor? Well, gee, isn’t it great that we were home and able to stop it before the whole thing emptied?
Unexpected strangers come to the door to share scripture just as I arrive home inside to a surprise dog accident and intensely barking guardians? Hey, isn’t this a perfect reason to stay outside, in sub-freezing temperatures, for a gracious and very short interaction?
The budget took a hit by installing a new septic drain field? Yes, but isn’t it awesome that we only had to put in a new mound system, the tanks and lines didn’t need to be replaced?
Things could always be worse. And yet…
Sometimes I struggle with how to best respond. I suppose these are boundary issues that I get to practice. Although my natural response to others is positive, sometimes a person just has to say, “Enough.”
The problem is, I don’t want to be mean. Insensitive. Overbearing. But guess what? — I’m actually not being any of that.
Kind or cruel, compassionate or callous — it’s not one or the other. Not being Pollyanna does not automatically make me a Mean Girl. There is indeed a space of neutrality in between. As an empath, this can be an extremely challenging idea to wrap your head around.
But here’s my Aha — neutral is not negative.
Neutral is not withholding. It is not closing off. It is not dispassionate non-involvement. Neutral is not the exclusion, the separation that I was afraid it was — by saying No, by not plugging in to another’s emotional need.
Neutral is calm. Centered. Grounded. Neutral provides a place to stand in my own truth, without absorbing yours.
That’s an incredible space to come together from, and to go forward with.
What can you participate in — or not, and send blessings to instead — from a neutral space, today?
gina drellack 