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Scott Barry Kaufman

Scott Barry Kaufman

Scott Barry Kaufman - Psychologist, Speaker, and Best-Selling Author

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Is Tranquility Right for Everyone?

July 2, 2017 in Blog

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I have a very genuine question, something I’ve long wondered. Whenever I tell people that the feeling of complete inner peace and tranquility sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable, and that on average I actually prefer the state of inspiration / excitement / exploration, the immediate, well-meaning response is always “Give it patience, give it time”. To be clear: As someone who has taken meditation seriously for the past year and have benefited immensely from it in terms of quelling my anxiety, I appreciate the spirit of that answer very much. HOWEVER, in the interest of being slightly contrarian and broadening perspectives, isn’t it at least *theoretically possible* that there are individual differences in satisfaction with calmness as a state of being? I don’t know of any studies that have have looked at this issue directly, but isn’t it possible that different fundamental temperaments actually differ in the extent to which, on average, they enjoy feeling the state of excitement/inspiration vs. tranquility/calmness? I’m thinking from a reward sensitivity perspective. If that is true, then is it possibly condescending to tell certain temperaments that they just need to be patient and get comfortable with being a different way? I have never seen a really open and honest discussion about this, so I’m wondering what you all think about this. I am contemplating doing a study on individual differences in the striving for calmness / mental clarity. I reckon there are some temperaments that genuinely thrive more on high energy and urgency. With that said, when it comes to the emotion of anxiety, and the mental state of mental disorganization, I’m pretty sure everyone would like to improve those states, and meditation can be such a big help for that as a tool at certain times.

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