What Is Collective Duality?

The title to this blog post, ‘What Is Collective Duality?,” is tricky.

Why?

Well, it is because I made it up for the contents of this post. Since you haven’t heard of it before it should be of interest to you. Going from a state of unknowing to knowing is a great, psychological win.

Let’s talk about dualism first, and to be elementary about it, here is its definition:

1. the division of something conceptually into two opposed or contrasted aspects, or the state of being so divided.

2. the quality or condition of being dual; duality.

We live in a dualistic world. Think: Good/Bad, Should/Shouldn’t, Yin/Yang. Throughout life we are constantly faced with decisions. These decisions are typically put on a scale with one option outweighing the other in a positive or negative way. Sometimes these decisions are made over several days, months, years, and sometimes we make them in an instant. We inherently want to make the positive decision in that we know good from bad and the consequences of both. However, we tend to let the ego get in the way which can sometimes lead to making negative decisions for ourselves.

What made me decide on the term Collective Duality?

I came up with this idea because I believe we are a collection of decisions that we make throughout our lives. You would be hard pressed to find someone who made more positive decisions than negative decisions in their life but are constantly living with a negative mindset in an unhappy life.

On the other hand, if someone continuously makes negative decisions it sets the stage for a negative life. We have all seen this happen to people around us, maybe even ourselves. It starts with one bad decision and then it snowballs to many and before you know it you don’t even know the person anymore. Of course, drugs can influence this negative decision snowball by 10X in no time. This is why illicit drugs fall into the negative decision side of the scale for me.

We all make bad decisions and none of us are perfect.

Add me to the list of imperfect persons. I grew up knowing right from wrong but I made a lot of bad decisions early on from graffiti, to stealing, to illicit drug use. I saw these bad decisions start to set the stage for a negative life and I was lucky enough to notice it, set my sails against the wind of negativity, and change direction. If you asked me today if I was living that negative life of my past I would proudly tell you , “No.” Today I live my life going from one positive decision to another and I have not been happier.

Take 10 minutes today to take inventory of your life and your decisions to date. If you find that you have made negative decisions that may be influencing a negative life for yourself, don’t worry. The first step is to notice that you have filled yourself with negativity. Knowing is great because it lets you actively make room for change. Start today to make a collection of positive decisions whether it is pushing the plate away when you are full, or not smoking that cigarette, or waking up tomorrow morning to start your day at the gym.

In order to be who you want to become your decisions need to reflect that outcome. Begin rewriting your story today by keeping your Collective Duality in mind as you go along. Once upon a time…