Bubble

An Acceptance and Commitment Metaphor

Imagine that you are a soap bubble. Have you ever seen how a big soap bubble can touch smaller ones and the little ones are simple absorbed into the bigger one?

Well, imagine that you are a soap bubble like that and you are moving a long a path you have chosen. Suddenly, another bubble appears in front of you and says, “Stop!” You float there for a few moments. When you move to get around, over, or under that bubble, it moves just as quickly to block your path. Now you have only two choices. You can stop moving in your valued direction, or you can touch the other soap bubble and continue on with it inside you.

This second move is what we mean by “willingness”. Your barriers are largely feelings, thoughts, memories, and the like. They are really inside you, but they seem to be outside. WIllingness is not a feeling or a thought — it is an action that answers the question the barrier asks: “WIll you have me inside you by choice, or will you not?”