Many people find this pleasure in travel, and there is the mutual exploration involved in a developing relationship, in mind and body. In the arousal-seeking state, frustrations are deliberately confronted, in order to overcome the barrier which they represent. Imagine a rock climber coming up against an overhang, a scientist discovering something intriguingly anomalous in the data, an artist finding a technical difficulty that must be resolved to achieve the desired effect. It could be said that the whole of sport is based on frustration - that created by the opposition, and difficulties deliberately built into the structure of the sport. This may mean smoking or drinking when it is not allowed, saying something provocative or risqu , trespassing in a private field, going through traffic lights on red, pretending not to hear an order, wearing the wrong clothes, smuggling something through customs, complaining in a restaurant.
Few sensations can compare to the ecstasy of resistance or rebellion, when they are heart-felt.
At its best negativism represents people's refusal to be less than they could be, their obstinate commitment to freedom and self-determinism. What these active strategies have in common is that they all involve the individual in gratuitous problems, difficulties and challenges. Move on to The Gamut of Emotions . Return to Transforming the Mind - Contents .