The
Comparing Place describes a process that happens
continuously in the brain. It is happening as you this.
What you just experienced as you read the last sentence
will help you understand the concept of The Comparing Place.
As we experience life, we
are constantly comparing what we want (our Quality World
pictures) with what we've got (our Perceived World). When
the two match fairly well, we feel good. When there is a
mismatch, as there probably was when you read the sentence
above, you feel a degree of frustration, depending on how
important the Quality World picture is to you. That frustration
signal, as Glasser terms it, is felt as an urge to behave
in a way that will help us get more of what we want.
As you read the sentence
above, you probably felt a slight frustration signal when
you read "It is happening as you this." What you
probably want (your Quality World picture) when you read
something is for it to make sense. Since the word "read"
is missing from the sentence, you may have experience a
frustration signal which may have urged you to go back and
reread the sentence. Once you did that, you probably realized
a word was missing and your brain supplied a word that would
make sense in that sentence. Once you did that, the frustration
signal disappeared.
Glasser likens the Comparing
Place to a set of scales. When your scales are in balance,
when what you want is what you have, you continue to do
what you've been doing. When your scales get out of balance,
you feel the frustration signal, the urge to behave.
