Tag Archives: open minded

Suspending Your Belief

There is a skeptic in everyone. The voice inside questions the validity of everything and the intentions of everyone. It is natural to doubt things because we protect ourselves from avoidable forms of suffering. There are times it is appropriate to have questions about something. Otherwise, people would continually take advantage of you. But like everything, there is a balance you have to strike in life, to selectively suspend your disbelief to allow new ideas to reach you. Think of the great things you might experience if you allowed just a little bit of change into your consciousness.

We Suspend Belief All the Time

One of the great things about this process is we have a lot of practice at suspending belief. Any time you watch a movie or show on Netflix, you suspend belief. You know the situations you are seeing are not happening in reality and that the people you are watching are only pretending to be the characters you are viewing.

Yet, people are still moved to tears by the action that unfolds. People allow their emotions to rise and fall with the characters’ plight on the screen. A viewer can sympathize and empathize with a fictional character, suspending your belief in the experience. How many people have seen a good movie and think that a pleasant experience? This is a skill I am encouraging you to develop in other areas of your life.

Growth Comes With New Ideas

I often break life down into simple things for me to be able to understand my journey better. When it comes to development, you go one of two ways, growth and getting better or stagnation and getting worse. There are very few times we are sitting in neutral and staying precisely the same. Growth can happen naturally, like when you are a child, all you have to do is wait for time to work its magic, and a person physically transforms throughout their life.

Intellectually it is not that simple. Without new input, we are sentenced to experience the same old things. Suspending belief for a short time to allow further information to enter your intellect will allow you to evaluate things rationally. Each piece of data can be weighed and measured, and one can choose to use it or not. Either way, they understand it, and there will be natural growth in that understanding.

Stubborn

I have often been accused of being stubborn about my beliefs in life. People like to hang onto the known because it gives them a false sense of security. If the recent pandemic has taught me anything, we have no idea what security is. Everything you know can be wiped away in an instant. It is up to us to learn what information is valuable and what is not.

Growth can result from any suffering if we allow for the addition of new information, new experiences, and unique points of view. I know not one person who has experienced no change over the past two months. It has been stressful for many, looking outside and seeing danger everywhere, and some have found strength. If I can handle this, then I can take anything. Facing this new situation with only the past paradigms will lead to a frightening and frustrating experience. Allow further information in, then decide for yourself what makes sense. Let your heart determine what actions are right for you and whatnot.

Conformity Is Limiting

The choice to avoid new information or, worse, only to accept the point of view of someone else (the media, the government) leaves you with nothing but limitations. There is a comfort in conformity, everyone agreeing on a mode of action. Anything different is frowned upon or even outlawed, but we will get the answer to cure the problems we face through nonconformists. It won’t come through hanging onto the past. It won’t come through judgment, ridicule, or treating people poorly.

I have seen many efforts to force conformity on everybody since mid-March. Many celebrities and government officials urge people to stay home, social distance, wash their hands, and wear a mask. I am sure there is value in all of these things, but we don’t have enough information to know how this will all play out. Unfortunately, that will never happen until this is all over, and then we can say what should have happened, which didn’t. Anyone who claims to know what will happen is fooling themselves.

Growth Recipe

I am for letting people operate at their level of comfort. If the current circumstance frightens you so much, being in public makes you nervous, then stay home and avoid all of this whenever necessary. If you have a higher level of comfort, get out and see what the world is doing. It has been my experience. Life is full of challenges, illness, uncomfortable moments, and fear. Overcoming them is a part of growth, and following the crowd blindly is a recipe for disaster.

Today, try to suspend your belief and allow something new to filter into your reality for just a short time. Try to challenge the paradigms you are living through and see if a method makes no sense. You may find you were right all along, and learning this is also growing. If you do the same things you always have done, think the thoughts you have ever felt, and believe what you have always accepted without question, it leads to stagnation. Any belief we hold without question will end up limiting you. You may have the correct answer for everybody if you suspend your belief for a second and allow a new breeze of thought to blow through your mind.

“It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief.”-  George Bernard Shaw

“It is now life and not art that requires the willing suspension of disbelief.”-  Lionel Trilling

“The more you can create that magic bubble, that suspension of disbelief, for a while, the better.” – Edward Norton

“I guess love is the real suspension of disbelief.” – Melissa Bank

 

Freedom Time

freedomAsk almost anyone, and one of the things they want in their life, more than anything else, are feelings of Freedom. But when you think about the concept of Freedom, what exactly does the word mean for you? Most would agree with the standard dictionary definition: the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. I know that is what I envision.

We are left with determining what hinders us or restraining us from speaking, thinking, or acting how we want today. Freedom does not come to any person without responsibilities; we are always responsible for our actions, whether they be of Freedom or not. So let’s think about Freedom for a while and what we need to do to experience it in all areas of our lives, right now, today.

What Freedom Looks Like

All of the actions we take, the words we speak, and the thoughts we think are choices we make. We are, in fact, free to do, say, or think whatever we want. But some factors tell us we are limited in what we can do. When you think about Freedom, it will have some particular characteristics attached to it. For example, Freedom is oriented toward the future. Once a barrier is broken, the yoke of restraint is cast off. You will never be affected by that restraining thing again. This idea is constantly created through a realistic perception. Not fearful, but practical. You can quit your job right now, but it is not realistic with no plan to support yourself and your family. Many stop right there and stay in limited situations for the rest of their lives. This location is where you plan your escape and move toward Freedom. You can be responsible and accessible at the same time.

Freedom will require a person to step into the possibilities of life firmly and with resolve. See the potential in all situations and take action to make these things a reality in your life. Not someday, but today. When you look honestly inside of yourself, the things that are stopping you from finding this Freedom are usually self-perpetuating fearful thoughts about what might happen or what someone else might think. By placing new situations in your life and honestly evaluating how you feel about them. You have the choice to seek out the supportive emotions you have or the ones that do not support your Freedom. Allow for the new feelings of a situation to arise in you and honestly see how they feel. They may be a perfect fit right away, or you may have an adjustment period. Freedom allows you to start defining who you are. Are you honest? Are you kind? Are you supportive of others? or do you choose something else? These are all questions that Freedom will answer for you. As your awareness grows, you will know what fits you and what doesn’t. That is what freedom feels like.

Are You Ready for Freedom?

The short answer for most people is, heck, yes! But are you? You are ready for Freedom when you are excited by whatever is happening or will be happening in your life. You know the feeling that something beautiful, upbeat, and all-around fantastic is about to take place in your experience. You will feel more awake in your day-to-day existence and aware of all things floating in and out of your choices. If they are honest, each person has had a feeling inside of them that will guide you exactly where you need to go. You imagine what it will be like to go where you want to go, do what you want to do, and say whatever it is you want to say. The images come to you from a place of knowing and that place inside of you. The key is to let your mind be quiet so that you can hear what your heart is telling you.

You will know you are ready for Freedom when a change is the only real option for you and that moving forward is a done deal to you. No words, actions, thoughts by another could discourage you. You are ready to move forward and accept the responsibility for the Freedom you want to make a part of your life. Even though you haven’t experienced it yet, you can’t wait to share what you seek to achieve. Remember that Freedom does not include pretending. All thoughts and imagination should be focused on natural, tangible things and followed with action. Action always separates reality from those that are acting. Don’t get overwhelmed with specifics and details. All of those things will take care of themselves. Too much thought leads to doubt, indecision, and a significant lack of Freedom.

Be Responsible

All acts of Freedom are responsible and never put people at undue risk. For example, leaving the people you have commitments to do something else is not Freedom, and it is irresponsible, mean, and shows a lack of character.

Freedom is a way to achieve the ability to say, act, and think whatever you want. You don’t have to be foolish to do this. Janice Joplin once said Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. I can’t entirely agree with that thought. When you have nothing left to forget, there is little choice involved. Why not act? True Freedom comes with options and responsibility. That is the way of life. Seek your Freedom and enjoy it when you find it, but know that everything comes with a price. Approach it in the right direction, and the price will be enjoyable to play as well.

 “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”—Charlotte Bronte 

 “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”—Virginia Woolf 

 “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”—Mahatma Gandhi

“The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.”—Aung San Suu Kyi

 “Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”—Ayn Rand

“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of print. It gave us more Freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.”—Margaret Atwood

“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” 

 

What If

What If…….

what-ifThere are questions we ask ourselves all of our lives that can haunt us if we let them. What if that decision was wrong? What if I shouldn’t have done that? What if I had tried out for the chess team in high school? What if I said yes?

There are a million of these questions that can consume your time. Still, they don’t add up to anything in the end because the fact is whatever you are “what if-ing” about didn’t happen, will never happen, and so should concern you about as much as what the weather was in Borneo in the year 1656.

There are many other what-ifs you can worry about that could make a difference in the world, and I think I would instead focus on those.

What if ………..

kind wordsOne kind word from you could make someone else’s day or even save their life. You never know the storm that is brewing underneath the surface of anyone.

Their surface smile could be hiding a storm of emotions below.  One kind word or gesture could be the human contact they needed to keep moving forward. There are many words we let slide with no thought or regard for their destination and potential impact. Speak as if your words could save a life. What if that were so?

What if………….

gratefulInstead of thinking about the things we don’t have, we spent time being grateful for the things we do have. I have seen people make gratitude lists, and it changes the way they look at the world. Gratitude has the power to transform the way you feel about things.

They do not have to be monumental, giant things, be thankful for the little things.  Being alive, a peanut butter sandwich, coffee, or whatever little things bring you comfort and joy throughout your day.  In most philosophies, gratitude is the key to abundance. What if we all were a bit more grateful?

What if………….

Bring down the barriers that enslave us all freedom is priceless to all creaturesThere were no separations between people. That means that nobody grouped anybody. Instead of being sectioned off because of your age, nationality, economic status, or color of your skin, recognize we are all members of one group, human beings.

When you look for differences among people, you find separation. Separation is the first step toward discrimination because it creates us vs. them mentality. The smaller the circle of us becomes, the more likely we are to have a problem.

This is true for any conflict of every size, including the race riots of the 1960s to economic conflicts of today. What if there were no separations between people, just people?

What if………….

governmentThe people who were elected to represent the people represented the well-being of the people.  In the United States, the government and big business have become synonymous in a definition.

What if that wasn’t the case, and they were focused on helping people who live here as much as they are concerned about helping themselves.

Should any person in our country be hungry? Should any person have to fear suffering from domestic violence? Is there any good reason that the educational system is broken beyond repair? Children treated with kindness and hope would change the world.   What if we had a representative government that represented the people and not big business?

What if………..

urlPeople spent more time using the most potent force in the universe, love. Instead of choosing to participate in activities like gossip, discrimination, judgments of others, or worrying about what is in it for me?  Imagine spending their time focusing on understanding, kindness, acceptance, and what they can do for others.

How different would the lives of every person be if they spent all of their effort on spreading loving-kindness? Hatred can only be defeated by love, not more hate. What if people spent more time thinking and acting with respect?

What if it is a question that we can ask all of the time? Some inquiries can be used to hold us back or be used as a catalyst to find the best in ourselves and others.