If I did not view mine or other's opinions as facts, what would I do?
This question as honestly helped me through my anxiety attacks so I wanted to share❤️
We all have those critical thoughts in our heads. Most of us believe these thoughts as if it was our own and we believe them to be true. Therapists call them "automatic thoughts'' which, just to be clear, are overly critical thoughts that just pop into our heads. The truth is these thoughts are here because our brains are always trying to perfect ourselves. It's a survival tactic which sometimes turns into something that's counterproductive. It can be catastrophic for some. We need to realize that these thoughts are opinions, not facts.
These opinions are not our souls speaking nor is it something that feeds the soul. Our brains are different from our souls/true self. Our brains are a part of our human body, our souls/true selves are separate from that. Our brains are constantly having an internal dialogue with our soul/true self. This is why certain things that are thought of are just automatic thoughts.
They are just neural pathways that can be rewired through our conscious acts and by questioning the automatic thoughts.
We are all human, therefore, we should not view others' opinions as facts either. Personally, I struggle with this one and need validation a lot. This is something I am working on. In fact, both quotes (the one above and the one I just mentioned) are equally as important and liberating when you really think about what you would do.
Personally, I think I wouldn't care so much about what other people have to say (especially if it was negative). I might take into consideration, but I wouldn't take it so seriously. That goes the same with my automatic thoughts. I feel like I would be a much happier individual. I probably would change my fashion sense to something maybe a little more alternative and I wouldn't be so afraid to be out in busy public places. This question makes me feel better about doing these things.
What would you do? Comment below if you are comfortable sharing!
@sellistens Buddhist thought says that a source of suffering is attachment to a view of “self” and attachment to “views” in general. If one says, “I am this and I am that” (whatever this and that may be) then it might be very constraining. You might have more freedom if you you can “drop” some of those ideas. Similarly we have strong attachments to our views of the world. This doesn’t mean we won’t have ideas of who we are or views of right and wrong or whatever. It doesn’t ask us to ignore them. Our views are much like automatic thoughts. We learned them over a long period of time and some protect us, but some do not. Pay attention to views, but don’t regard them as “truth”. Perhaps regard them as phenomena. Everyone has views and we all struggle with the often unseen suffering they cause us. The right kind of attention to our views can make them have less of a hold on us. This can even be unsettling because if I don’t treat some of my views as being truth then won’t I in a sense loose myself or this “protection” I think is in my view. I probably have not stated these ideas well.
@hopefulPond6108
I think you are very wise. Thank you for sharing. I've always been interested in learning what other religions have to offer because I believe each religion shares a piece of the truth. I will definitely remind myself that I need to let go of some ideas that do not serve me and that my truth is not the whole truth.
Thank you