Just Because
Do you ever talk just to hear yourself talk? Let's be honest and admit that sometimes we firmly believe that what we have to say is much more important and valuable than what other people are saying. It doesn't matter what age we are, our opinion will always be more valuable to us.
That doesn't mean that we never listen to other's opinions, because we do.
That doesn't mean that we won't ever change our opinions, because it happens all the time.
But it does mean that if someone is voicing an opinion that is different from the one we are currently choosing to entertain, that they'd better have a pretty good line of reasoning to make us even consider a change.
Otherwise, most of what they say is not going to resonate, to stick with us, and they are pretty much just talking in the wind. And we'll stop listening eventually and our inner voice will reassure us that we do, in fact, have the better opinion after all.
So when we talk, we are convinced that what we have to say is more important and worth listening to. My voice is the strongest one inside my head.
I can listen to yours, but once you're out of sight and out of hearing, my voice is what I've got left.
I've got it all figured out, and if people would just listen to me they could save themselves a lot of time and trouble and their lives would run as smoothly as clockwork.
Ah ha! There's the flaw: if we really do have it all figured out, then why doesn't our life run just as smoothly?
That's the crazy thing about life. They keep changing the rules, the players, and the locations on us. Just as you have one little puzzle piece figured out, the puzzle changes and what used to "fit", doesn't anymore.
And I've done it today. I've waxed philosophical on my opinion of having, keeping, changing and giving opinions. But, I like to think I'm flexible.
I will listen to your opinion and consider it carefully for qualities of reasonableness, kindness and balance. If it meets "my" criteria, I may use it to reshape what I believe. Maybe.
It has to go through extensive quality control tests in my conscious, my subconscious, and rigorous practical testing in real-life situations. It sounds exhausting, but really, most of those processes are going on inside your head every moment of the day. You're just not focusing on them. You set them like an alarm clock, and let them run.
But every once in a while, we need to remind ourselves that everything that goes on in our head is not an automatic process. Question that process. Do I really believe that, could I explain it to someone else, would it sound reasonable.
Or is what I think and believe based on someone else's opinions and thoughts. Has it gone unquestioned and unchallenged by me? Is it my own, or someone else's? Or will I say that I believe a certain thing...."just because" ?
That doesn't mean that we never listen to other's opinions, because we do.
That doesn't mean that we won't ever change our opinions, because it happens all the time.
But it does mean that if someone is voicing an opinion that is different from the one we are currently choosing to entertain, that they'd better have a pretty good line of reasoning to make us even consider a change.
Otherwise, most of what they say is not going to resonate, to stick with us, and they are pretty much just talking in the wind. And we'll stop listening eventually and our inner voice will reassure us that we do, in fact, have the better opinion after all.
So when we talk, we are convinced that what we have to say is more important and worth listening to. My voice is the strongest one inside my head.
I can listen to yours, but once you're out of sight and out of hearing, my voice is what I've got left.
I've got it all figured out, and if people would just listen to me they could save themselves a lot of time and trouble and their lives would run as smoothly as clockwork.
Ah ha! There's the flaw: if we really do have it all figured out, then why doesn't our life run just as smoothly?
That's the crazy thing about life. They keep changing the rules, the players, and the locations on us. Just as you have one little puzzle piece figured out, the puzzle changes and what used to "fit", doesn't anymore.
And I've done it today. I've waxed philosophical on my opinion of having, keeping, changing and giving opinions. But, I like to think I'm flexible.
I will listen to your opinion and consider it carefully for qualities of reasonableness, kindness and balance. If it meets "my" criteria, I may use it to reshape what I believe. Maybe.
It has to go through extensive quality control tests in my conscious, my subconscious, and rigorous practical testing in real-life situations. It sounds exhausting, but really, most of those processes are going on inside your head every moment of the day. You're just not focusing on them. You set them like an alarm clock, and let them run.
But every once in a while, we need to remind ourselves that everything that goes on in our head is not an automatic process. Question that process. Do I really believe that, could I explain it to someone else, would it sound reasonable.
Or is what I think and believe based on someone else's opinions and thoughts. Has it gone unquestioned and unchallenged by me? Is it my own, or someone else's? Or will I say that I believe a certain thing...."just because" ?
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