Sometimes We Need To Not Listen To Ourselves
We evolve by contradicting and challenging our own thinking
The one being we are not hesitant on listening to, is ourselves. We listen to those musings and respond to them by acting on them, and at other times, by not acting on them. Either way, we do end up listening.
As logically as we may try to defend ourselves, it holds true, that we are driven by emotions. As humans, we are innately motivated by the way we feel about things.
We compartmentalize our reactions to stimuli based on how we feel about them. And so, we think to ourselves, “If this feels good, this might as well be good”. It is through these monologues, that we listen to our own selves.
But think about it…
Is “feeling good” enough as a factor to guide our decisions?
If that is so, why do we get injections? They are painful, and they certainly don’t make us feel good. Or why do we pull ourselves off the bed in the morning? It is comforting to stay warm under the blankets instead. We do not question things as ordinary such as these, because it is a part of our system already, in a way as obvious to us as breathing itself.
In the same way as getting injections and getting off the bed in the morning, what may not feel good, could be for our well-being.
Conversely, what may feel good could be against our own well-being; such as avoiding an injection when our ailment requires us to get it or staying in bed the entire day.
A line from a track, “Counting Stars” by the band “One Republic” goes something like this:
“I feel something so wrong doing the right thing…”
Sometimes, the things that do us right and the things that encourage us to grow for our well-being, may even sound wrong and feel wrong.
This feeling of “wrong” can be paralleled with a feeling of discomfort. The discomfort that arises from considering notions that are contrary to our own. The discomfort that arises from considering to break our old patterns, that we have worked so hard to sustain. The discomfort that tries to uproot our belief systems.
And it is comforting to soothe that discomfort by returning to our old ways of thinking, by listening to ourselves.
It is in moments of such discomfort, that we need to find the courage to not seek comfort. It is in such moments when we need to find the strength to endure the discomfort by contradicting ourselves.
When we question what we hear ourselves telling us, we evolve by opening ourselves up to novel routes of thinking.
Perhaps, life doesn’t happen in black and white. It is a lot about working our way through the grey areas. We will not be given clear cues on the right things to be done. We will certainly, not always, feel good about doing them either.
We are biased toward ourselves. We think we are acting in our best interest. But that’s all it is; “we think” all of that. And thinking is not conclusive of growth or evolution; it has never been.
In the moments we decide to make a conscious choice to challenge our own thinking, we make a conscious choice to break free from our old versions. That is what takes us a step closer to a better version of ourselves.
Since life itself is a process, we will not find ourselves short of moments that challenge our thinking. Those moments will be out there waiting for us to seek them, in return.
Just the way a Caterpillar pushes itself out of the cocoon, we can choose to push ourselves out of our old ways of thinking. And in much the same way a Caterpillar endures discomfort through that process, so can we. That is how a Caterpillar evolves into a Butterfly, and we evolve into our new versions.
It is simple, but…
It is not easy, and…
It certainly won’t feel good…
But it will be worth it!
In some moments, we can choose to be the one being that we are most hesitant on listening to.
In the moments we find it comforting to listen to ourselves, we can choose to question what we hear.
With that choice, we pave a way toward our evolution.
