Your thought creates your experience.
**Or**
Present reality is a manifestation of past thoughts.
I questioned that philosophy but couldn't put my finger on why I didn't believe it. This morning as I was trying to go back to sleep, my brain worked on those oversimplified statements.
Here is a revised philosophy that reflects my current beliefs: Your thoughts and actions, combined with choices, chaos, and chance, create your experience. Let me explain.
I have heard the opening statements used to make people feel guilty about being sick or poor or out of work. Really? That's a bunch of hokum.
Sickness, disease, plagues, and ad nauseum, are caused by more than your thoughts. Viruses, molds, bacteria, and bugs/parasites/rodents play a role in diseases. How you come into contact with those organisms is a result of chaos, chance, and your choices, not your thought processes. Stressors such as lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and lack of (or too much) exercise also cause sickness, injuries, and death.
Thought processes or heredity CAN be causes of mental/psychological disorders or stress, or not. (Mind you, these are just a few examples.)
- Schizophrenia may be caused by genes, but it is not for certain.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is likely a combination of stress and thought processes. For example, soldiers who have lost comrades on the battlefield or who have killed others have been through incredible stressors, and have seen death and destruction multiple times; many sustain life-changing injuries. I can't imagine the horrors they have been through. Those stressors are the results of war. But soldiers also put stress on themselves feeling guilty for those deaths and destruction, thinking they could have saved their fellow soldiers and why did they die, not me? ("60 Minutes" had an excellent story on PTSD on November 24, 2013.)
- Children who have been abused are an example of those whose thoughts or choices did NOT create their experience. Those experiences were foisted upon them by others which I think is a heinous crime.
- You work in a hospital or daycare center and are exposed to more sicknesses
- The company you work for lost major contracts causing loss of income resulting in cutting staff
- You may not have found good friends who share your interests
- Your friends may have changed and moved on in their lives
- A leak in your roof allowed water to come in, you didn't discover it and are now faced with mold which causes allergies or sickness
You can control how you perceive the world, but not how others perceive the world or you. You can offer help, advice, a kind word, or a sympathetic ear, but it doesn't mean the other person will change their reality to fit yours.
I looked up this topic online to see what else was out there and found this blog. It is quite interesting.
Please tell me your perceptions on this topic in the comments section. I love hearing from you.
I'm done trying to solve philosophical issues for today. Maybe I can go back to sleep now.
I think a dose of gratitude for what I do have, plus a "go-with-the-flow-of-the-universe" attitude, creates a much better experience for me than negative thoughts. It works for me in so many little ways, and in the present. I'm trying to forget about the past that I can't change and quit worrying about the future, but just concentrate on the wonders of the present. (This is my experience and opinion only). Good topic for discussion.
ReplyDeleteI hope this is the comment you thought you lost. My blog comments are sent for moderation. As soon as I read them to make sure they're not spam, I post them. It's not always instantaneous because I'm not on 24/7. LOL.
DeleteExcellent perception. I appreciate your post. Good reminder to live in the present and enjoy the wonder.
DeleteI was a big fan of "the secret" until the healthiest person who had the most positive attitude and belief in his wellness came down with an incurable cancer. You can think all you want and have great thoughts but stuff over which you have no control happens or at least that's my experience. Nothing he "thought" about himself or his life could have resulted in this sort of illness for him.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I appreciate this post so much. I had to take care of my mother the last years of her life because of mental illness, and both my children have some severe problems and will be on medication all their lives. I have tried to bring myself to write some about it on my blog, but I haven't gotten to the point that I can do that yet. I've always tried to have a positive attitude, and a positive attitude does get you through some hard times. But, as you pointed out, it can't cure everything. I have deep faith in God, and that strength helps me, too. But even Christians with faith have to go through the dark valleys like everyone else. The Book of Psalms is filled with David's depression. So, I absolutely agree with you, just positive thoughts alone cannot get you through everything. But God says he's there beside you even in the darkest times. Thank you again. You made so many great points here. I'll be re-reading it.
ReplyDelete