I’m going to ask you to do something no media outlet, nor any human being in 2020 has been able to do.
Think objectively.
I’ll warn you in advance, this will NOT be easy to do.
It’s going to require you to open your mind. To set aside your beliefs. To listen to thoughts of people you might think are totally bat crazy. And most importantly, to not allow yourself to be overcome with emotion.
It’s also going to require you to remain “apolitical.” And from what I’ve experienced first- hand in my media appearances and speaking engagements, this is probably going to be the most difficult part for you.
To say we’re living in a crazy/divisive/hateful/dangerous time would be a gross understatement. Somehow we’ve become a nation that’s allowing our subjective perceptions to totally override our objective observations. We now only listen with our hearts, and not with our ears.
How did we get here? And more importantly, how do we move forward?
To address the first part of the question, we got here because we’ve lost the ability to think logically.
To address the second part of the question, we move forward by learning how to control our emotions.
I know what you’re thinking…..this sounds like 100 level stuff.
I could NOT agree with you more. See, we already agreed on something and we just got started. 🙂
While my concept is VERY simple in theory, it’s unfortunately VERY difficult in practice.
We should start with getting a clear definition of what emotion is.
Emotion is a complex psychological state involving 3 key components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral reaction.
So to keep this as basic as possible (I really like basic) – something happens to us, our brain responds to it (utilizing hard wired processes called “pattern recognition” and “emotional tagging”), and based on what our brain tells us, we react.
If we’re able to acknowledge this process, we might be better prepared to remain neutral in our thought processes; especially when we’re put in situations where conflicts exist.
Which just so happens to be about 99% of the time in the world we’re currently living in.
Yay for 2020!!
And better yet, we might be able to actually prevent ourselves from becoming “intoxicated” in emotion.
Logic and emotion are inversely related. As one goes up, the other goes down. And vice versa.
There are times where logical thinking best suits us (normally in business situations), and there are times where emotional thinking might be more appropriate (normally when dealing with our personal relationships).
The only exception to this rule is if you’re dealing with your spouse. Then you’re just helpless regardless of which type of thinking you’re utilizing.
Joking, not joking.
Sorry, I easily lose focus. Back to my thought.
At some point, our country is going to need to “sober up” from our “emotional intoxication” and start thinking with the part of our brain that processes information logically.
Each and every one of us needs to start paying very close attention to facts, and make our own decisions based on what we believe is true and accurate.
For some reason, our nation has started allowing others to tell us what we should believe and how we should feel.
To move forward, we must stop denying and/or ignoring facts just because we don’t like what they prove to us. That’s dangerous and self defeating.
It’s time to remove the “emotional glasses” that we all wear, which prevent us from seeing things for how they truly are.
The “glasses” whose lenses are skewed by our past experiences. The ones that are very often responsible for supplying misinterpreted information to our subconscious minds, which we heavily rely on to assist us with quick decision making.
Here’s the thing I wish everyone could understand – we’re all hard wired the exact same way. We’re just different variations of the same core psychological blue prints.
The path to peace in our country begins with becoming comfortable with accepting opposing points of view.
With giving our “emotional minds” permission to deviate from thoughts that are deeply ingrained in the core of who we are.
I’m absolutely NOT recommending changing your beliefs just to appease other people.
I would never in a million years suggest that.
What I am suggesting however, is that you make a conscious effort to remove your glasses, clean them thoroughly, and attempt to address every part of your life through the lenses of objective reality.
Stop preventing yourself from having an open mind to people that are attempting to provide solutions, merely because you don’t like what they’re saying.
Our country heals once we accept the fact that we all agree on the majority of issues we’re up against right now. Sure there are differences that currently exist (and there always should be differences as they’re what makes us unique), but on THE MOST important things, I truly believe we are united. The “fabricated” hate that exists in our nation is just camouflaging it at the moment. The unity is there, it’s just not real easy to see at the moment.
It’s time to collectively start searching for solutions to problems, not problems to solutions.