When we release the negative conditioning of our mind, not only do we grow and evolve but also feel liberated at the same time. The notions that have not worked for us at all, rather have pulled us down or have put us in bad mental conditions, are ought to be given up. Only then do we realize how easy it can be to bring positivity in our lives.
The following 3 thinking traits commonly are imbibed by us unknowingly, during our growing years. While undoing them completely is immensely difficult, throwing some light of awareness and beginning the process of letting them go, can be extremely healing.
Let us quickly check what they are, and see if you can relate to them too as I did.
- Trying to predict what other people around us are thinking:
It is a survival mechanism the brain started using because of the surroundings you grew up in, so it could see those traumatic events coming in order to avoid them.
- Over focusing on the negative and minimizing the positive:
It happens because that is the thought pattern that was modeled for you by the people around you when your brain was young and more easily influenced.
- Assuming the worst possible thing will happen at any given time:
It is called catastrophizing and it happens because you did go through something terrible and your brain has stayed on high alert to keep it from ever happening again.
Our subconscious mind has repeatedly coloured our viewpoints with the above traits. The basic purpose of our mind is keeping us safe and avoiding uncomfortable situations. Using these traits as filters in assessing and understanding any situation might work for us in rare cases, but majority of the time it has been detrimental to our day-to-day dealings and decision making.
How about being vigilant and keeping a note about the number of times our mind goes into this negative chatter? We can write them down, to calmly release them, saying “This is not true for me now, so I let it go. All is well in my world. I am safe, happy and healthy.” Let us claim back our freedom from these limiting traits.
“The masses have never thirsted for the truth. They demand illusions.”
-Sigmund Freud