Freedom of thinking and being open and flexible, in our perception, is the ultimate stage of self-actualization. You can have financial success, higher academic achievement, and position with power, but with limited vision and a high degree of judgmental thinking, you are not living with peace and confidence.
To reach the higher level of freedom of thinking, first we must learn to detox our bodies, our emotions, our beliefs, and our perceptions. In order to start the process of detoxification, first we must admit and recognize our toxicities. Let’s be honest with ourselves and recognize the obstacles to our journey of reaching freedom.
Another important tool in reaching freedom of thinking is use of critical thinking. It is a necessary element in evaluating people, and circumstances. Critical thinking enables us to analyze, explain, understand, and restructure the situation. Critical thinking gives us the power to identify prejudice, distortion, bias, misinformation, propaganda, and poor judgment.
A critical thinker raises vital questions when facing problems in family, relationships, and social environments. You must gather and assess relevant information, avoid your personal bias and your toxic emotions. There is no room for assumptions, inaccurate, unclear, or irrelevant information: relying on gossip, word of mouth, "he said, she said," will weaken your judgment and conclusion.
In relationships, we witness some couples rely on narrow, shallow information, jealousy, and accusation to judge their spouses. As a result, they create a toxic environment for hurt feelings, lack of trust, and lack of intimacy in their families.
In society, due to ignorance, biased thinking, and propaganda—with use of media—social and political groups stage dishonest and inaccurate fights against each other’s interests.
The assignment for today: recognize your limited beliefs and ways of thinking in relation to other individuals, social groups, and your personal life. Are you using your critical thinking to evaluate friends, family members, co-workers, and political leaders? Or, is your judgment based on your quick, emotional, highs and lows, just to release your anger and frustration.
Where is our spiritual and personal responsibility?
CONSEQUENCE
To be free, and realistic, in our thinking and decision making process, we must be broad and holistic in our vision. In any decision making process, social, personal, or political, as leaders, we need to look at existing facts, considering everybody involved. Looking at our own limited personal and group benefits as the sole rationale for our decisions as leaders diminishes our power and source of guidance and hope for the people. Ultimately as leaders in social, business, and political settings, we become people without popular support. We lower our effectiveness to our own personal and group interests.
You may ask the expected question. Is it possible to represent the interests of everybody in each social group? Obviously, with the current mind set, it seems impossible that a political leader can fight for the interests and the needs of everybody in society. A leader also has sets of beliefs and values. How is an individual in position of power able to ignore his/her own group identity and group interests. This is the way we learned to think when it comes to leadership and representing a larger group in society. As a result of this mentality, and collective false beliefs, our society is facing separation, hate, and antagonistic conflicts.
How, in modern society, are we able to change this wide division, self-centered, and group-focused perception? It requires a new way of thinking. This vision must integrate self- interest with larger social group’s interests. For example, when comes to creating a health care system, that provides reasonable care for every member of society, we are divided. One group insists on cost increases, and describe it a bad idea for private insurance companies. What is the alternative? For many years a large segment of society, for whatever reasons, was not able to have access to a health care system when, it needed medical attention. We all understand about costs, and insurance company’s profits. Yes, they are in business of making money.
What is a responsible solution to put an end to this crisis and long term social problem? To create a holistic solution we need broad vision, spiritual and critical thinking. Differences of opinion are healthy. Not finding a mutual and win-win solution, because of our narrow vision, is destructive and creates division. This mentality puts a multinational corporation on the verge of bankruptcy. It will diminish the Imperial power and its broad based public support. Past history has clear evidence to show.
We talk about unity, democracy, and promising the hope of creating a free world. However, in action, we represent a segment of population, and represent our own limited ideological and financial interests. In spiritual and religious beliefs, we follow the same mentality. Our religious leaders talk about God, humanity, kindness, love, and giving. In action, they follow their limited vision and scope of thinking, which is all about their own beliefs and religion. As a result, other believers ultimately go to hell and if it is necessary, we even will harm them as non-believers.
Why are not we able to have a broader perspective and just, at least partially, follow our own daily talks?
In our personal lives, being unrealistic and narrow in our vision creates low confidence, doubtfulness, and fear. As a result, through time, the outcomes of our decisions produce a sense of failure, and indecisiveness. This limited way of thinking also creates a sense of loneliness, disconnection with people and close friends and family members, and isolation in our community.
For example, controlling and a rigid way of thinking in a family as a husband and father gradually destroy open communication, friendship, and closeness. Children grow up with fear of expressing their opinion, and views. They hide their feelings and build resentment and anger toward their family and other sources of authority and power.
As individuals, when we are not in touch with our internal beliefs and values, then in action we contradict ourselves. We talk about equality between men and women in modern society. In a family environment, in a business setting, and in relationships, men have a tendency to undermine women's rights. On the other side, women develop “victim” thinking, and blame men for all their shortcomings and injustice. Women hide behind male aggression and their controlling behaviors. As a result, they avoid taking responsibility, and ultimately, avoid action toward becoming more assertive in all social settings.
In any position, we need to focus on developing the habitual intention to be truth-seeking, with clarity about our values and vision. Being open-minded, having purpose, and meaning, being confident in reasoning, and being prudent in making judgments are important characteristics in reaching freedom of thinking. It is possible to achieve internal peace through freedom in thinking and vision. It is your choice to walk through this journey.
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This is a very unique way of viewing the world. It will be interesting to see how this blog goes.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
Tom Bailey