One of the major reasons most of us focus on the shortcomings or problems of others is to avoid looking at ourselves. – Richard Carlson
From young to old we all tend to avoid looking at ourselves. Oh yes, we check ourselves out in the mirror at least once a day. But we avoid looking deep within. We avoid introspection. We avoid self-analysis. Why? Because it’s usually uncomfortable.
It’s easier to say, “What an idiot. How could they do something so stupid?”, rather than figure out why we repeatedly do stupid things ourselves.
Even if we ask ourselves an introspective question are we more likely to pursue it or get distracted with Instagram, Facebook or some other distraction?
Distraction works pretty well, in fact, it’s almost perfect at helping us forget that introspective question. To take it a step further those distractions are amazing at keeping us from even asking the introspective question.
But that’s a little like being set adrift at sea without a sail or a way to steer our boat. We wouldn’t be very effective at getting anywhere.
If we want to get anywhere specific in life then we have to take responsibility for ourselves. We have to do the hard work of introspection. We have to put in the effort and time to think about our thinking.
It’s up to us to learn how to think differently. To learn how to see the same situation from different perspectives then select the one that is most beneficial. This is much harder than surfing our social media feeds. It’s much harder than binging on your favorite TV series.
Since when did hard become the thing to avoid? What if hard things contain the most fabulous rewards available to you?