Tag: Cognitive Dissonance

Posted on in Emotions, mindset

Triggered

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This week I wrote a guest post on another blog. It was a simple encouragement about the possibility of overcoming social anxiety. This is an arena where I have a lot of experience and I have first-hand success in helping people overcome anxiety. There is a defining mindset that absolutely matters when trying to overcome any mental obstacle. What you believe matters.

This could not be more evident than when interacting on social media. People display what they believe in how they respond to any challenging thought. Some people become invested supporters because they see the vision. Others become boisterous opposition because they cannot accept anything that challenges what they believe. Those are the people who are clinging to excuses and are not yet capable of true change. Wouldn’t you know, they came for me when I suggested that anxiety can be overcome! How dare I offer to take away their crutches and show them how to walk!

Okay, I’m being slightly flippant while enjoying the show. I love how people say everything you need to know without speaking. This illuminated a concept for me that is too good not to share. Trigger safety matters.

Where you point the barrel matters. How you place your finger matters. Knowing your equipment matters. If we are talking about real guns, every part of gun safety matters. Who would argue that? Trauma and emotional regulation are a lot like holding a loaded gun. The second the trigger is pulled, your control ends. The bullet will hit what it was aimed at. You have to be prepared for the possible outcomes prior to the trigger pull.

Trauma loads a bullet. It becomes your responsibility to learn your equipment, maintain it in good working order, and always be aware of where the barrel is pointed. Your mind and body are the equipment. If left unattended, unkept, you become vulnerable to someone pulling your trigger. They say guns don’t kill people and there is always a person pulling the trigger. What does that say about trauma and our responsibility to heal?

I know it’s deep, inspiring, or maybe challenging to think about trauma in this way. Just like social anxiety, I believe you can overcome it. Healing is possible.

Posted on in mindset

Hard Truths. Pt 1

 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” -Jesus

The most painful of wounds comes from the severing of that which you truly believe from that which you’ve been taught. We cannot believe anything that doesn’t agree with our true nature. We can be deceived but it won’t hold as a truth does. That is why when someone believes something it is unshakeable.

There is a lot of time, energy, planning, and programming that goes into what we are taught. For the majority of people, what we are taught isn’t anything we choose. It is chosen for us. Often, what has been chosen for us has been passively chosen by those before us who just accept what was handed down to them. It’s a cycle that repeats for generations and it’s why a small handful of men are so powerful.

Much of what we are taught starts at the age of our earliest understanding. Things are layered and compiled in such a way that there is a broad and interconnected foundation. That foundation becomes so functional that a challenge to any part feels like a shaking of the whole. When you are learning Algebra, for example, and you spend extensive time working out a problem only to get the wrong answer. It’s defeating! You can be certain you followed all the steps rightly and still your answer is wrong. How? If you make a minor misstep early in the math it throws off the whole equation. So even with every right step along the way you are working with the wrong numbers.

Now imagine the equation is your life and everything you think you know. If one detail is off at the foundation, it could undermine the entire understanding. That is why often when people encounter truth, they reject it. It’s easier to be wrong and feel right than to risk undoing reality as you know it. The thing is, we have some things really wrong. Society as a whole is functioning around misunderstandings and missing some very relevant truths. Some of you reading this will know how to apply that logic to things you already are aware of. If you don’t quite understand what I’m saying, just know this; you may accept and believe some things that just aren’t true. The collective reality of this age is steeped in deception and most people are missing some life changing truths.

Don’t fear the rabbit holes…

Part 1

This is part 1 of a 4 part series that will be released in November & December 2021. Part 1 introduces the topic of cognitive dissonance and the foundational truth that not everything is as it seems.