4 Dangerous Illusions of Life and How To See Beyond Them
Warning: this recipe can cause an instant revolution in your mind.
The way we live is a direct reflection of how we see life, and that’s why it is important to see beyond illusions.
So today I’d like to share with you 4 dangerous illusions of life, and how to dissolve them, and these are:
· 1-Believing that you live to fulfill the expectations of others · 2-Thinking that the world is capable of telling you who you are · 3-Forgetting to live, and getting used to existing · 4-Feeling lost within the meanings assigned by one’s self
1-Believing that you live to fulfill the expectations of others
A few months ago, when I was looking for a book to read, I came across a book titled “The Courage To Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi, and it immediately piqued my interest. I read the title and realized that I had never thought of being disliked as a courageous act, yet I also knew what it meant as soon as I saw it.
Most of us live in constant fear of not being disliked, and thus to set yourself free of it, is an act of courage.
The author explains this further as:
“It’s that you are disliked by someone. It is proof that you are exercising your freedom and living in freedom and a sign that you are living in accordance with your own principles.”
Most of us see fulfilling expectations as a currency that makes one rich in relationships, but it is no different than collecting fake money, and claiming that you are rich.
We cannot make everyone happy, and even if we try, it won’t be real on our side, and cannot be sustained forever.
This is because although pleasing others may seem like second nature to some of us, it is not sustainable behavior. That’s why, in long term, it will build more issues than harmony, and it can end relationships.
So it is essential to dissolve this illusion and it can be done by remembering that it is not a game that you can win, and both sides will lose eventually.
2-Thinking that the world is capable of telling you who you are
In childhood, we start our days where we wake up to be whoever we want to be, and to do whatever we want. No limitations are able to stand against our imagination and we live life as an adventure.
Then we grow up and start to view childhood as a dream that we woke up from. Our minds stop viewing life as a discovery and start to see it as more of a standard experience where we copy and paste whatever we are told to do into our lives.
So we let the world tell us who we are, and it is because we believe it is capable of doing that.
But it is not, and this is because what we refer to as “the world” is nothing more than a collective noise of people who are fighting their own definition of the world.
So to let a noise guide will never get you somewhere peaceful, and it will only misguide you down the roads you wish to avoid.
That’s why it is important to put “the world” back in its place and it can be done by remembering that if in childhood you were able to set yourself free of limitations and be yourself, so can you now.
3-Forgetting to live, and getting used to existing
One way or another, we all live the life we have been given.
But whether it is traffic, the workload of our job, that annoying thing someone said, or our sleeves getting wet while washing our hands, many of us get lost in the struggle of our daily lives and tend to forget to live.
This way problems magnify in our minds, and joys are rarely found or forgotten the next minute.
But all these skies, the trees, and flowers, the songs of the birds, people we love are given to us for a time, and it is not forever we are given to experience life.
So it is not really a wise action to let life pass you by, and then realize it too late.
That’s why one of the illusions we must see through is the idea of it being normal to only exist, and not live truly. To do that, we can start by understanding that life is precious, and make the conscious effort to remind that ourselves every day.
Yes, there may be issues we are facing, and our life may not be the easiest, but we can start by choosing to see the ant walking by instead of crushing it, looking up to really see the skies that change every minute, hugging our loved ones and thus remembering to live.
4-Feeling lost within the meanings assigned by one’s self
The concept of meaning is an interesting one because it leads our lives every day but so secretly that we almost never recognize it.
Through the meanings that we assign, we connect to the world around us, and on the good part, they can make our life more enjoyable, and exciting.
But also we can feel trapped and lost within the collection of meanings we have surrounded ourselves with, and that’s why we need to be aware of where they lead us.
On this matter, Teal Swan has a very simple solution and she suggests asking yourself: “What am I making this mean?”.
By doing so, we can become more aware of how much we paint events, people, and things in the colors of our own perception, and so it can become easier for us to lead the meanings we assign to things, rather than them leading us.
Final thoughts
We see life through the filter of our own vision, but sometimes it can get blurred due to some illusions and mislead us.
That’s why it is important to be aware of illusions of life and learn to dissolve them.
So today I’ve shared with you 4 dangerous illusions of life, and how to see beyond them, and these were:
1-Believing that you live to fulfill the expectations of others
2-Thinking that the world is capable of telling you who you are
3-Forgetting to live, and getting used to existing
4-Feeling lost within the meanings assigned by one’s self
By dissolving them, we can take a step closer to a life that is more authentic, and more aligned with who we really are.
Thank you for reading.
-E.K.
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