Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Of Vicious Cycles

I am surprised sometimes, at the amazing regularity at which I can observe the "Monkey closed fist syndrome"

"Monkey closed fist", if you need an explanation, is about the story of the monkey that clenched a fistful of gram in a jar, and couldn't take its hand out because the fist was clenched

Often, our resistance to something becomes the reason why it happens. Thank self-fulfilling prophecies

An everyday example, that I have missed till recently in life, happens when we meet some new people.
When we meet a new person, we start from ground-0, and try to understand the person, his qualities, his motivations. Needless to say, this can be an important situation in many, many contexts.
When we meet a person who holds any kind of power over us, we often are in Porus's shoes when be was captured by Alexander the Great. Asked Alexander: How do you want to be treated?

This conversation, I have observed, is very familiar to us at a subconscious level. The car salesman, or the Driver inspector, or your job interviewer -- they all want to know how you should be treated, and do so accordingly

And THIS is the reason you should have a positive self image. You beget what you ask for, subconsciously

Ok, getting out before I rob the post of its succinctness

4 comments:

  1. CT-I've observed this phenomenon over and over. People continually creating the same dismal reality for themselves, finding themselves disrespected, isolated, rejected, because of certain habitual behaviors.

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  2. What an insightful post. The reality is that we cannot see the forest from the trees when it comes to perceptions of how others view ourselves. What we choose to believe about ourselves isn't always what's true. It's clear to others when they see a person as being angry and resentful they ususally are, but the person's own perception of themselves is that they are reasonable and assertive. The aspects of ourselves which we resist acknowledging are projected onto others. So like NP I see this in others and when I'm operating at the highest level I see this in myself too. Sigh ... life's lessons keep being placed before me again and again, until I learn them and in some respects I'm a slow learner.

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  3. When I realize things about myself that I do not like, I try to put forth the effort to change that and to grow. I believe life is a growth process, a continuum of change. Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I don't. That's when I kick-start and begin again. Mistakes can be good for us if we see them as challenges.

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  4. Having just dealt with a car salesman the other day, I would like to go back & tell him my husband & I did NOT appreciate his blatant attempts at manipulation (but I s'pose that NOT buying the new Camaro was indication enough.)

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