Time To Wake Up

Hello, I hope your all doing good today. Having Sociology as a Major in College was perfect for me because I have always loved observing human behavior and how we interact in society. One aspect of human behavior that has intrigued me is how "conditioned" we are. We are truly shaped as a person depending on where we grow up and with whom we grow up with, our Parents, our School, Friends, Religious Affiliate etc. So how do we ever really get to know who we are? How do we ever learn to think and feel for ourselves. I can't help but wonder if we really ever do? I think we just learn to go along with the norm around us. This is part of an article by Russell Bishop that gives an insight to our thinking and reactions. He offers some steps for us to be more aware of our daily circumstances and how we respond to them. It made me think, I hope it does the same for you. I included the link below for the full article.
Thanks for visiting,
Janet :)



Are you thinking or merely reacting as you go through life's challenges these days? I mean, really thinking, not just mindlessly or emotionally reacting to the stuff happening to you? If you find yourself judging, condemning, complaining or blaming then you can pretty much be assured that you're in reaction mode. While normal enough, these emotional reactions inhibit conscious choice and block your ability to create any kind of useful response to what bedevils you.

A passage from Russell's friend John Roger's book "The Power Within You"

"Thinking is not a natural process of the human consciousness. You may say, "Sure it is. Everybody thinks." I have news for you: very few people think. Most people react and then pass that off as thinking. Thinking is the cause of things. Reaction is the effect!"

It's Time to WAKE UP

While this may not be your sequence of thought, much less a perfect sequence, it may become your own version of the alarm clock. Rather than hit the snooze button, use these "alarms" to help you examine any issue with which you may find yourself struggling during the day:

1. What just happened
2. Assess the situation and accept the obvious
3. Consider options available
4. Take the best course of action you have available
5. Observe how its working
6. Repeat until you are satisfied with the outcome

These may seem like simple questions of observation, assessment and making choices. However, most people don't observe as much as they react to what they see.

How often are you actually thinking, and how often are you reacting? You are probably reacting about 90 percent of the time. For the most part, you are reacting either to your previous reactions or to someone else's reactions. It's a long chain of effect and effect and effect. It's like dominos: you hit one and they all go.

So, what's happening in your life or more to the point, what has happened to you over the past months or years? What aspects of your life would you like to improve? If you lost your job, house, car, family or something even worse, you are likely to have experienced any number of emotions from hurt, anger and grief, to blame, complain and a sense of helplessness. However, as understandable as these reactions are, they won't help you dig out and rebuild.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-bishop/are-you-observing-thinkin_b_979834.html