How Well Do You Know Yourself?

[Crzyme]

As I age I find I question myself and my motivations for why I do, think and respond as I do in all aspects of my life, I also wonder how I came to the beliefs I have today.

Of course I also ponder why others think, do and respond as they do, sometimes this seems simple and obvious, like: one of my sisters who lives in Florida was planting a few fruit trees several years ago in her yard and I asked if she was going to plant any orange trees, she reacted at once very harshly with "Oh no I HATE orange trees" so I asked her "why" and she could find no real cause, first she said they were messy, but all fruit bearing trees drop ripe and over ripe fruit so are messy, then she said they stink but admitted she loved oranges and the smell of oranges, so left it as "I don't know why I don't like them i just don't like them" even as she was planting other citrus trees, but I later recalled on a trip to Florida one year when she was young and we went to an orange grove to pick our own oranges and there she was stung many times after stepping in the opening for an underground yellow jackets nest, I called her and reminded her of this event, and we concluded this could be the root cause of her hatred of Orange trees, even as the tree was not to blame, she laughed a lot and in the end bought her two different kind of orange trees which now give her fruit each year and she loves them as does her grandkids.

Sometimes I cant let things go in my pondering of why I do what I do, think as I think, and it drives me crazy, which leads me to wonder why I do it

So now I am wondering if this is not something most people go through as they age.

Do you spend time pondering why you believe what you do? Why you might hate the color yellow or believe only Fords are good cars, or that all spiders should be killed as soon as they are spotted, or that a bird in the house means someone will soon die (that one from a friend of mine who lost her mind with worry when a bird flew into my house while I talked with her on the phone) so many beliefs, including the ones we choose to believe in regard to origin of mankind, the planet and what happens to us when we die.

Where do we get all those beliefs we have which are so strong we might fight or die in defense of even as they are just personal views, opinions and beliefs. For some it is political party for some it is religion for some it is vehicle make, race-car driver, ball team, scientific theory for others it is how to stack dishes in a dishwasher, fold a towel or make a sandwich (I have personally witnessed people loose it on those particular subjects, fighting that they had the ONLY right way) but most of us have something we keep fighting for (or against) to the point of at the very least the potential for violence if not actual violence. We can disown people, shun friends or look upon people as enemies just for having the same strength of opposing stance, and yet it is really all in our heads from our own personal motivations.

Just pondering life I guess, and wondering if others ponder the same things.

[Zequatanil]

Yes we all do , for we all keep changing--I found Nestingwave`s post very meaningful to me, and has said all that I think or now am reminded of.--I am sure he will not mind if I re-post it here--I think this message is not only for Hyper--for most of us are constantly in hypertension, stress mode,--and I do mean the condition!

**There is no need to be so miserably unhappy with yourself Hyper Tension. Change is the very nature of the Universe and it will happen again -- and again -- and again as long as you draw breath -- and beyond. Yep -- its an endemic part of the growing up process. The only thing which continually remains is -- CHANGE -- nickels -- dimes -- quarter -- and every once in a while -- a GOLDEN EAGLE.

HELL is just the same old same old same old over and over again -- which seems like an eternity of being bored to death.

Evil = human suffering -- but -- it can be seen from the perspective of acting as a CATALYST to stimulate you to seek seek seek and seek the better way of inner peace, the joy of unbounded creativity and the love of your "self" -- your true "self" which is so vast that it is inclusive of all other beings. If you seek with your whole being -- your entire being -- heart -- body -- mind -- spirit -- and soul -- you will find -- even more than you ever dreamed of.

Enlightenment? Call it whatever -- but it is a never ending story.

This is no "theory" but my own personal experience -- as well as the personal experience of many others throughout all the ages of time and space. Take it -- grok it -- leave it -- hate it -- shred it -- or wipe your butt with it -- as always entirely YOUR choice. But -- remember this -- for every action there is an equal and opposite re-action -- and that's the way Universal justice operates. You see -- everything which you encounter is a mirror reflecting yourself right back to you. Test it -- and you will discover something new -- and -- possibly a new appreciation and humility that goes right along with the new territory. The key word is "new." And -- behold -- all things have become new. Exciting huh? ***

Thanks Rob!

blessings and peace,

S

Edited September 11, 2012 by sarkany

[Qryos]

~ Ahhh Angie

When our grandbabe was 2 yrs she was giggling in the yard at a toy tea cup & I went to see why... She was playing with a spider. She giggled & it bounced.

I freaked-out, Spider! Baby! ... Later, actually thinking, that itty critter couldn't have harmed her { just a garden spider } & I let my 'freak' kill a life good for the garden.

When I told her father about it, he freaked too... but finally calmed & agreed that it was pretty nifty she could giggle a spider to dance

{ He's still afraid of spiders, found a bunch of black widows once when young But now lets his daughters watch the garden spiders calmly }

Yes, I know ya brought up much more sweeping fears & ingrained prejudices.

{ & yes, I realise you didn't use the word 'predjudice' because many assume it's only in reference to human differences & often offensively. }

People fear.

Good training method for certain things... playing with gasoline, running into traffic, eating 2-day old sushi... There are things needed to avoid!

There are necessary fears

& there are UNnecessary fears caused by trauma, repetition & societal pressure.

... Please excuse my babbling... Just an interesting subject. Thank you!

There

[Crzyme]

Qryos I can relate my granddaughter plays with slugs, she really loves Leopard Slugs, she finds them lovely and their patterns delightful all I could see was slime, but not her she saw beauty, so we took some photos macro images did show me the lovely patterns of these interesting critters and research told us all they ate and other aspects of their lives, now she has a slug enclosure she built in an old aquarium, where she can watch them and hopes to have some mate and lay eggs so she built the habitat to encourage that with sticks they can hang from (as the hermaphroditic critters entwine and hang upside-down for mating, then both lay eggs

my son had always gathered things to show the kids from the time they were born like bugs and snakes, turtles, frogs and Alexis has always been a Daddy's girl loving all the things that slither, crawl and creep others out, but even her father didn't like the slugs LOL she still creeps even him out when she lets them crawl on her. It is very odd to see a lovely 10 year old girly girl who has slugs slimming her (I need to photograph that, now that I think of it) but I love that she can ignore what others think, laugh at their being creeped out and do what she wants.

[Youch]

As I age I find I question myself and my motivations for why I do, think and respond as I do in all aspects of my life, I also wonder how I came to the beliefs I have today.

Of course I also ponder why others think, do and respond as they do, sometimes this seems simple and obvious, like: one of my sisters who lives in Florida was planting a few fruit trees several years ago in her yard and I asked if she was going to plant any orange trees, she reacted at once very harshly with "Oh no I HATE orange trees" so I asked her "why" and she could find no real cause, first she said they were messy, but all fruit bearing trees drop ripe and over ripe fruit so are messy, then she said they stink but admitted she loved oranges and the smell of oranges, so left it as "I don't know why I don't like them i just don't like them" even as she was planting other citrus trees, but I later recalled on a trip to Florida one year when she was young and we went to an orange grove to pick our own oranges and there she was stung many times after stepping in the opening for an underground yellow jackets nest, I called her and reminded her of this event, and we concluded this could be the root cause of her hatred of Orange trees, even as the tree was not to blame, she laughed a lot and in the end bought her two different kind of orange trees which now give her fruit each year and she loves them as does her grandkids.

Sometimes I cant let things go in my pondering of why I do what I do, think as I think, and it drives me crazy, which leads me to wonder why I do it

So now I am wondering if this is not something most people go through as they age.

Do you spend time pondering why you believe what you do? Why you might hate the color yellow or believe only Fords are good cars, or that all spiders should be killed as soon as they are spotted, or that a bird in the house means someone will soon die (that one from a friend of mine who lost her mind with worry when a bird flew into my house while I talked with her on the phone) so many beliefs, including the ones we choose to believe in regard to origin of mankind, the planet and what happens to us when we die.

Where do we get all those beliefs we have which are so strong we might fight or die in defense of even as they are just personal views, opinions and beliefs. For some it is political party for some it is religion for some it is vehicle make, race-car driver, ball team, scientific theory for others it is how to stack dishes in a dishwasher, fold a towel or make a sandwich (I have personally witnessed people loose it on those particular subjects, fighting that they had the ONLY right way) but most of us have something we keep fighting for (or against) to the point of at the very least the potential for violence if not actual violence. We can disown people, shun friends or look upon people as enemies just for having the same strength of opposing stance, and yet it is really all in our heads from our own personal motivations.

Just pondering life I guess, and wondering if others ponder the same things.

Time being what it is, I seldom read long forum posts such as these. But I read yours in it's entirety with the intent to understand.

Realistically, I'm on the downhill side of the proverbial mountain of life. I can relate to what you state and question.

I think it (what you describe) is probably common. It must be. For we as the superior species are a thinking and discerning and reasoning animal who ponders such introspection as a manner of adaptation to our ever-changing environment. There are a lot of simplitons in the world, but I consider the vast majority of humans to be as introspective and retrospective as the next guy or gal as they age and wisen and gain a broader perspective that begs the very questions you pose.

Thanks to the backspace button, that is about as succinct as I can possible be.