STEPS TO WISDOM

by **UNEEK** Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:54 am

7 Powerful Steps Towards Wisdom

Only
2 steps are covered here - and in my opinion they are real biggies -
Just working on these two alone will keep you busy - we grow up being
told "what to think" in stead of being encouraged and taught "how to
think" - thus we grew up with preconceived ideas, thoughts and habits
that are so ingrained that they are difficult to change our mind about
-- and this refers to religion as well - When we become adults we
realize ( well hopefully at an early age) that we were "sold" a bill of
goods -- instead of us "buying" them -- It can take years and years
of working at releasing things that no longer serve us or never did
serve us -- UNEEK

“I changed my mind.”
These are four of the most powerful words in the English language.
They can prevent you from being manipulated into an undesirable outcome
and launch you on the road to personal and spiritual growth. Depriving
yourself of the freedom to change your mind will lock you into a rigid
mindset that can hamper your successes and your development.

Early in life you may have been led to believe it’s not good to
change your mind. There are numerous words with negative connotations
associated with those who do change their minds: fickle, indecisive,
hesitant, unsure, wavering, erratic or wishy-washy. You’d much prefer to
be known as steadfast, decisive, confident and sure.

Skilled manipulators use this near-universal conditioning against you
every day. For example, how many times has a salesman asked you, “Are
you in a position to make a decision today?” Once you agree to this
proposition, you’ll feel pressure to “make a decision today,” and buy
the product, even if you have reservations. After all, if you don’t buy,
you’d be indecisive.

But this is not what changing your mind is all about. Changing your
mind means that after thinking about the subject or after gathering more
complete information, you came to a different conclusion – a better and
more informed decision. This is not being indecisive. It’s being
logical, prudent and wise.

What would happen if you weren’t allowed to change your mind? You’d
be forced to believe the sun revolves around the earth. Your evolution
on every level depends on your ability to assimilate new information and
“change your mind” as to what it means and how it applies.

Psychologists call the unease you feel when you hold two conflicting
opinions cognitive dissonance. The theory is that you will be unwilling
to simultaneously hold two apparently contradictory beliefs in your mind
and will attempt to modify one or the other to minimize the dissonance
or conflict.
If you told the salesman that “you would be in a position to make a
decision today,” and yet, you feel you need more time to gather
additional information and think it through, you are experiencing
dissonance. The skilled salesman will use your cognitive dissonance to
push you to a buying decision today! If he lets you think it over, you
may not make the purchase or may buy from someone else. Ever buy a new
car after talking to only one dealer?

Imagine what would happen with instances of more deep-seated beliefs.
You think so-and-so is the best candidate, the finest restaurant or the
fastest car. To complicate matters, also imagine that you are on record
as publicly stating that so-and-so is the best candidate, the finest
restaurant or the fastest car. You have invested your “credibility” in
this belief. What happens when new evidence comes along that contradicts
this deep-seated belief? You immediately discount it.

Not only do you have the dissonance associated with trying to hold
two contradictory beliefs in your mind simultaneously, but, even worse,
if you accept the new idea, that might mean the first one was WRONG and
you’ve lost your invested credibility!

How would most people handle the situation? Most people don’t like
being wrong, so they would either ignore the new idea or, even worse,
come up with all sorts of counter arguments as to why it’s wrong. In
extreme cases, they may outright lie to others and to themselves, just
to avoid the cognitive dissonance. To an independent observer, this
appears totally irrational. To a student of human behavior, it is
understandable.

As mystics, we’re after the truth. So if it turns out the second idea
is more accurate, serves us better, or is otherwise superior to the
first, we owe it to ourselves and to others to accept it, at least until
a better idea comes along. We may be forced to utter three words that
are even more powerful than “I changed my mind”:

“I was wrong.”

Being able to admit a mistake is a sign of humility, which is a
prized mystic virtue. It does not mean you’re a doormat or that you are
subservient to somebody else. Changing your mind after gathering more
complete information and thoroughly thinking things through is a sign of
being logical, thorough, thoughtful and wise.

Your prime allegiance is to the truth, regardless of where it originates.
There is tremendous freedom in uttering these powerful words. Your
cognitive dissonance vanishes. You don’t have to expend any energy
defending the idea of “being right.” You are free to pursue the truth
without baggage.

Once you get into the habit of allowing yourself to say “I changed my
mind” and “I was wrong,” you will experience newfound freedom. You will
have taken 7 powerful steps towards the mystic virtue of wisdom. You
will have also added the foundation of another mystic virtue:
detachment. We will discuss more mystic virtues in future newsletters.

Best wishes, Ed

http://evolutionezine.com/steps-towards-wisdom/