Saturday, May 19, 2007

all aboard?


I read something on an astrology blog that made me think. It suggested that, due to some kind of planetary situation, this was the best of times to get rid of old myths we have about ourselves.

This is something that I've been thinking about lately when I came to the conclusion that much of my pessimism about my life has no logical reason to exist, especially not astrologically. I'm supposed to be an optimistic, joyful kind of person...so why do I, namely, look at any love interest as another opportunity to fail and get hurt?

Sometimes we have bad experiences in the past and that leads us to think that we will suffer again; other times people tell us (verbally or not) things about ourselves that we think are true, they tell us we're not good enough for something, that our goals are too high, that there is something deeply wrong or incapacitating in you; other times we just assume things about ourselves, while we compare ourselves to others, while we consult "specialists of the soul" that diagnose some kind of fault that we'll never get rid of.

And we drag these ideas into our daily lives, we see ourselves in the eyes of those people, or in our judging, critical eyes. We don't dare to test these ideas, we just try to get round them and avoid confrontation. We shift, we adapt.

The other day Mariel Hemingway talked in the Oprah show and she said something that struck a chord: she mentioned that for most of her life she felt miserable inside her own skin because there was always a voice inside of her that kept telling her "You're not skinny enough", "You're not pretty enough", "You're not talented enough", etc. Until one day she stopped and realized if there was someone in her life that kept telling her those things, she wouldn't want to be friends with that person, so she "decided" to discard that voice that always made her miserable. That sounds like a major breakthrough to me.

Incidentally yesterday on Oprah they were talking about that book that everyone went to buy (and a DVD too, I think) "The Secret" - I think that's marketing crap, self-help books are all the same but they mentioned interesting things, making me focus even more on these crystallized ideas. This is not new but I do believe that negative ideas attract more negativity, whilst thinking on the positive side, idealizing what you want will bring those things to you - this is not magical thinking - the truth is if you think about your wishes everyday, consistently, you will act to get them.

This is the time to shake these preconceptions off you and think positive - agreed? Every day is a new day and you can try again.

8 comments:

kimananda said...

I like this idea of getting rid of myths. Very apt for me at least at this point in my life. The problem is that when you get rid of a myth, the way it's done often becomes another myth. Or two.

Devil Mood said...

Kim, I think as long as they're myths that aren't harmful to you, it is okay :)

Niall young said...

Avoid the 'Secret' at all costs..I will never buy a book like it..the only secret is the secret of making money out of a gullible/ignorant schmuck who buys it!..

I love the objectivity of the interview you described..I would not be friends with myself I was two separate people!

As for Myths..I hate it when they come in at night and fly around your lightbulbs! :-)

Miss Iyer said...

What a lovely thought! :) Had me thinking too.

Oh and I hate self-help books, I can't even stand reading philosophy yet :-/ I'd rather read blogs, sometimes they are a lot more philosophical in a realistic way, aren't they? :D

Anonymous said...

Eu concordo com isso tudo. Aliás, também estou a atravessar uma fase mais ou menos parecida, afinal de contas, quem são "eles" para nos fazerem acreditar em tais coisas? Ninguém sabe o nosso valor mais do que nós mesmos e acredita que não somos piores do que ninguém, nem piores pessoas, nem menos inteligentes, nem menos bonitas, nem menos nada!!!

Devil Mood said...

Niall: From what I could gather, the Secret is there is no secret! And those myths around lighbulbs are really stupid ihihi

Miss Iyer: You're right, we're all philosophers inside and the bloggers take the time to write down their philosophy and share it with the world ;)

Cat: Isso fez-me lembrar aquela musica "anything you want done baby, I will do naturally, cause I'm every woman" lol Quem é que diz isso que eu vou lá e dou-lhes com uma marreta?

diyadear said...

DM,
astrology is just fun.. one shudnt take it ver seriously.. n having a positive inner voice is very imp.. hope u know the story of 3 frogs.. let me tell u in brief.. 3 frogs were racing up a steep moutain.. the audience cheered at first but after sometime they said."i dont think they rgoing to make it to the top.. its far too steep.." one by one 2 of the frogs fell down.. but the third kept climbing n reached his goal.. at the award ceremony it was revealed that he was deaf n hence didnt hear any of the negative comments fom the audience n thus achieved victory :)

Devil Mood said...

Diyadear, thanks for telling me the story, it says it all, doesn't it? ;)