Do You Fear What May Be True?

Thanks to our technological advancements, most of us have access to any kind of information we could need. But do we use the opportunity to grow? While a big portion of us use this blessing to distract ourselves with things that ultimately don't matter; the rest of us use it to confirm what we already believe in.

Which brings us to the next question. Do we fear truth?

Being human means, in a certain way, being biased towards survival. The brain's main logic is about how we'll survive, which shouldn't be a big surprise. Most of our thoughts are about worries for the future, "licking our wounds" from the past, fearing that we may not have enough money or food, being terrified at the idea of ending up lonely, and so on.

This existing survival circuitry takes up most of our mental and emotional space. Thus, it becomes natural that, we're always looking for stuff that confirms what we believe in. We're stressed, burned out, terrified, exhausted - and we can't risk losing the little we got. This "little" is our worldview, our beliefs, our past.

Most of us say that we want the truth, and to some extent we do; but what we don't realize is that we want a truth that fits our preexisting biases. If it doesn't, we burn the witches.

What we must understand is that, out there, a world with a completely different logic than ours exists. And this world doesn't need our validation to be - just like Paris doesn't need our belief in order to remain the capital of France.

We can stick to what we've got, we can attach ourselves to the little we have, and constantly fight to protect it - or, we can start looking at facts, and see how we "digest" them. Too much of truth all at once can be brutal, and even shock most people to the point of complete disconnection with reality. But there's no growth without some discomfort. And here's one of life's saddest truth - most of us rarely grow. We get older, but we remain the same person. We exist, but we don't live.

"You learn nothing from life if you think you're right all the time."

"Empty barrels make the most noise."

That's where the factor of humility comes in. We don't know as much as we think we do. Arrogance is only a way to cover up our insecurities. Stubbornness is created by attachment - and attachment exists because of fear. The fear that we may be wrong, the fear that the little we got might be lost, the fear that we may have nothing, and be nothing - and for most of us, this idea is frightening. And it's okay. But until when are we going to lie to ourselves?

Until when are we going to keep playing childish games, tricking ourselves, and pretending all is fine when clearly, nothing is? Our health is not fine. Our lifestyle is not fine. How we think isn't fine. We're unhappy. Our relationships aren't as good as we'd like them to be. We're aged but we still feel unable to honestly express ourselves, our feelings and be authentic with people. We fear people's opinions about us. We prefer pride and holding on to our regrets rather than being honest with people no matter what may happen as long as we're honest with ourselves. And so on.

Growing up means accepting the fact that there is a lot we have to learn. Intelligence is knowing what we ignore.

"I know that I know nothing." 

 - Socrates

Life is too big to be contained in our little worldviews and paradigms. Accepting this, and then looking outside our little psychic constructs is fearful. But it shouldn't happen all at once. Taking one step at a time, starting small and looking beyond our biases, even if for a few minutes a day can do more than we think.

And once it happens, we realize how much we've been projecting our views on reality instead of looking at life objectively, and once that happens too, we'll still make mistakes and learn - but we'll act more harmoniously, and that harmony will eventually align us with the forces of the universe. Which will make us grow to levels we can't imagine yet. This is spirituality. This is health. This is being wholly - holy. This is how we were meant to live.