When I believe it I will see it – whether it’s there or not!

 I believe Socrates is right, Socrates did say the unexamined life is not worth living. Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering (St. Augustine). In order to understand the universe and its inhabitants on the deepest level, one must first be able to understand herself/himself. It is unlikely that one can come to fully comprehend the fears, pains, wants, desires, and motivations of others without first understanding those of her/his own. We are all one; each individual is a single part of a connected whole. One person’s actions or in actions affect those of another and so forth.

 

It is our similarities and connection as humans that allow us to understand each other. The fundamental similarities we share are a bridge from one human to the next so that we can meet our fellow human being halfway. But if your half of the bridge is not strong, then the entire bridge will fall along with everything on it. The Dalia Lama once said that all one needs to do in changing the world is to first change oneself. Then, that individual has done her/his part in helping humanity. This is not meant to convey a complacent mindset toward serving the needs of others. However, how can others be truly helped if you cannot see their pain in yourself?

 

Psychologists, know that an essential part of empathy lies in mirror neurons; when we see another’s pain, our mirror neurons behave as if we were feeling that pain, hence “mirroring” the subject. It is through empathy that we become one with others, through true understanding. This path to understanding must first begin within, because without self comprehension, the universe will forever remain foreign. Martin Luther King once said that nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.  Sometimes we become so bent on saving others that we do more harm to them than good. 

 

I have often been that person who states what in reality is an opinion with such certitude that an inexperienced person would take what was said as irrefutable fact. I don’t do this on purpose. It happens because I study something that is complex and boil it down to what I think “the answer” is to “what is so” and then embrace that certainty. It’s a relief to be certain. I don’t have to deal with the “lost feeling,” or the “fear of the unknown” if I just make myself certain about the way things are. Worse yet, it then becomes hard (impossible?) for me to see the evidence that points to there perhaps being a more complete answer or even a better answer. When I believe it I will see it – whether it’s there or not!