August 25th, 2017

Greetings to all,

Welcome to new members.
Today's main topic is Certainty. I am using the word in the sense that it signifies a state where your mind is completely made up and no one or thing is going to change that belief.

BECOMING AND BEING CERTAIN CAN BE DANGEROUS
There is little doubt that Hitler thought he was totally right when he came up with the Third Reich as the "final solution". Most of the time, feeling certain seduces you with good feelings, so you stop thinking, questioning, checking and just go along with whatever. Another seductive thing about being certain is that you experience it emotionally as "confidence.". This kind of thinking is largely responsible for extremist views and attitudes.

DANGER NOT WELL KNOWN
The danger of certainty is not well known, thereby making it a danger to our overall well-being.

UNDERMINES OPENESS
"Nothing undermines openness more surely than certainty.  Once we feel as if we have 'the answer,' all motivation to question our thinking disappears." (The Fifth Discipline).
Certainty can definitely be a valuable quality, but there are obvious pitfalls.
Do you want to close the door in your search for understanding and for knowing and be certain? Or are you good with staying open, to not knowing "for sure"?

 NO ONE HAS "THE ANSWER"
The truth is - no one has "the answer."  Every answer that we do have is at best an approximation and never the final answer.
"Openness occurs between people when they are willing to suspend their own certainty in each other's presence".
When you feel certain about something, which we all do from time to time [tragically many people do all the time!]- let that moment be a warning to begin questioning your certainty.
 Every time you feel that you are positively right should set off a warning system within. 

THOUGHTS FOR TODAY
Life is like good art, you can either appreciate and enjoy it, looking for its beauty and meaning, or focus and dwell on its faults and shortcomings.
"Believing in negative thoughts and acting on them is the single greatest barrier to living a good life".
"The mind is your battleground. It's the place where the fiercest and most ruthless conflict resides. It's where more than half of the things you feared were going to happen, never did. It's where your expectations generally get the best of you. It's where you fall victim to your own train of negative thoughts time and time again".
Some ways to get the most out of life, brief positive morning routine, self-hypnosis or meditation, train to think positively and treat others like you would want to be treated!
Comments, suggestions welcomed.
NOW is the time,
IBP