The Positivity of Understanding
Now more than ever, there is a tremendous positivity in understanding.
Unfortunately, 2020 has shown that people are frighteningly good at being unreasonable.
For example – those who consider mandatory mask orders and social distancing to be violations of civil liberties. What they are telling me is that efforts to keep more people safe in the middle of an incurable pandemic are unimportant? Do they have some form of immunity so that they can walk around without a mask or practicing social distancing?
Then there’s the election. The incumbent lost. But he is such a sore loser that he can’t accept it. So, he makes up a false narrative, when asked for proof says I AM the proof, and gets people behind him. No proof, no evidence, just a big lie to maintain control – never mind the tremendous damage being done to the democracy.
People are showing themselves to be not just unreasonable, but to have a complete and utter lack of understanding. Things that should be logical and sensible aren’t. People are far too willing to follow demagogues and opinions over science, reason, and understanding.
It is impossible to make anyone practice understanding. Reason and logic seem self-explanatory – yet people refuse them.
And there isn’t a damned thing you or I can do about it.
But we have a choice. You and I get to practice understanding.
That is more powerful than you might realize.
Empowering yourself
It is far, far too easy to get caught up in the bullshit of the world around you. Just spend 10 minutes scrolling through Facebook and/or Twitter and you will be bombarded. Opinions, memes, smart people sharing things idiots shared. Idiots wearing signs so that you know just who they are. And opinions? They’re not like assholes anymore because everyone has way more than one.
Let’s face some sad truths, shall we? Some people legitimately believe, here on the cusp of 2021, that the Earth is flat. Not a joke, they legit believe it. I could offer someone who buys this every single scientific fact to prove that the Earth is round – and they will tell me I am wrong.
When asked to present evidence of the widespread voter fraud Trump and his allies keep screaming about – they have none. None whatsoever. Not a sausage. And yet, people think that they are not getting a fair shake, are being ignored and the election was fraudulent. Despite every piece of reliable proof that it was legit – and Trump simply lost.
What can you do in the face of that? Nothing. You can dig and dig for all the truth you can find to present these people – and you will have wasted time and effort. You can’t get through to them.
What can you do? Take care of yourself. Stop trying to help people unwilling to employ logic, reason, science, and empirical evidence. Just keep learning all that you can.
Knowledge is power. But the only person over whom you have any control is you. That’s why you should focus on empowering yourself.
Learn everything you can. As you learn you gain more and more understanding of more and more things.
The power of understanding
What IS understanding? It’s not the simplicity of a definition, such as Dictionary.com offers here:
noun
- mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation
- intellectual faculties; intelligence
- superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence
- knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something
- a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people
adjective
- characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like
Comprehension, discernment, empathy with an idea, person, place, or thing. The ability to see something not just for itself, but in-depth. It’s the difference between seeing a noisy hunk of metal and glass on top of round rubber orbs – and seeing a car.
Understanding is not just related to the material world. The immaterial can also be understood. That’s why you can accept the laws of gravity and its ability to hold you to the surface of the planet even though it’s unseen.
Everything you think and feel comes with understanding. You can be met by a thought or feeling that, initially, you don’t understand. The first time you fall in love. When you first get an idea for something you could create. These things are not understood immediately – understanding is, as above, comprehension and discernment.
This is tremendously powerful because the more you have an understanding of things, the more you can alter your frequency and make use of conscious reality creation. Understanding is when you change energy from one form to another.
Understanding is knowledge in your bones. It’s awareness and mindfulness.
The positivity of being in the know
I don’t know about you, but I love being in the know.
There have been times I’ve explored something to one degree or another simply to have some knowledge. I love knowing things. Learning things is exciting. There are so many possibilities in this world and so much potential.
And even things that we are pretty sure about and that we KNOW can change. Some five hundred years ago, everybody KNEW the Earth was the center of the Universe. Then we accepted that not only is the Earth not the center of the Universe, but it’s also not even the center of the galaxy.
Seems silly now, right?
There is a difference between knowing and understanding. I know, intellectually, how a car works and how an airplane flies. But my understanding of these in all their intricacies lacks.
But that’s okay. I am neither a mechanic nor a pilot. Hence, I might need to know, but I don’t need to understand. But you know what I DO need to understand?
Me.
Understanding yourself is the one thing that you can and should practice understanding. Knowledge and comprehension – and yes, empathy – of yourself is important. Why? Because all other knowledge you can gain comes far easier when you know who you are, at the source.
The positivity of this is incalculable. That’s because mindfulness of your conscious self, and understanding what you are thinking, what and how you are feeling, and your overall mindset/headspace/psyche opens you to everything. Knowing who, what, why, and where you are opens the door to finding and/or creating more understanding.
We live in a Universe of infinite abundance. When you shift your attention to your own understanding, that reflects outwards and will let other people see what’s possible for themselves.
Gaining understanding isn’t hard
It requires mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent.
Knowing that you have a tremendous capacity to build more and more understanding, you can turn your focus inwards rather than wasting time trying to change others. When you work on learning more things and gaining greater understanding of yourself and the world around you, that ultimately empowers you.
When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that gets reflected and can spread to people around you. This creates a feedback loop of awareness and positivity.
You build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve numerous aspects of your life for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of any current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.
An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of immense positivity. That positivity can generate even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile. You are worthy and deserving of all the good you desire.
This is the three-hundred and sixtieth entry of my Positivity series. It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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