Are your Attitudes on Autopilot?

Today I felt drawn to speak about naivety. The first thing that tends to come to mind is a sheltered person who believes in fairy tales and miracles... but this is only a stereotypical case of naivety.

What about that which is within all of us? The autopilot section of the brain that labels, judges, and separates people, ideas and situations into perfectly labelled boxes. The part of us that wants to feel in control of our lives.

Do you see the world as a giant puzzle in which each thing has its place and somehow fits? Do you see it as a daunting and scary place? A happy, peaceful place? A place of imbalance and injustice?

Or is it just what it is?

So often I come across couples gossiping about another person that isn't there, families divided by a disagreement of ideas, people complaining about trivial things that they could easily change, and all the while there are people in the world who are just wondering where their next meal is coming from...

The perspectives we take hugely impact our choices and this has a ripple effect in the world.

Let's take social media for instance. A picture posted could tell a thousand words just on its own. The comments of strangers could be coming from any kind of perspective - one we may not even be aware of! Yet, a person could be so cruelly judged or criticised before time has been taken to understand where exactly they are coming from. If they said something mean, did anyone stop to ponder whether this person has come from a place of hurt already?

If they said something you disagree with, did you allow yourself to recognise that something in their statement is just true for them?

Then did you respond with loving kindness or react with hateful hurt?

If we want to be a good person and we want to do the right thing, why do we jump to instant conclusions and allow our autopilot brain to kick in without thought?

I want to know... When have you judged? When have you resisted the urge to judge and instead tried to understand something you disagree with? What did it take for you to do this?