4 ms·

It's pretty useful for most day-to-day things, but (1) who you are can absolutely be changed by external circumstances - see TBIs and other long-lasting traumas

by cmehdy 6y ago

It's pretty useful for most day-to-day things, but (1) who you are can absolutely be changed by external circumstances - see TBIs and other long-lasting traumas, and (2) there are medical illnesses where you can be mostly robbed of your ideas - which by this mantra leaves you powerless to change your world. I'm not saying that to take away anything from the well-being brought by this interesting personal prayer, because it holds some insights about resilience. Only adding some context for the people out there whose depressive disorders, schizophrenia, or brain injuries, could leave them on the curb when it comes to these thoughts. Those people might need surgeries, medical treatment, or external support, before being able to strengthen themselves with this sort of thought.

anon_13571113 6y ago
You're right about that. I was in such a situation: I had strong feelings of anxiety, sadness, low self esteem. I went to a psychologist & psychiatrist and got a bit anti depressive medication, many books to read, meditation exercises, mindfulness. All these things were good and helpful, and I guess in most cases it's what's needed. But nothing of all that totally helped; I still had this sadness and anxiety and lack/absence of self confidence. Then many years later turns out I have an illness, hypothyreosis, that causes this. And medication (levothyroxine) made all this go away, and I'm a different person nowadays. > who you are can absolutely be changed by [...] circumstances [...] illnesses That's very correct. I've been two different personalities — one sad, anxious, withdrawn, another happy and social. It's weird what hormone levels can do to the brain and who one ... who one is? one's personality. Anyway, if someone has depression and anxiety feelings, and meditation and self help books won't make that go away — then, a blood sample test, it's just 5 minutes. (Well, plus bus / subway / something to the health clinic.)
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
pathseeker 6y ago
>who you are can absolutely be changed by external circumstances Yes, but that's focusing on the very unlikely external circumstances and defeating the point. 99.99% of the daily stuff that seems important actually is not and it's healthier to live a model assuming it's not important rather than worrying that everything could be that devastating brain tumor or IED taking out your bus.
- cmehdy 6y ago
  In the US alone, for TBI alone, there were almost 3 million TBI-related emergency department visits in 2014[0]. One in 4,000 babies born in the US have hypothyroidism[1]. At the lower bound, there is 0.25% of the US population subject to schizophrenia[2]. If we go and look at things like Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), 2.7% of US adults have had it in the past year, 32% of which had serious impairments associated with it[3]. I would invite you to seriously challenge the formulation of your idea: it's not that 99.9% of stuff "seems important and it's not", it's that not 99.9% of people have the ability to deal with it through just the one therapeutic aspect of self-talk. Moreover, there is a propensity to share these words because they are inspirational, yet there is very little put forward for the people who do need more than that - and who, in turn, tend to suffer from ailments which in many cases could be alleviated if as a society they were more acknowledged. If you re-read my message, I hope you do see that I am appreciating the original words, and simply highlighting additional options to people out there who need more than that. That's all. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html [1] https://www.rightdiagnosis.com/h/hypothyroidism/stats.htm https://www.rightdiagnosis.com/h/hypothyroidism/stats.htm [2] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia.sht... [3] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/generalized-anxiety-disorder.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/generalized-anxie...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - jka 6y ago
    I believe you and hear you. Not all events are under our control, and not everyone is able to lead a pain-free life. The general audience here may have some skewed (and perhaps limited) experiences. Those of us fortunate to have good health and the ability to improve our circumstances should be glad for those opportunities, not take them for granted, and try to extend them to others.
    - anon_1357111317 6y ago
koheripbal 6y ago
> who you are can absolutely be changed by external circumstances I believe the point of the last sentence is exactly that your experiences in the external world can change you. But the difference is that you should decide how it changes you. You should decide how you can bring smarter nuance to you principles to avoid the exhausting emotional drama in the world, and you should decide how to alter your ideas/strategy (the sword) to better shape your life to meet your life's goals and serve the people you love. This is the ideal - it is often not a reflection of our very human reality. ...but it is, through years of practice, something that can be closely attained. The prayer is the acceptance that we are flawed emotional humans - and it is just a simple tactic to remember to aspire to being in control of our emotional state - rather than letting it control us. We can identify our self-worth according to who we are inside (our principles, thing love we have, and the goals we have), rather than passively allow the world to beat us what it finds useful. Mental illness falls outside the scope of this prayer. If someone has mental illness, then this (or any) prayer isn't going to solve their problems and they should seek professional help.

by cmehdy 6y ago

anon_13571113 6y ago

You're right about that. I was in such a situation: I had strong feelings of anxiety, sadness, low self esteem. I went to a psychologist & psychiatrist and got a bit anti depressive medication, many books to read, meditation exercises, mindfulness. All these things were good and helpful, and I guess in most cases it's what's needed. But nothing of all that totally helped; I still had this sadness and anxiety and lack/absence of self confidence. Then many years later turns out I have an illness, hypothyreosis, that causes this. And medication (levothyroxine) made all this go away, and I'm a different person nowadays. > who you are can absolutely be changed by [...] circumstances [...] illnesses That's very correct. I've been two different personalities — one sad, anxious, withdrawn, another happy and social. It's weird what hormone levels can do to the brain and who one ... who one is? one's personality. Anyway, if someone has depression and anxiety feelings, and meditation and self help books won't make that go away — then, a blood sample test, it's just 5 minutes. (Well, plus bus / subway / something to the health clinic.)

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

pathseeker 6y ago

>who you are can absolutely be changed by external circumstances Yes, but that's focusing on the very unlikely external circumstances and defeating the point. 99.99% of the daily stuff that seems important actually is not and it's healthier to live a model assuming it's not important rather than worrying that everything could be that devastating brain tumor or IED taking out your bus.

cmehdy 6y ago
In the US alone, for TBI alone, there were almost 3 million TBI-related emergency department visits in 2014[0]. One in 4,000 babies born in the US have hypothyroidism[1]. At the lower bound, there is 0.25% of the US population subject to schizophrenia[2]. If we go and look at things like Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), 2.7% of US adults have had it in the past year, 32% of which had serious impairments associated with it[3]. I would invite you to seriously challenge the formulation of your idea: it's not that 99.9% of stuff "seems important and it's not", it's that not 99.9% of people have the ability to deal with it through just the one therapeutic aspect of self-talk. Moreover, there is a propensity to share these words because they are inspirational, yet there is very little put forward for the people who do need more than that - and who, in turn, tend to suffer from ailments which in many cases could be alleviated if as a society they were more acknowledged. If you re-read my message, I hope you do see that I am appreciating the original words, and simply highlighting additional options to people out there who need more than that. That's all. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html [1] https://www.rightdiagnosis.com/h/hypothyroidism/stats.htm https://www.rightdiagnosis.com/h/hypothyroidism/stats.htm [2] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia.sht... [3] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/generalized-anxiety-disorder.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/generalized-anxie...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jka 6y ago
  I believe you and hear you. Not all events are under our control, and not everyone is able to lead a pain-free life. The general audience here may have some skewed (and perhaps limited) experiences. Those of us fortunate to have good health and the ability to improve our circumstances should be glad for those opportunities, not take them for granted, and try to extend them to others.
  - anon_1357111317 6y ago

koheripbal 6y ago

> who you are can absolutely be changed by external circumstances I believe the point of the last sentence is exactly that your experiences in the external world can change you. But the difference is that you should decide how it changes you. You should decide how you can bring smarter nuance to you principles to avoid the exhausting emotional drama in the world, and you should decide how to alter your ideas/strategy (the sword) to better shape your life to meet your life's goals and serve the people you love. This is the ideal - it is often not a reflection of our very human reality. ...but it is, through years of practice, something that can be closely attained. The prayer is the acceptance that we are flawed emotional humans - and it is just a simple tactic to remember to aspire to being in control of our emotional state - rather than letting it control us. We can identify our self-worth according to who we are inside (our principles, thing love we have, and the goals we have), rather than passively allow the world to beat us what it finds useful. Mental illness falls outside the scope of this prayer. If someone has mental illness, then this (or any) prayer isn't going to solve their problems and they should seek professional help.