Your Worldview

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Everyone has their own view of what the world is like. You can call it their "Worldview." Each of us tends to take our worldview to be reality. It is never completely true. Sometimes we can have a very biased or very distorted view.

People with this view are overly optimistic, seeing everything as wonderful, or rosy. They trust anything said by anyone.

These people tend to NOT see danger, and to interpret everything and everybody in a positive light, even when others can see danger.

Guaranteed! If you view the world as completely safe and everyone as totally honest and friendly, you will be disappointed. A few people will take advantage of you. You will be cheated. You will be hurt.

These people see the world as a very dangerous place. ""Everyone" is out to get them, boss them around, cheat them, or somehow hurt them. This person passes all events through his own mental filters (his expectations and biases). This forces the world to appear to be the way he thinks it is. (That's important: read it again!) Everything is viewed as probably bad or dangerous, even if it wasn't intended that way.

Guaranteed! If you have the view that the world is a rotten place, and everyone is out to hurt you, cheat you, or boss you around, then you will see everything as threatening to you. You will be defensive. In your thinking you will distort many events into some sort of attack upon you, even if attack was not intended. You will spend needless time and energy on protecting yourself, beyond any reasonable need to do so. I have seen it happen!

That is how the human mind can work. In fact, out of defense, you will probably unconsciously do things that turn friends against you. They are likely to get tired of being accused of somehow being your enemy, and just ignore you and avoid you. - - - THINK about it!

WARNING! It is common for a person with a pessimistic worldview to believe he or she has a realistic worldview. This is because they have distorted events and people so much that they are convinced that is the way the world really is! In their own distorted thinking, they believe they are realists. To the rest of us, they are not, as indicated by their constant negative view of nearly everything and everybody.

Both the Overly Optimistic and Overly Pessimistic viewpoints are distorted worldviews. They are lazy ways of dealing with the world. You don't have to think! You don't have to make judgments! Everything is predictable! They can lead to an unhappy future.

The Realist however has a better viewpoint. This person looks at life to find evidence there is danger, or there isn't any danger. Sometimes it is a judgment call. Sometimes we have to wait to see if we can get more information. But the initial view is "Let's check it out." He can look very carefully to see what is actually true in individual cases, persons, and events. He can then adjust his mental view to match the real pieces of that real world. This viewpoint requires more work.

Guaranteed! If you have the view that the world is usually a friendly place, and most everyone is friendly (or could be), then you will be able to enjoy people. You will be friendly with them. In your thinking you will be able to ignore minor problems with people, counting those events as accidents, or not typical of the person.

That is how the human mind can work. In fact, you will probably unconsciously do things that attract others to you. They are likely to grow into being your friends. But at the same time you have your antennae out, looking for real warning signs. - - - THINK about it!

How do you view the world and the people in it? Whatever you think the world is like, you will respond to that world you see in your mind. Your responses will tend to MAKE THE WORLD (for you!) INTO what you THINK it is. A person's reality is strictly what he thinks it is. A healthy person tries to bring his view of reality (his worldview) into a match with the reality that actually exists! Anything other than this is the same as lying to ones self!

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Fixing a Poor Worldview

 

A healthy mental view is a balanced and realistic view. The person knows there is good and bad in the world.

 

If you have an Overly Optimistic worldview, it will tend to correct itself. After you have had some bad experiences, you will become more cautious, and move away from that view. The danger is you might move too far, and become Overly Pessimistic!

 

If you think only or mostly about the negative things in your life, then you will develop a negative worldview. The longer you see things as negative, the harder it is to see anything positive. The obvious prevention for this is to have a balanced view. You must be sure you also look at the positive events in your life.

 

If you have already developed a negative worldview, it grows upon itself. The way out of it is the same. You must become balanced in viewing the world. That is hard to do, once the negative view is well established. Consciously force yourself to sit down and write out a list of all the positive things you can think of. Set yourself the task of looking for all the evidence you can find that shows the world is overall a good place, and the people in it are, for the most part, good people. At first this may be very difficult to do. Sitting down with an adult whom you trust to help you is a good way to do this.

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Listen to the Opinions of Good People

It is very common that we do not see our own weaknesses. Listen to those who have your best interests at heart. They probably see you better than you do, especially if in the past they have proved to be honest, loving, and intelligent. Don't be upset if a teacher, parent, or other person says something like "You have a bad attitude," or "I don't like your attitude." Don't assume it was said to hurt you. It is not a put-down. Adults usually recognize that your attitude (view of the world) has a very powerful effect on how successful and how happy you will be in life.

So if a good person says something like that, assume they are trying to help you to be successful in life. They are! Listen to them carefully. Try to find the inner heart of the message they have for you. Ask them. Listen. Think. Discuss.

A healthy worldview leads to good things. An unhealthy worldview leads to bad things. THINK about the truth in what is written in this essay. Believe it. Accept it, Make it your own philosophy! Make it one of your Life-Rules!

 As of 21 Aug '03