everybodyhasabrain: Beliefs tend to change when they’re brought out into the open and given an
everybodyhasabrain: Beliefs tend to change when they’re brought out into the open and given an outside perspective. It could be your own perspective that changes, or someone else that changes it for you. Things you once thought important can be reframed in a new light, giving more weight to other things you seldom paid any attention to. They can also be strengthened, once you’ve had the chance to experience something else for awhile-and finding that what you had valued all along was really the best thing going for you.When I was younger, I used to believe I wasn’t worth much to other people. I’d often shy away from any kind of social situation that required me to talk or say something about myself. And I’d always make up excuses of why I couldn’t go, which just ended up delaying my feelings about being in those situations. I believed I was so worthless, that any time someone would ask me to tell them something about myself—I’d fast-forward to thinking about them ridiculing me or yelling at me that I was wrong. Those things never happened, but I’d imagine them happening so much that I would be afraid to even try speaking about myself.I was never quite sure why I felt this way. Although I got some pressure to get good grades and generally ‘succeed,’ I was always encouraged by my parents in everything I pursued. But sometimes, I felt pressured by bigger things—what other people expected of me, or what schools expected of me. And that left me little room to figure out what I really wanted—or even what I thought.What helped me was putting myself in more and more situations where I could bring myself out into the open, with less fear that bad things would happen as a result. Going to more crowded places, for instance—actually helped. Restaurants, coffeeshops, or even music concerts, were places I could feel like I was smaller in the grand scheme of things. And in a weird way, being in those places negated my belief that I didn’t matter. It made me think that—if I’m just a speck in this crowd of people, why not speak my mind?- Matt -- source link