Pensive

Hilom pero layom. Thoughts matter. In fact, thoughts are matter. Some physicists claim that in the Zero Point Field (ZPF) thoughts equal energy and energy equals matter, then thoughts become matter.

Daily, we think a lot. These things are sometimes our source of confidence since we can think of anything without the judgmental eyes people are giving to our actions. We plan inside our heads and we create our own ideas and judgments with our thoughts. We see things and events and these will become triggers of an array of thought patterns inside our minds.

According to the theory of the law of attraction, our thoughts are magnetic and have their own frequency and consequently when we think we emanate a frequency depending on the kind of thinking we have and for the fact that our thoughts are magnetic, we attract everything located on the same frequency.

So, there is a need for us to be aware of what we are thinking. A filter must be installed like an application software in our minds for us to be able to guide our thoughts and allow ourselves to be pulled towards a more beneficial force field. This is termed as mindfulness.

When we learn mindfulness, we gain the power of familiarizing ourselves with our thoughts and our patterns. We can get to know our critical inner voices, and we can start to recognize when these cruel thoughts start to surface. We can then choose to steer our minds away from these thoughts. We can see the thoughts as clouds passing in the sky, yet like a mountain, we can stand solid and allow them to float by without letting them overpower us or influence our behavior (Firestone, 2013).

Again, we try to reason out why people choose to dwell on negative thoughts. According to Locke (2018) lack of success could be the reason but this is due to many factors, but negativity is a main cause. Negative people usually think they are not smart enough, athletic enough, or good enough. But the real threat to their success is that their emotional intelligence is crippled by their often critical and confrontational manner. Their fear to be dismissed or not listened to is the reason why they under-achieve.

Robert Locke continued that moving outside the familiar world is anathema to those who are negative. They cannot face the possibility of more fear, discomfort, challenges or failure. They are thus never able to try out new experiences and are doomed to dwell in their dull and dreary comfort zone.

So how then could we master “mindfulness” of our thoughts?

How we relate to our thoughts has a big impact on how our day unfolds, and also how we approach triggers in our lives. By taking a few mindful moments, we can gain some space between us and our reactions, and have some freedom from what triggers us—we don’t have to respond the same way every time. It’s a practice in breaking our habitual negative responses by first tuning in to how a thought or action makes us feel, and how it generates certain storylines in our minds (Goldstein, 2016).

That is the reason why we need some quite moments with ourselves to be aware of what is going on inside our heads. There are those who write down their thoughts on their journals. Some also would sieve their thoughts and create some kind of a plan for them to do “something” about those things which are bothering them. Most of the people who try to master their thoughts simply tell us that they BREATHE. That is why some gravitate to yoga and meditations. They pacify inner turmoil.

Thoughts awareness is the foundation to changing a thought pattern. We may not even be aware of how often we have a negative thought pattern or comprehend its impact on our daily lives. Once we identify the patterns, we know what to target. Mindfulness thus serves as the fulcrum for action to deal with negative thoughts and emotions (Cho, 2016).

As people mature, there is a need to be a contributor of world peace. Others might laugh at the audacity of this but it is true. Physics supplement the theory that our actions are being mandated by the energy of our thoughts.

As what Mahatma Gandhi said: Your beliefs become your thoughts; your thoughts become your words; your words become your actions; your actions become your habits; your habits become your values…and your values become your destiny.

Malfunction of the Brain

Gwapa. The different parts of the Philippines reverberated with shouts of joy and glee when Catriona Gray was proclaimed Miss Universe 2018. “I knew it,” gesticulated someone on the verge of tears. “She is indeed fitting for the title because she is beautiful!”

Nugent (2013) says that beauty is the quality present or inherent in an object or person, making it a stimulus which positively elicits pleasure, admiration, and satisfaction as a response. This quality is either pleasing to the mind or desirable to the senses. Psychology Today says that here are some universal standards of beauty across the world. Symmetry in the face and the body, plus clear skin and youthfulness are preferred traits.

Since time immemorial beauty has been said to be in the eye of the beholder. Meaning, we perceive what is beautiful differently. Our own choices and stimuli for admiration might be on the physical feature or the character-trait of others. Therefore, to insist on your own definition or to label men and women based on the color of their skin, their race and sexual orientation could fall into bigotry.

When a certain representative of the country joins a beauty pageant, that person is selected by the committee to be the epitome of their country’s definition of beauty. Therefore, all the contestants who will join such events are beautiful. It is going to be a battle of personality, self-confidence, advocacy and intelligence. So, anybody could win the title whether he or she is dark-skinned or fair.

Already social media platforms are awash with reports of emboldened bigots verbally, and in some disturbing cases, physically assaulting people of color, Muslims, and members of the LGBTQI+ community (Sherlock, 2016). This could be alarming since education is still trying to straighten things out. Books on open-mindedness and convergence are published yet the hate continue to thrive. Educators are on the crossroads since cultural and religious convictions are still creating barriers to the openness of acceptance.

Others still prefer to see the stain on the white sheet and dwell on the negative parts of the whole. This attitude could be attributed to the orientation of the person. According to Robert Locke (2018), there is a neurological explanation as to why some people end up being so negative. It has to do with the part of the brain called the amygdala, which functions as an alarm and is constantly on the lookout for danger, fear and bad news. Such persons failed to develop the ability to evaluate and face up to problems which can counteract this mechanism. Ergo, they constantly look for the bad side of everything.

This might be the scientific explanation why others could not see beauty on poor people and dark-skinned ones. They equate beauty with symmetry, fair skin and even expensive clothes and things. They belittle those who could not afford proper dental care and moisturizers. They grimace on the imperfections of others and label them as ugly. They look at the persons with disabilities as persons who do not deserve to be called beautiful. They could not accept mainstreaming since their brains are incapable of such function.

Our society must cope with the dynamic transformations and the setting of norms. There is no one-size-fits-all definition of beauty since there are causal factors that allow us to evolve. Psychologically, we need to be healthy in terms of acceptance and controlling the animalistic side to overpower our sanity.

Catriona is beautiful. She deserves the crown. And we are beautiful too. The persons beside you have their innate beauty from the one who created them. They deserve to be appreciated as well.

In the end, what the heart speaks is what defiles. Those who are incapable of appreciation must be the one to be laughed at. They deserve the negative things they harbor. We allow them to wallow in their own distress and free ourselves from their hate.

Life is too short to dwell on the dark. We do not allow others define our own happiness and least, our BEAUTY.