Harnessing Independent Thinking to Thrive in a Chaotic World

Dive into the eye of today's political storm with our latest episode, where chaos meets clarity. 

In this thought-provoking discussion, we explore the impact of current events on mental health and how discernment can be your guiding light amidst societal upheaval. From reflecting on a classic film to dissecting the power dynamics that shape our perceptions, this episode is a deep dive into navigating truth in an era of misinformation.

Key insights include:
- The critical role of discernment in distinguishing fact from fiction.
- How repeated narratives influence public perception and individual beliefs.
- Strategies for conducting an honest moral inventory to anchor your convictions.

Join us as we unravel the threads binding politics, perception, and peace of mind—tune in now for a journey towards personal empowerment!

In this podcast, I want to focus on maintaining, a stable state of mental health in the world in which we're currently living, where things are spinning out of control as it relates to, the politics that that we're we're seeing in the world and just the crazy things that are happening. So at the time of this podcast, the Olympics are happening right now. Donald Trump's assassination attempt happened, a couple of weeks ago, and watching all the fallout from that. And, I just I'm I'm staring in a sense in mute disbelief as I'm watching the political parties war against each other online. And what I ask for all of us is to take a moment and reflect inside of ourselves in what it is we're we're really believing.

What do we believe? I think the most important prayer for every human on the planet right now is the power of discernment, being able to discern truth from error, right from wrong. I'm reminded of a classic movie in 1992. It's called Sneakers with Robert Redford and Ben Kingsley. Just a classic, movie.

And near the end of the the movie, there's a scene that is so profound, and it all had the the movie has to do with, this black box that apparently could break all codes and and and somehow control all information. But, anyway and this is, at at the end of the movie, Robert Redford is having a conversation with, you know, Ben Kingsley, who, anyway, let me just let me just read the dialogue. I thought we were gonna change the world, Marty. Remember? Robert Redford's character's name is Marty.

Marty. I think we really can. Yes. What's wrong with this country, Marty? Money.

Money's most powerful ability is to allow bad people to continue doing bad things at the expense of those who don't have it. When I was in prison, I learned that everything in this world, including money, operates not on reality, but the perception of reality. Then he says, question people think a bank is is financially shaky. Consequence, people start to withdraw their money. Result, Pretty soon it is financially shaky.

Conclusion? You can make banks fail. I've already done that. Maybe you've read about a few. Think bigger, Marty.

Stock market? Yes. Currency market? Yes. Commodity markets?

Yes. Small countries? I might even be able to crash the whole system, destroy all records of ownership. Think of it, Marty. No more rich people, no more poor people.

Everybody's the same. Isn't that what we said we always wanted? And then he says, Kaz, you you haven't gone crazy, have you? Marty, who else is gonna change the world? Bring peace.

And then Robert Redford says, you are crazy. And that and that was the end of the scene. That's exactly what what we are seeing in the world today. As I'm watching politicians get on, they are they are masters of avoiding reality, misdirecting, and taking the narrative where they want to with the idea these guys understand that all they have to do is repeat things over and over and over again, and then people accept them. We need to wake up.

Not not the woke people. We need to wake up. Good people need to wake up to the reality of what is going on, and take stock of what is it that we really believe. Look at the facts. Facts don't care about emotions and feelings.

Facts are facts. Look at the issues clearly. Study them. Make decisions based on information. There's another fascinating book out.

It's called virus of the mind, the new science of the mean. That's by Richard Richard Brody. Richard Brody, fascinating guy, was one of the main developers of Microsoft Word. And this whole book talks pretty much about this this whole subject, that a meme, m e m e, is something that is an original thought or idea. It get it gets repeated over and over and over again, and then all of a sudden there's a movement and all of a sudden there's this happens and that happens.

And it's just based on perception of reality, of what, what someone wants to create. We need to think for ourselves. We need to make our own decisions. And what what I would ask each of you, if you're truly troubled by what's going on and feeling emotionally, unstable and in an upheaval, wondering what to believe, not to believe. You you've got to go down inside yourself and really think things through seriously.

Make decisions for yourself and learn to believe in yourself. Learn to believe in your capacity to discern right from wrong. Be honest with yourself. One of the most challenging things I have seen working as a therapist is for individuals to have to have the capacity to truly look inside themselves and do something called, an honest, brutally honest, moral inventory. Taking a look at their lives, what they believe.

Why do you believe the things that you believe? Are you believing things that truly are correct, or are you being led into paths where things are not correct? And you ask they might ask the question, well, how can one tell? And I go back to a couple other fascinating books. One's called Power of Awareness by Dan Schilling.

He, was a yeah. Let me just read his thing. In in his 30 years in special operations, Dan Schilling conducted combat and clandestine missions around the world, founded and then commanded 2 special operations squadrons. Anyway and and he's worked alongside the CIA, FBI, NSA. That's when those those organizations were reputable.

Not not anymore. Not today. But in his book, the power of awareness, he talks about, as well as Gavin de Becker's book, gift of fear, this powerful intuitive gut sense and feeling, and if we're not mindful and aware, we can can be led away from trusting our gut. When any idea or situation presents itself, if we slow down and pay attention, we will know inside of ourselves what is the correct way to follow. And I'll tell you how powerful, memes are and how powerful misdirection is.

I once read a study, and I I'm just pulling this up from memory right now, of of of a guy who goes into a room with, let's say, 4 other participants, and they're given a question. And the question is fairly easy to answer, but 4 of the individuals in the room are part of the study. They're plants, and they are instructed to answer the question wrong, and they seem super intelligent, but they answer the question wrong. And this one person who clearly knows the answer, and he, you know, answers the question correctly, but then he watches the other 4 news answer it another way, This person will change his answer and to to align with the other 4, And, and that's what the study was able to show that that people have a tendency to do that, to trust others rather than trusting themselves. I encourage you that found one of the foundations of mental health is to know what you believe, and to take a stand, and to be able to speak your truth, and not to be so influenced by what other people think and feel.

Everybody has an opinion. Everyone is trying to grab our attention, everything, every marketing ploy. Our attention is our most powerful commodity. People are after it. Social media is after it And I would ask you to look inside of yourselves and say, am I being proactive or more reactive?

We live in a world, it's a law of the jungle. It's just the way it is. We're either predator or we're prey. We're either pursuing things by choice or we tend to be victims, and if we're not mindful and aware, it's very easy. It's like a human tendency just to follow along with the crowd.

It's called group think. I'm asking you to take a look at that. What do you believe? Trust yourself. Believe in yourself.

Search things out in your own mind. Do not just believe something because someone says it is so. As I as I am watching, my wife and I are sitting down and and watching fascinated by what's going on in the media. It's astounding that how easily people are caught in mis misdirection. There's actually a number of people that honestly do not believe the assassination assassination attempt on president Trump was real.

They believe it was fake. They really truly believe that, notwithstanding all of the evidence, And it's just like, well, you know what? So I, I'm just, anyway, again, finding answers for yourself, Learn to trust in yourself. Be honest with yourself and and and that helps you become more secure. Be grounded, steadfast in in where you're at as you continue to navigate through this world, because I think things are just gonna gonna continue to escalate.

It's so, so sad to see that we are on the brink of World War 3, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see it all transpire. Every everything that's kind of if you're looking from a spiritual perspective, all the things that have been prophesied in the past, they're unfolding before our eyes, and it's happening, quite rapidly. So getting yourself grounded, choosing what you believe and being fixed in that, and then continuing to be proactive and do positive things, find a purpose in your life, find something of meaning to continue to work for, but don't let all the things that are happening in the world just get you in a place of hopelessness. It's never hopeless. We've gotta stand up.

We've gotta fight. We've gotta speak. The only way for evil to triumph in the world is for good men, good women to do nothing, and now, also, there's a statement I love by the former emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, if I'm saying that name correct. He says this, throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph and the way to discern good from evil in your life. Go to your gut reactions.

Be honest with yourself. How do you feel in your gut? Your instinct will let you know. Anyway, those are my thoughts. I just wanna leave those with you to ponder.