It doesn’t have to be either really- cockroaches aren’t particularly strong in the grand scheme of things, but they are resilient. Our ability to endure isn’t necessarily strength, it can be many things: apathy, not caring enough about one’s self to feel anger or sadness or the full range of emotion to one’s circumstances; resignation, an acceptance that things are as they are due to unwillingness or inability to change them; lack of awareness, an inability to perceive what is going on; stubbornness or pride, a refusal to change in order to prove that one can endure; and more.
We say survival is strength because it is often kind. It is self affirming and helps foster a mental attitude of healthy delusion. The illusion of power gives us security and purpose, it allows us to reframe our perception.
Most people have trouble with reality as a whole. We tend to see things in extremes or revert to binary, it’s instinct. We conceptualize things subconsciously and consciously as good or bad. It’s a survival mechanism of instinct. It’s how and why we often do pleasurable things that are destructive and the root of much addictive behavior. “This is good” is the image the brain forms, not a complex relationship of benefits and downsides, with difficulty ignoring the right now for the long term. You feel good NOW, usually the bad effects come later. The reverse is true of long term planning. Saving money for example denies you ratification now for an abstract greater benefit later. The brain tends to not think in abstracts by nature but prioritizes the immediate.
Our higher reasoning and logic can fight these instincts, to what degree depends on our discipline and overall mental ability. Some people are just more primitive thinkers. They can’t avoid binary thinking even when they are aware of it consciously. They prioritize immediate but non survival based stimuli over more abstract concepts.
Helping my seriously ill mum and my dad atm, and been asking myself this. I am a professional care giver so I think it's because of my job that it seems easy ...
It could be that you are unconsciously distancing yourself from feeling things because nobody likes getting hurt.
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You have the capacity to feel a lot, but it's not a positive transaction, so you avoid it. By avoiding it, you can remain unaffected.
Unfortunately, this also impedes your ability to truly enjoy things.
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I've had to learn how to feel again, and sometimes I still don't. I've often wondered the same and have explored this discussion often with my partner. These are our suggestions to this scenario.
Comments
We say survival is strength because it is often kind. It is self affirming and helps foster a mental attitude of healthy delusion. The illusion of power gives us security and purpose, it allows us to reframe our perception.
.
You have the capacity to feel a lot, but it's not a positive transaction, so you avoid it. By avoiding it, you can remain unaffected.
Unfortunately, this also impedes your ability to truly enjoy things.
.
I've had to learn how to feel again, and sometimes I still don't. I've often wondered the same and have explored this discussion often with my partner. These are our suggestions to this scenario.