Post by Nick on Nov 11, 2015 23:33:42 GMT 12
I've been contemplating 'if' statements a bit lately and how they can be extremely unhelpful. The main one that concerns me is 'if only'. For example, "if only this person hadn't let me down" or "if only I'd just done x then I wouldn't be in this situation" or "if only I was naturally skinny like John then I'd be thin and girls would like me" or "if I could just win lotto". It seems to me that it really blocks you from being able to deal with the reality. I'm trying to think of why our brain does this. It's like we want to absolve ourselves of responsibility and excuse our insecurities when actually, we need to take that responsibility to be able to deal with the reality. I also think that this is far more common in people than we would initially realise.
I saw a really good interview with a boxer named Tyson Fury, who is fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world this month. Although I don't share his religious beliefs, his attitude to boxing seems quite healthy. He was being asked about the 'pound for pound' rankings and was basically saying what a load of shite it was. He wanted someone to explain to him what pound for pound means without using the word 'if'. He was only interested in reality. He gave a few examples but one that stood out to me was "If my granny was a man then she'd have a pair of bollocks", it is completely meaningless.
Where I do think if statements are useful is when used as 'if and then' as a way of preparing yourself for possible future obstacles, without predicting the future. For example, "If I don't feel like going to the gym then I will call my friend and ask them to pick me up and go with them".
I know this gets talked about a lot and I think it's been an important step for me to realise the differences.
I saw a really good interview with a boxer named Tyson Fury, who is fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world this month. Although I don't share his religious beliefs, his attitude to boxing seems quite healthy. He was being asked about the 'pound for pound' rankings and was basically saying what a load of shite it was. He wanted someone to explain to him what pound for pound means without using the word 'if'. He was only interested in reality. He gave a few examples but one that stood out to me was "If my granny was a man then she'd have a pair of bollocks", it is completely meaningless.
Where I do think if statements are useful is when used as 'if and then' as a way of preparing yourself for possible future obstacles, without predicting the future. For example, "If I don't feel like going to the gym then I will call my friend and ask them to pick me up and go with them".
I know this gets talked about a lot and I think it's been an important step for me to realise the differences.