Bridge To Tomorrow
Worldview
by Dr Carolyne Joseph, PsyD on 06/01/21Good morning. I have been thinking about this blog and what might stimulate some conversation and start people to thinking about how they think and why they think like they do.
When I was working with the inmates in prison I would challenge them to write about their "worldview." By world view I mean how you see the world around you. Do you see it as a "safe" place where you are allowed to be you or do you see it as "me against the world?"
Think about how you developed your worldview. Most likely it began in your childhood.
A worldview is a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action. Worldview is expressed in ethics, religion, philosophy, scientific beliefs and so on (Sire, 2004).Aug 1, 2011 A worldview is how you look at the world, how you think it operates, why things happen the way they do, what your purpose is.
If your childhood was free of violence, and you were encouraged to do your best. You felt loved and important, your world view would be the world is a safe place. Much of your world view is influenced by your parents world view. If you were encouraged to be kind to others, and not be judgmental, your worldview would be very different from someone whose childhood was filled with violence, and attitude that everyone is out to get you, you probably became very vigilant about the people around you and what their motives were.
It is important to look back without blaming anyone but to help you recognize how you world view has influenced your thoughts, attitudes, decision making and behaviors.
This can be a very freeing exercise. This will enable you to take charge of your thoughts, attitudes, decision making and behaviors. This is a very personal/private exercise.
You do not have to share anything personal unless you choose to. Remember, life is about choices. Make good ones that you won't regret later.
Welcome to my Blog
by Dr Carolyne Joseph, PsyD on 05/16/21I am doing this blog to share with you what I hope to accomplish with the classes I will be conducting in the future. Please feel free to comment, I ask that you be respectful, especially if you are responding to something I have written or another person has written. If you have questions please contact me by phone or e-mail.
I will be sharing articles on different topics that I think are informative and possibly helpful to you in your journey across the Bridge to Tomorrow. I will also be sharing my journey about how I built the bars to the prison, in my head, and how I learned the key to unlocking the prison.
I hope you will find this blog helpful. Please feel free to express your thoughts and feelings, as much as you are comfortable sharing, about your personal journey.
The first, and I think the most important, subject I would like to discuss is attitude. Joyce Meyer has a great saying "you can't have a positive life with a negative attitude".
First of all what is an attitude? It, among other things, is our viewpoint or our way of thinking about someone or something. How is our attitude formed? It is formed by many things. Life experiences, parents, school, etc.
A negative attitude is formed from the same sources. And is kept alive by negative self-talk and negative thoughts. It is very important to be aware of negative self-talk and negative thoughts.
All of us experience negative thoughts at times. What is important is how we manage them. This can mean the difference between confidence and fear, hope or despair, victory and defeat, etc.
Many studies have shown how a chronic negative can adversely affect your health, happiness and well-being.
There are five examples below that indicate how we keep a negative attitude alive.
Self-defeating talk:
I can't
I'm not good enough
I am going to fail
Self-defeating talk is an example of negative self-talk. These are false messages we send to ourselves. This can cause you to become "your own worst enemy".
Negative Assumptions
A common form of negative thinking is to look at a person or a situation and presume the negative. It is the way you CHOOSE to view the circumstances that makes the experience positive or negative. Your choice can make you stronger or weaker, happy or gloomier, empowered or victimized.
Negative Comparison with Others:
One of the easiest and most common ways to feel bad about yourself is to compare yourself with others. Trust me, there will always be someone better looking, smarter, have more money, a bigger house, well; you get the picture. When we dwell on these things we are making ourselves miserable.
Negative Rumination about the Past
Unless you know something I don't no one can go back and do a retake of our past. We should learn from the past but not live there. What has already happened, we cannot change. We can however; use our experiences to shape and influence our future.
I hope this post has challenged you to think about your attitude and how you might make some changes to how you think.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions.
