In a previous post I shared my thoughts about the Law of Identity. Why did we do that here, of all places? Well, as you’ll soon realize, we had a purpose. We always have a purpose, devious though it may seem…
As I’ve mentioned many times, stress is a natural part of life, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. We all experience stress on a daily, if not hourly, basis. It is simply one of the challenges of being alive. Some of this stress is good for us, such as the “fight or flight” impulse experienced in a life threatening situation, while other forms of stress can be downright debilitating; for example, the stress we experience when the three aspects of our Selves, the physical, emotional, and spiritual, are not in harmony.
Accepting reality reduces stress
While it is possible to discover many techniques and strategies for coping with stress today, a quick Google search will return more than 23 million results, it is my experience that the refusal to accept reality is a major cause of stress. This was the reason for my post on the Law of Identity; the need for all of us to accept the fact that there truly is an objective reality that affects our lives on a minute-by-minute basis, yet is indifferent to us. This is not a value judgment made against us, or you, but simply a fact of life.
In other words, the real world exists regardless of our perception of it, and will continue to do so when we are long gone. Trees are trees, and will always do what trees do, whether we accept them as tress or not. A brick wall is, and always will be, a barrier. We can find safety behind it or become frustrated that it impedes our progress through it, but it will always be what it is. It is apathetic to our feelings about it.
Becoming frustrated about the fact that your apple tree does not produce oranges, or that your neighbors’ brand new brick wall does not allow you free access to his swimming pool any longer, will only increase the amount of negative stress you feel. There are few stress management tips that will help you overcome this type of stress, believe me.
If the point of all of this has not become obvious yet, it should have. There are certain Laws of Reality that affect us all, and the Law of Identity is one of the most important. The denial of objective reality can lead to feeling of impotence and powerlessness. It can make you feel unable to take action that may improve your life, and the lives of those you love. It might even be said that, by refusing to accept objective reality, you betray yourself and your loved ones, by causing increased levels of stress that could otherwise be easily avoided.
And yet, while we all perceive reality differently, creating our own personal reality so to speak, based on this perception, it is absolutely vital that we understand that our world has certain characteristics that remain in place regardless of our perception of them. There will always be things that happen in the world which challenge and frustrate us, such as natural disasters and destructive behaviour by others, and there is little we can do about them. The key then is to simply accept that this is true and move on to the things that we can influence or change; for example, our Selves.
This is known as the Law of Acceptance, about which I have also written, here and here.
The Law Of Identity
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