BY SOFO ARCHON
Are you a free thinker?
This quick test, consisting of a single question, will help you find out. Here it is:
Do you feel threatened when others disagree with your beliefs?
If so, then it seems you are not as much of a free thinker as you might think you are.
Why? Because this kind of reaction reveals that you are too attached to your beliefs, and hence unwilling to question or reevaluate what you know. In fact, you are so attached to your beliefs that they have become part of your identity, which explains why when someone challenges them, you take it as a personal threat.
A free thinker, on the other hand, isn’t identified with their beliefs, and hence doesn’t feel threatened by disagreement. On the contrary, a free thinker welcomes disagreement, being aware that disagreement helps them take in new information, consider different perspectives and expand their consciousness.
You see, when someone thinks that their beliefs are absolutely correct, they don’t care about listening to anyone with different beliefs, opinions or views. Rather, they tend to either avoid disagreement or verbally fight in order to prove themselves right and others wrong. As a result, they stay stuck in their old ways of thinking.
If you are one of those people, I want to remind you that, like everyone else, you can’t be right about everything, and admitting that doesn’t make you any less intelligent. If anything, it shows that you are wise enough to know that there’s always room for learning.
Yes, admitting that you could be wrong might hurt your ego for a short while, but it will nourish your soul in the long run. It will help you move forward, deepen your understanding and grow as a human being.
So next time someone disagrees with you, remember to take a deep breath, put your ego aside and give yourself the chance to learn something new again.
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