‘Mindful Awareness’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life, Page 5

Not only do people surprise us, but there are usually overlooked possibilities in our situation. One way we discover this is by talking to others about a situation we are in.

To have a sense of how we appear to others can be helpful information. And “not taking it personally” can actually contribute to our taking “personal responsibility”.

Sometimes it’s not so much a case of “It didn’t work”, but rather a case of “I didn’t work”.

A couple of the most common desires are losing weight and giving up smoking. People genuinely want to do these things and for what they see as sensible and rational reasons. And yet they often don’t. If they had more energy to do these things, surely they would. Isn’t this a motivation problem?

Lots of evidence and experience back the ‘open is good’ position. I don’t want to deny any of this. I do want to say that it may not be the right position everywhere all the time.