What's wrong with 'Being in The Now'?

There’s something about ‘being in the now’ that bugs me.

On the surface, it sounds good

If you’re not bothered about the future or the past then everything is going to be golden

But where does that leave learning (from the past), and striving (for goals)?

Isn’t much of life’s juice and meaning extracted from ‘wanting’ and everything that comes with that?

I once felt so out of place in the world that I thought the only possible solutions were either self-destruction or an enlightened state where you weren’t bothered by anything at all

A floaty, detached consciousness which you attained by meditating, reading enough spiritual books, or hanging out with gurus

It took me a long time to realise that if you try to inoculate yourself against life, you lose the capacity to feel the good stuff as well as the bad

So if you’re dissatisfied and unhappy, what’s the solution?

You can buy something of course, or take a trip, or go for an experience

But is there an inner solution? A transformation that can make us feel more comfortable in our own skin?

There is, and weirdly, it’s staring you right in the face

It’s also well hidden…

… due to what I call “The Ultimate Cognitive Bias” (UCB)

[Cognitive Biases are fascinating. Skip to the bottom if you want a definition]

The UCB is the difficulty we have in realising that life is composed of opposites

For anything to be known and experienced, its opposite needs to be there too.

Let’s continue this tomorrow with some surprising examples…

Have a great day!

 Definition and Example of Cognitive Bias

A cognitive bias refers to a pattern of thinking or mental shortcut that our brains use, which can sometimes lead to errors or mistakes in judgment. It's like a little trick our minds play on us without us even realizing it.

One of the most common cognitive biases is called confirmation bias. It happens when we tend to search for, interpret, or remember information in a way that confirms our pre-existing beliefs or ideas. In other words, we often like to see things that agree with what we already think and ignore or downplay things that contradict our beliefs.

Here's a simple example:

Imagine you have a favourite superhero, let's call them Super Spark. You believe Super Spark is the best superhero ever because they always save the day. Whenever you hear or read about Super Spark, you pay a lot of attention to the stories that show how amazing and heroic they are.

One day, your friend tells you about an incident where Super Spark made a mistake and wasn't able to save someone. But because you have a confirmation bias, you might ignore or forget that information because it doesn't match your belief that Super Spark is perfect.

So, confirmation bias is when we favour information that supports our existing opinions and overlooks or forget information that challenges them. It's important to be aware of this bias and try to consider different viewpoints and gather all the facts before forming conclusions or making judgments.

When I was feeling confused and lost in the world I needed hope, autonomy and understanding. These daily emails are meant for that young human struggling in the challenging game of life

They should take you less than 30 seconds to read

If you want some synchronous real-time connection, head to my site here: https://www.markheath.co