Day 252 - Why so Stubborn?

Stubborn word Definition:

Having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good reasons to do so.
 
Have you ever had these moments in life where you dealt with people being absolutely stubborn in every sense of the word? And try as you might, no matter what you said or to show the person did not want to see what you were saying despite the facts clearly being there. I had a few of those, dealing with very stubborn people. And I could not understand why.

Have you ever had these moments in life where you had to deal with a person who insisted with absolute certainty that you said something, but you were sure you did not? And despite the fact that the person had clear evidence you refused to acknowledge that you did say it. Then afterwards you remembered you did in fact say it… I had a few of those as well.

So here are two events showing the same thing from the stubborn person and the other pointing thing out. The problem with Stubborn is that you refuse to listen to anything the other person shows you and believe you are the only person that is right in that particular moment no matter what the person says or shows. It’s an “I am right, you are wrong” thing.

When do you know when you are being stubborn? It starts with a reaction to what the other person said or showed; it’s like taking it personally and then you immediately go into a defensive position. So now you have this irritation and frustration building inside yourself and the only to defend yourself is to not believe a word the other person is saying and stick to you being right no matter what.

Now there is another dimension – being stubborn with yourself. Sounds silly but we all have these inner wars where we see a point within ourselves that needs to change, but then we go into being stubbornness and hold to that point, refusing to let it go or consider other options


When you do find yourself in this position the best thing you can do for yourself is to stop it. Stop and consider for a moment that the other person is trying to assist you and that what they are saying might actually be right. Look at the information without judgment and without taking it personally to access if what is being said is true or not. If you stick to being Stubborn then nothing is going to change. All you are doing harming the relationship you have with the other person and giving up an opportunity to better yourself.

So Next time ask yourself – Why so Stubborn? What’s the point? Is it is really worth it?
Now there is another dimension – being stubborn with yourself.

Will there be an Ark to save us?

 

I watched the movie “Noah” the other day. The main story line is basically based on Noah in the bible where the creator tells Noah to build a giant ark in order to save the animal kingdom from a worldwide flood that will kill every human expect Noah and his family.

The reason for this flood is to wipe out all the “wickedness” and “evil” that is humanity in order to cleanse the earth. In the movie it portrays humans and human nature as having a complete disregard for the earth. The earth got to a state where most of the land was barren and finding sustenance was very difficult due to how humans have exploited the earth. Sound familiar?

What I did find interesting in this movie is that Noah realized that humanity is the problem. That before humans roamed the earth nature was in balance – no exploitation, no over fishing, no deforesting, etc. And ever since humans came along that is when things started to go wrong with the earth. He also saw that this “evil” is in all humans – in himself and his family included is the potential for greed, murder, exploitation etc., so he came to the conclusion that in order to save the planet humans must cease to exist.

Now, if we look at the world today and the state it’s in – if we do nothing to change our nature then the outcome is pretty clear: We are going destroy this planet. Unfortunately there will be no ark for the animals this time, no flood to kill us all and save the animals. The way things are going we will kill every living being on this planet (maybe not the cockroaches). There is no all mighty creator that will help us through this.

Another point the movie shows is that every human has the potential for “goodness”, kindness, compassion and to be caring. Sure we have the potential to change our ways and actually be considerate human beings, but that means actually changing our nature as who we are and accepted ourselves to be.

So what will we choose?