Dr. Mort Orman here and the other day, I stumbled upon an interesting blog post written by a very wise young man named David Cain, who lives in Winnipeg, Canada and who writes a blog about being human, which can be found at www.rapititude.com .
The post is titled “88 Important Truths I’ve Learned About Life” and if you want to read the whole thing, just click here.
But I’m going to make it easier for you.
I went through the entire list of 88 truths and picked out the 27 best ideas that resonated with me.
Then, I wrote each one down on an index card and separated the cards into three piles of 9 cards each, based on how I thought the ideas were related.
So for each of my three blog posts this week, I’m going to share 9 of these important truths with you, so that you can ponder them as well.
I Love Wisdom
I’ve got to admit that I’m a seeker of truth and wisdom. Have been for most of my life, and that’s probably why I became interested in science and then medicine.
But over the years, I’ve also discovered that certain deeply insightful truths helped me to greatly reduce both my personal and professional stress.
Now I can’t say that all of David Cain’s 88 truths are stress relieving, but many of them are.
I’m also well aware there are many other stress-relieving truths that David didn’t include in his list of 88, but I decided to limit my discussion to the best 27 I could find among the list he published.
So here are the first nine truths I picked out, listed in the order I think is most appropriate to display them (I indicated the numbering sequence from the original list at the end of each entry):
- The greatest innovation in the history of humankind is language. (32)
- If you never doubt your beliefs, then you’re wrong a lot. (13)
- Most of what we see is only what we think about what we see. (28)
- By default, people think far too much. (55)
- Proof is nothing but a collection of opinions that match your own. (35)
- Self-examination is the only path out of misery. (39)
- Try as we might to be otherwise, we are all hypocrites. (59)
- Every problem you have is your responsibility, regardless of who caused it. (11)
- If anything is worth splurging on, it’s a high-quality mattress. You’ll spend a third of your life using it. (56)
Which Ones Do You Like?
Take a look at this list and see which ones you like. What are your top three favorites? Which one of these three do you think is most important?
And are there any that you violently disagree with? (I hope not.)
For me, my top three in importance and impact were originally numbered 32, 13, and 39.
Correctly understanding the role that language plays in our lives, and in our stress, is hugely important. Unfortunately, most people don’t really understand this.
Being very arrogant, and rarely doubting or questioning your deepest beliefs, is also a major cause of stress in our society today.
All of us are arrogant to a certain degree (see 59), but those of us who admit this fact, and take steps to overcome it, have much less stress and unhappiness than those who refuse to do so.
And self-examination, provided it is done deeply and accurately, is certainly the way out of a great deal of human misery and suffering.
Unfortunately, self-examination skills are rarely taught in our society, but those who seek these skills out are usually well rewarded.
Thoughts On Some Others
I grouped these 9 truths together, from the 27 on the original list that I thought were the best, because they all seemed to speak, in general terms, to what it means to be human.
Number 11 can be difficult to accept, depending upon how you view the word “responsibility.”
If you view it as “blame” than you’ll find this “truth” difficult to swallow. But if you think of it as “opportunity” or “co-creation” then it may make more sense.
And of course, I included the last statement (get a good mattress) not just because it is true, but to emphasize that getting regular, restful sleep is a very powerful way to help limit or reduce your stress.
Hope you enjoyed these first nine selections.
If you did, you’ll probably like the next nine truths I selected, which all have to do with human relationships.
To your health, happiness and success,
Dr. Mort Orman, M.D., International Speaker, Author And Founder Of The Stress Mastery Academy | http://DocOrman.com
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