Dave Kashen explains how the stories your mind tells are only partially true. He discusses the inner critic and psychological polarities like weak versus strong, then suggests asking how the opposite is true to loosen your grip on those narratives.
This idea I learned recently that every story that our mind tells us is partially true. I've been finding really useful. And the trap is either we hear the story and we believe it's wholly true, right? Like, let's take a simple example. Let's say you have an inner critic and your mind's like, you're weak. So either we're like, oh God, I'm weak, you know, like we believe it's, it's the truth about ourselves and that we suffer, or we believe it's wholly untrue and we try to fight against it. No, I'm not weak, I'm strong. And then we create all this resistance. And I just been finding more and more as I play with it, just like, oh, how is it true I'm weak? Yeah, I'm like, I'm weak. Like sometimes I like eat sugar when I'm trying not to. And you know, I mean, there's like frail human body. I get hit by a truck, you can't bench press 200 pounds. I can't press 200 pounds anymore. And, uh, I did once. Um, and yeah, like, and I'm strong, right? Like, it's polarities, right? Both are true. But, um, but yeah, I think that idea, like, all the stories are partially true. That's why asking yourself how is the opposite true is such a useful exercise. It's not like Oh, I'm wrong and the opposite is more true. It's just if you see both sides, you're sort of righteous, like grip on the story loosens.
