MM1988

Self Image Paradox

42 posts in this topic

I dont understand how building up a positive self image can make you more confident and give you self worth.

What if you think very good of you and then something happens and you dont hold up to your high standard. Wouldnt you get depressed? Wouldnt that hurt the credibility of your self image? Doesnt life then become a constant strugge to validate your positive self image?

I dont get it, this is paradoxical to me.

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4 minutes ago, MM1988 said:

I dont understand how building up a positive self image can make you more confident and give you self worth.

What if you think very good of you and then something happens and you dont hold up to your high standard. Wouldnt you get depressed? Wouldnt that hurt the credibility of your self image? Doesnt life then become a constant strugge to validate your positive self image?

I dont get it, this is paradoxical to me.

I think there’s a lot of confusion in personal development teachings that just make things more difficult than they have to be.  I’ve heard the argument that it’s easier to break thru to enlightenment from a strong ego.  I don’t know about that.  That’s a cute story, but who knows, right?

Edited by Joseph Maynor

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26 minutes ago, MM1988 said:

I dont understand how building up a positive self image can make you more confident and give you self worth.

What if you think very good of you and then something happens and you dont hold up to your high standard. Wouldnt you get depressed? Wouldnt that hurt the credibility of your self image? Doesnt life then become a constant strugge to validate your positive self image?

Yes, that very much can happen if you're not truly overcoming your insecurities. That's what being confident entails, having less insecurities tomorrow than you do today. 


Memento Mori

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Do we see the fact that in trying to overcome insecurity is an attempt to seek security psychologically, and that only promotes further insecurity??

Is there psychological security?? 

Can this ‘self’ cultivate security? 

Edited by Faceless

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1 hour ago, Faceless said:

Do we see the fact that in trying to overcome insecurity is an attempt to seek security psychologically, and that only promotes further insecurity?? 

Yes, that very well might happen if you let procrastination and stagnation get the best of you.

You're entering a new state of being, not masquerading as a new state of being. 

Edited by Truth

Memento Mori

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5 hours ago, MM1988 said:

I dont understand how building up a positive self image can make you more confident and give you self worth.

It's actually a bluff to give your conceptual mind occupied - sugar for the mind. But you've managed to see through the bluff, amazing.

The idea is to keep the conceptual mind occupied so that it gets out of the way of your authentic self - the authentic self is happy and confident. Normally your conceptual mind likes to sabotage the real you via all kinds of negativity and perhaps cripling self doubt and insecurity.

As you've identified, it can backfire because the conceptual mind is sneaky enough to find ways to sabotage the success, and one way it does this is to compare things; so you get things like 'that guy is stronger than me', 'that person is more beautiful than me' or even 'I've failed to live up to my amazing self image'. It's all bs of course, because in reality people can't be compared to each other in any way, every single person is unique - and that amazing self image is a mirage.

Edited by LastThursday

All stories and explanations are false.

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Creating and Depending on any type of image to give one a sense of self esteem ‘confidence’, and security presents itself with very problematic consequences don’t we think??? 

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2 hours ago, Faceless said:

Do we see the fact that in trying to overcome insecurity is an attempt to seek security psychologically, and that only promotes further insecurity??

Is there there psychological security?? 

Can this ‘self’ cultivate security? 

Insecurity only comes from clinging to the self-image or Ego.  When the self-image is dropped, so is insecurity, in theory.  In practice, it's much more work than that makes it sound.  It takes a lifetime to detach from Ego.  And it's a matter of degree, not some kind of binary thing.  Nobody fully detaches from Ego.  But you can de-center the Ego to a greater or lesser degree over the course of your life.

Edited by Joseph Maynor

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4 minutes ago, Joseph Maynor said:

When the self-image is dropped, so is insecurity...

And for emphasis: and a lot of other kinds of suffering.


All stories and explanations are false.

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Why would one de-center the center after seeing its falseness?? 

 

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how can we assume it takes a lifetime to see the falsness of the ego/self?

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What center of action is left to act if there is no center? 

Lololol

Edited by Faceless

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There you go,

another

 

Edited by Vingger

One’s center is not one’s center, it is the center of the whole. 

And the ego-center is one’s center.

That is the only difference, but that is a vast difference.- 

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1 hour ago, Joseph Maynor said:

Insecurity only comes from clinging to the self-image or Ego.  When the self-image is dropped, so is insecurity, in theory.  In practice, it's much more work than that makes it sound.  It takes a lifetime to detach from Ego.  And it's a matter of degree, not some kind of binary thing.  Nobody fully detaches from Ego.  But you can de-center the Ego to a greater or lesser degree over the course of your life.

With the self/ego being the result of fragmentation/duality/measure and wholeness being immeasurable, how can fragmentation be integrated into wholeness???

Do we see the falsness of this? 

Do we see that where ever there is fragmentation only leads to further fragmentation? 

This is a cool one to think about ?

this also relates to meditation categorie under.....can science ever tells us anything about consciousness..

Edited by Faceless

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