would you eat meat? As a vegan, it’s probably the question I’m asked most often. Unfortunately, It’s also the stupidest question people ask me.
First of all, when was the last time you found yourself stranded on a deserted island? Instead of looking at hypothetical events that may cover .0001% of your life why not focus on where you’re spending 99.9% of your time? It rarely makes sense to use hypothetical situations to prove rational arguments as truth.
Furthermore, the question itself doesn’t even make sense. If there’s animals wherever I’m stranded, what are the animals eating? The animals can’t possibly be eating only each other, so there’s got to be some amount of plant life on the island.
Maybe you could make the argument that by some strange circumstance the island’s only plants are ones fatal to humans if consumed. Fine. Maybe I would eat the animals, maybe I wouldn’t. It doesn’t matter. We’ve already put enough thought into a hypothetical situation that’s highly unlikely to ever have any basis in reality.
What’s important is you’re not doing the same. We spend way too much of our brain’s resources playing through far-off scenarios when it’s not in our best interest to do so. The diet you eat has little effect on me, and I’m sure there’s plenty of rational arguments against veganism. However, if you use a scenario similar to the deserted island one to justify not trying veganism, or at least researching its validity, you’re cheating yourself.
If you’re on your way to go ask out a girl you like, but decide not to because you’ve just gone through a bunch of crazy rejection scenarios in your head, you’re being ridiculous. If you’re the best player on the team at taking penalty kicks, but refuse to take them in shoot-outs because you’re afraid of missing you’re cheating everyone.
Not thinking about far-off scenarios and what-ifs is easier said than done, but working against the natural tendency to do so is massively beneficial.
One method of working to combat these imaginary scenarios is meditation. By consistently meditating you’ll gradually improve in silencing these thoughts over time.
If you already mediate or your ego’s getting in the way of starting up the practice another thing I recommend are replacement thoughts. Whenever you begin to think about something negative or that’s not to your benefit, positively reframe it.
If you start to doubt yourself while you’re walking up to take the kick immediately reframe your thoughts. Instead of thinking about the times you’ve missed penalty kicks visualize all the times you’ve made them.
Don’t think about the disappointment of the crowd if you were to miss. Imagine them going wild after you make it. Think about all the practice you’ve put into mastering your shot and use that to fuel your confidence. Then, go out and make the shot.
Don’t think about all the crazy ways your crush could reject you. Think about how excited they’re going to be when they find out you like them too. Then go talk to them.
Stop being a slave to imaginary negative scenarios and what ifs and your results will quickly improve in everything you do.
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