Hello dear Read.cash readers. A wonderful day/night for you all!
I've been mulling over this week's prompt topic, Labels. I have several ideas that come to my mind when I think about them. And yesterday, I was talking about it with my son, and he gave me the idea of approaching the issue from the side of negative labels and the concept of Cognitive Distortion.
We begin to label others since we were children. For example, I just need to remember about some of my school companions and realize that I think about many of them with a label. X the funny, Y the liar, B the shy, and so on. And we keep labeling people all the time.
But the problem is when those labels don't let us see further. Especially when those labels are negative. We tend to make judgments about people. And many times, we don't give them a chance. And that is when the distortions in our perception begin to appear.
Cognitive distortions and labels
So to start, let's go through the concept of what Cognitive Distortion means.
"Cognitive distortions are biased perspectives we take on ourselves and the world around us. They are irrational thoughts and beliefs that we unknowingly reinforce over time."
Distortions can manifest themselves associated with various aspects, and one of them is when we put labels on others.
How many times does it happens that we meet someone and we are left with the first impression. He's unfriendly, he's arrogant, he's pushy, he's stupid. But the truth is that a person can't be defined by their behavior at a certain time. And that is precisely the problem when we label someone. We judge the person. And by doing so, we close ourselves off from the possibility of discovering the person behind the label.
And this usually happens to us in all aspects, from general to the most personal.
General labeling
Polarized societies are an example of how we label people by their way of thinking in a general way. And Venezuela nowadays is a clear example of this. Here we have been totally polarized for more than 20 years when it comes to political ideology. The Escuálidos as former president Hugo Chavez baptized the people of the opposition and on the other side, the people that believe in the idea of the so-called Revolución Bolivariana, the Chavistas. We have our labels for both parties.
And for years those labels have involved irreconcilable positions with awful consequences. Fights within families., siblings who have stopped talking, friends for years who are no longer friends, broken marriages by not sharing the way of thinking. And I'm not exaggerating, politics in Venezuela have come into our lives in the last 20 years. And the imposed labels prevent most from seeing further.
So it is obvious that the label we have imposed on ourselves by political thought has generated distortions in our way of relating.
Labeling others
When we label other people, especially if those labels are negative. We tend to make a judgment. And sometimes, it's as if we close the door in the face of that person.
And why do we tend to label people? Well, very simple, it's a shortcut of our mind to classify others. And thus determine which are the people who could be more similar to us when it comes to socializing. But this classification that our mind makes when we label someone, many times it's not very precise. Nor does it respond to our ability to empathize with that person.
I have consciously struggled with myself for a long time to try not to judge people. And although, I'm far from being perfect in that sense. Being aware of this is already a big step.
So my dear readers, and using us users of Read.cash as an example. Let us try not to judge and label others for a first impression or for any mistake they have made. We have to keep our values intact and in that there isn't a discussion. But let's not judge others as if we were wearing blinkers. Let's not stay with a first impression. Let's give others a second chance, especially when our first impression could be skewed by a negative feeling.
Labeling myself
And as bad as it's to label others, it's to label ourselves. It can be even worse. The labels we put on ourselves can often be obstacles in our way to success. In my case, I'm much harder on myself than on others.
For example, I'm an Introvert. And I know that many times I judge my abilities based on that label. And although I work on it, I'm less open-minded when it comes to judging myself than others. But that doesn't mean that I'm not aware that I must fight to remove the labels that I impose on myself. Everyone except the label that I put on when I look in the mirror and say to myself, You're awesome.;)
And you are awesome too my dear readers and wonderful sponsors. Thank you so much to all of you!
If you want to participate in the Writing Prompt. You can read Jonica's article on Writing Prompt #11: Labels. To participate:
Write about Labels
Write 100% original content
Write at least 600 words
Submit your article to the community PromptlyJonica
Have fun!
My previous articles on the prompts:
P1- Freedom - What does Freedom mean to me?
P2 - Motivation - Why I'm using cryptos? - my motivations
P4 - Darkness - Five days in the darkness
P5- Questions - Too many questions
P8- Nature - A glimpse of nature in my tropical land
P9- Success - Success is not Final
Images credits on the caption. Lead Image credit, Photo by Nick Hillier on Unsplash
Until next time! ;)
August 5, 2021
Guilty sometimes, I think most people are into it, human nature as they say. Though, I always remind myself to quit doing it. But, we must be responsible too, censor our speech, and keep those labels we put unto others in our mind.