Where do your ideas, thoughts, philosophies & paradigm actually come from? The truth is they come from a variety of things, but if I had to sum all the answers up in one word it would be your environment. If you think “life is hard,” I can promise that you are from a looooonngggg line of family members who grew up telling you (or showing you) it would be. If you are a “spoiled brat,” which very few spoiled brats will ever admit, then I can probably trace your “bratiness” to a long line of privilege.
The point is, before anyone else ever “got to you” and dumped aaaallllll of their experiences (both good and bad) on you, you were empty, pure, and genius enough to draw your own conclusions from your own encounters. Somewhere along the line, you started to allow the influence of others to weigh in on your own capabilities and this began the process of you learning from non-credible sources in most instances.
The truth is, just like you can learn something, you can unlearn it. The challenge is, in order to unlearn something, you must replace the previous content with new data, research experiences, philosophies, and encounters that prove otherwise. For example, if your past experiences have led you to believe that “all men are dogs” or that “all women lie,” you will believe that until you find not 1, not 2, but 3 or more who disprove that theory. This forces you to replace the word “all” with the word “some,” and that leaves the space you need to allow “good” men/women back into your life. So the question becomes, what have you been taught over the years that you need to unlearn? Who planted certain seeds into that fertile soil of yours that amounted to a bunch of weeds that you have yet to mow down? Finally, what are you doing or who are you surrounding yourself with now that has earned that right to plant new seeds that give rise to new life? – iamBB