Thinking Outside of Your Bubble

One of the most important things that I think everybody should learn to do is to think outside of the bubble you live your life within. Everyone has a bubble, and it is okay to have a bubble. The bubble is your own, self-centred world that is necessary for survival. In your bubble you are allowed, nay you are encouraged, to think about your needs and to actively fulfil them. Which is great, because everyone needs to be selfish to some degree if they are to get anywhere in life. Where you take this level of selfishness, however, is where the idea of you being a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person comes in to play. Or rather, whether you are an empathetic person or not. This is where the whole thinking outside of the bubble comes in.

You know the saying, ‘Sorry to burst your bubble’ or any of the idioms similar to that, well that is what learning to think outside of your bubble can prevent. A burst bubble is an unpleasant experience. It is sudden, it is sharp and it often leads to a painful fall back down to Earth. Cliché heaven is happening right here [and I love it]. By learning to think outside of the bubble, in effect you are making your bubble more flexible and elasticated – you are able to push your bubble’s boundaries close to bursting, but you are in control and so can keep your bubble intact. The greatest thing about learning to think outside of your bubble is that eventually you may realise that you don’t even need a bubble.

I personally feel like I shed my bubble some time ago. I’ve always been a naturally empathetic person. Even when people do completely, unforgivable, shitty things, I have always been able to think about it from their perspective. Depending on the level of shitty, it often leaves me thinking, “I understand why they would do such a thing, like I get it… but at the same time… I just don’t get it.” This kind of thought process appears to make no sense but it actually does make a lot of sense. I have the mental capacity to understand the thought process behind someone’s actions but that doesn’t mean I understand their emotional justification or their reasoning for why they think it or act on it. For example, I understand the thought process of somebody who is able to kill an animal at an abattoir. I get it. But I just don’t get how they can physically take the life of another living thing, like how they can physically rip the head off of a chicken. Because emotionally I am on a completely different wave length. Mentally, I can put myself in their position and understand the logic, and that can help to make me not dislike people who do terrible things, (even things much more terrible than killing a chicken for food in a society that has plenty of food and resources to replace that kind of protein).  

By losing the bubble you are actually more protected than when it is surrounding you. It takes away the shock when someone does something shitty to you and it helps you to move on. It also makes you think about the issues in your life differently, you see the world around you differently and if you can extend your empathy to the people around you, as well as the animals, plants and basically everything else around you – such as the planet – you just become a much more rounded, healthier person. It is much easier to justify your decisions if you know you have thought about how it may affect others, or how it may come across to other people. If you feel you can understand their thought process regarding your own actions then you can know if what you are doing is the right or wrong thing.

What’s more is that by thinking like this, you can also acknowledge your negative characteristics and not beat yourself up about them and in theory change them, if you are so inclined. For example, I know that I am a bitchy person. I enjoy a good bitch, I think biologically it has arisen as a way to bond with people, or at least that has been its role in my life. By being aware of those outside of my bubble, I know when and where it is okay to be a bitch and I also don’t try to justify my bitchiness. If someone comments on me being a bitch, which is rare because let’s face it – we all are. But if someone does comment, I won’t try to defend my comments with anything more than, ‘I know,’ and ‘Sorry.’ Trying to justify a bitchy comment just makes you mean, and yes there is a big difference between the two concepts.

Anyways, that’s my little thought for the day that I felt like writing down… do with it what you will. Agree, disagree, whatever makes you happy.