Why Do We Try to Put Labels on Everything?
How people define everything they see based on their experience
It is funny and amazing how the mind works.
I will try to explain simply. Our mind sees/experiences something through our five senses, memories it as positive, negative, etc. This creates the thought about it. Then it creates a feeling that creates our emotion later about the same thing. This happens all life long since our first breath. It is even more interesting when our brain sees something for the second time, then it is already aware and not surprised. It might be saying: ‘I know you!’ with a big wink (please forgive my wild imagination. Minds don’t wink.).
experience — →thought— >feeling— → emotion
Then what happens? Anything that is not new goes back to the already known positive, negative, or anything that the mind recognizes as “old but good or old and not so good”. And this is where we put labels. We are fast with the recognition, assumptions about anything we consider as known. We do not give a chance to anything to reveal and show its potential because it sounds, tastes, smells, looks, and feels familiar.
Please wait I do not say here — “Go into the fire and wait. Maybe it will not burn you.” Of course not. This is universal knowledge. I am saying that not every dog bites, not every soup is hot, and not every opportunity will end with failure.
It is not only amazing how the mind works but how powerful it is. Have you noticed that you start seeing objects, people, experiencing situations that are very much related to the main thought going around in your head?
You are looking for a car, especially BMW and at some point seems all the cars in town are BMW. You are buying a house/an apartment and one of a sudden you walk on the same streets as before and start seeing advertisements of real estate agencies all around. Here I want to say that our minds are powerful and the examples above as well the explanation proves that we have to be very cautious about how we “feed” them.
So why all this labeling — hard work of the brain.
I will reveal several benefits:
Gives certainty
Who doesn’t want to feel like nothing can surprise him/her, knowing all the successful moves in his/her life and their consequences? We all never want to make mistakes and to know what will happen if…?
Significance
Who will not feel confident and significant knowing what are his/her moves and where they are going? The feeling of “knowing it all” is incomparable, isn’t it?
Gives you a source of connection and love
Who will not give love and feel connected to something so certain in his/her life? Who will turn his back to this undeniable and certain love and connection?
Certainty, Significance, Love, and Connection are three out of six Human Needs. Moreover, I will call these — basic human needs. Why? Living life only by satisfying them is extremely boring and out of surprise.
Many people even unconsciously are living exactly in this way with the certainty where the hidden mentality is —
Everything new could be dangerous
or
It is new, so simply I do not know how to handle it. Better stay safe and secure.
This is what they are familiar with and know how to handle it. This brings them confidence about their lives, where they stand, what they do, and what they own. All this mentioned above just feeds the need for love and connection. Because being aware of what you have, you would feel significant, important. Everything that gives you this feeling deserves all your love and connection because it is certain. And the circle is closed and secured.
I believe it is very important for every human to have certainty, to feel significance, love, and connection with the surrounding world. I believe as well that without these three needs we are not able to survive and that is why I want to call them survival needs.
I know that each of us needs to have this to develop, improve themselves and find their better version. And that place is where that feeling of certainty, significance, love is not anymore the main reason for their living, but the feeling of giving, contributing, growing, and uncertainty (variety) is the strongest drive to live.
So, let’s try to live our lives in a way that we do not regret missed opportunities because they were too dangerous.
I am not going to dive into this more. My coach and friend Nano Ponce Nano explain profoundly and broadly the power of thoughts in his article: Universal Mind: conversations about the Three Principles
https://medium.com/@nano.ponce/universal-mind-conversations-about-the-three-principles-4e7948a232ed
