To feel spiritually whole, it is important to take time to become cognizant of yourself and your actions. When you analyze your behaviors, you allow yourself to examine how you feel about your life and how you live it. One of the biggest problems that most people face is rationalizing. When you engage in this behavior, you don’t take responsibility for your actions. Often, these patterns can stand in the way of accomplishing a whole lot more in life. If you think you might benefit from reducing how often you rationalize behavior, now is the time to take action. Consider these tips on how to move forward and stop rationalizing.
Common Examples
While there are countless ways to rationalize, there are a few examples that are more commonplace than others. Many people often claim that they are unable to do certain activities or attend events because they are too busy. While being busy seems like a good excuse, it actually is really an easy way for most people to avoid engaging with the world. When you tell people that you are too busy, it means that you are using this as an excuse to put off or completely avoid specific interactions or events.
In most cases, you are not actively trying to deceive people when you say you are busy. It is such a knee-jerk reaction in most people that it really becomes more of a trick of the mind. You say you are busy and start to believe you are. The first step toward overcoming your rationalizations is becoming aware of a problem. Whether using business as an excuse is your prime issue or not, taking time to realize you are experiencing a problem can get the ball rolling.
Active Steps
When you want to make positive changes to the way you live your life, you need to take active steps in the right direction. Becoming aware of a rationalization is a great start, but you need to go further in order to see results. After noting a particular issue that you might have, you need to convince yourself to not believe the rationalization. To achieve this, think about creating counterarguments. There are going to come times when you are actually busy, so you may need the excuse for real now and again.
The next time someone invites you out for a drink and you want to tell them you are busy, think about what you are going to do during the time when you would otherwise be having the drink. Will you be getting some sleep? If so, is this a priority of yours or is it simply what you will fall into doing because you’re home? When you really need sleep, it can be a helpful counterargument when a person invites you out. Real counterarguments help you know when you should go out and when you should stay in.
Don’t Resist
In many cases, people make excuses because they are resisting something. When you are trying to stop rationalizing, you need to think about what you might be resisting. In the case of using the excuse of being busy, you could be putting off seeing friends or family members due to a specific incident. Get to the heart of the problem and learn what you can do to make the right changes.
Living a more spiritual life starts by taking time to recognize any problematic patterns you notice developing in your life. Explore different ways to improve the way you handle your rationalizations, and see what adjustments can yield the best results from your efforts. Stop rationalizing!