I started living with my parents two days ago. Due to a poor internet connection at this house, there could be days when updates are impossible. Sorry if that happens.
I am creating a new life and have discovered a difference in my feelings: a decrease in empathic stress. Let’s talk about it.
What creates our mental sufferings?
Sometimes, we want to know the true cause of our mental sufferings.
Dealing with the superficial symptoms doesn’t solve the root problem. In other words, appropriate causality allows us to clear our problems efficiently.
However, we sometimes don’t know our mental system, especially when confused.
Fortunately, I have recently solved my confusion and started to understand the causal relationships in my mind. Today, I will introduce why cultivating logical sense reduces our mental stress. My fresh experience might help you solve your mental disturbance.
Misunderstandings in mental causality
I realized we have misunderstandings in mental causality, as follows:
- (Wrong) Unavoidable empathy towards others exhausts us.
- (Correct) The continuous loop of thinking caused by unavoidable empathy exhausts us.
Rationality allows us to stop endless cyclical worrying.
In other words, intense empathy doesn’t matter. We have to improve our poor logical sense. That is why cultivating logical sense reduces our mental stress.
Let’s look at my example.
I used to think my intense empathy caused my mental suffering.
For example, I am not good at dealing with low empathic behaviors. I didn’t like conversing with less empathic people. They always complained about others and were never grateful. I also disliked the news on television. They continually reported on the misfortunes of others. I also despised the influential people who only criticized others.
These negative emotions always made me feel down. That is why I avoided those people and information, including my parents.
However, these measurements didn’t resolve my problem.
My recent experience
After I started to judge rationally and live with my parents, I realized they were not the cause.
The true cause of our suffering is the continuous loop of thinking triggered by empathy, and rationality can stop it. That reduced my mental exhaustion dramatically.
In my case, when I listen to my parents’ inconsiderate words towards others, I initially feel a sense of discomfort, but I soon begin to make rational judgments. I noticed they are happy with that. Look at them closely when they complain without prejudice. They are vigorous. The form of happiness is different.
The same goes for the news on TV. When I see news about scams, I judge that it is peaceful based on my rationality. The scammers are also live based on their own rationality. Everyone is learning how to live efficiently.
That allowed me to prevent a continuous loop of thinking triggered by empathy. That freed me from stress.
My above judgments are not positive thinking. Positive thinking is empathic judgments, which makes us stick to one aspect of values.
If I think positively, I will get stuck in a loop of negative thought that asks, ‘Why does this happen?’ We cannot help but think logically if we are empathic and logical.
Logically speaking, it doesn’t have an answer. It is an irrational question. It is unreasonable to seek reasons for others’ survival strategies, including likes and dislikes.
In other words, intense empathy makes us force one way of life on everyone. Imposing a single worldview is incompatible with the rationality of others. We have to stop thinking of such logically broken questions. Knowing the limits of rationality is also a part of rationality.
No anxiety about productivity
From another perspective, if we have no anxiety about productivity, it frees us from the mental stress.
When we are confused about values, one factor that stresses us is the feeling of wasting time. Listening to others’ complaints feels like they are stealing our precious time in life. It is better to do something more productive than such a waste.
That makes us try to minimize those worthless times. That is the cause of our exhaustion.
On the other hand, rationality allows us to judge by moderation rather than good or bad. We don’t have to pursue one aspect of values.
It allows us to accept unproductive time as long as it is within a reasonable range. If there is nothing to do, waiting can also be efficient.
We don’t always have a strong energy when we act out of curiosity. We often have a relaxing time. It is wasted time from the perspective of productivity. It makes us feel like we are almost always living unproductively, and that is fine.
That is a rational judgment. That awareness frees us from the stress. In my case, I enjoy wasting time with my parents just as much as I enjoy relaxing. They create no value, and that is okay.
That is why intense empathy doesn’t matter. We have to improve our poor logical sense. Stopping the continuous loop of thinking reduced my mental stress dramatically, and rationality made it happen.
Conclusion
That is how cultivating logical sense reduces our mental stress.
Intense empathy doesn’t matter. Our poor logical sense causes our exhaustion.
This logic might help you solve your mental confusion.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
