On self perception
Artem Biryukov - Art Station
Allow me to share with you the story of a killer rat
A farmer had a rat problem on his farm to which he tried many solutions but all to no avail, so he devised a plan. He captured a couple of the rats, and put them in a pit with walls so smooth that they couldn’t climb out. He also put a lot of food in the pit, and then... waited.
Over time, the rats exhausted the food supply and, unable to escape, the inevitable happened; they began to kill each other for food, until there was only one rat left standing. The farmer then brought out this rat from the pit and released him into the open, knowing fully well he had now developed an affinity for killing his own kind.
I came across this story on a reel recently, and it was used as a metaphorical allegory to describe how the ruling class turn the ruled class on one other, while they enjoy the benefit of our enmity, and on one hand I thought “why didn’t he just get a cat?” but for the sake of philosophizing, let us proceed.
After reading that story there was a thought I couldn’t shake off. Did that rat kill other rats, or was he a killer rat?
I put myself in the rat’s shoes, and after a long contemplation, I came to conclusion — Now, I hope I never find myself in such a situation but should I — I would come out of that situation with a mental mantra. “I killed other people, I am not a killer”, and if I was ever put in a metaphorical farm with other human pests, I would go right back to life as normal or should the trauma be intense, I would recline in seclusion, but I most definitely will not develop, or feed a taste for shedding needless blood. keyword “needless” as the prior situation was indeed necessary.
Action speaks louder than Words
The proverb above connotes that a person’s true intentions are to be judged by their deeds, and not what they say, it emphasizes that actions hold more weight in defining character than words.
I agree with this but I believe the scope is underrated; I’m saying that, the full weight of a persons character is defined by their belief system, over their words, and over their actions
Faith, belief, and the reality of who we perceive ourselves to be
As a christian, this ideology of belief over action cannot possibly hit closer to home, as it is the very bedrock of my existential reality. That I, a sinner, not worthy of the father, will be reconciled to him, because I choose to believe in the person of Jesus Christ, his son who he sent to die for me.
So as long as I believe:
Even though I sin, I am not by definition a sinner.
Despite the fact that I sinned, I am by definition, righteous, not because of what I did, but because of who God says I am.
My belief holds the finality of who I see myself to be, not my actions
Self deceit - uniting the divide
If then I say that I am what I believe and not what I do, what stops me from sliding into self deceit, acting one way and declaring the opposite? Does action drive belief, or does belief drive action?
This is my balance: Belief drives action, and action reinforces identity (belief).
When you believe something, it necessitates an action or actions that correspond with your claimed belief. For instance, suppose I got a tip of a rigged football match, it makes no sense to place a bet, and then bet on the team that was tipped to lose, if I believe my informant, the only sensible thing to do will be to bet against them.
Similarly as I stated earlier, when you claim to have a belief, it only makes sense that your actions support the stance that you claim to believe, otherwise, you are living in self deceit
Actions might suggest character, but they do not define it. Circumstances can force people into actions that conflict with who they believe themselves to be but identity is ultimately shaped by belief, and genuine belief willl eventually manifest into action. The tension between these two —actions of free will, and not circumstance — is where human character is forged. Actions are temporary data points, while belief is the trajectory.
Psychological strength and reinforcing identity
Psychological strength is the ability to shape your psyche not by your experiences but by how you’ve chosen to see youself.
This is much easier said than done, it takes a tremendous amount of mental fortitude to look at a reality, and insist on it not being yours, even when it lies before your own very eyes.
Like my story at the beginning, it takes a lot of strength having killed a lot of people to come out and say, “I am not a killer, I only killed people” or in the case of faith; to look at yourself in sin, and say “I have only sinned, I am not a sinner
Your life is directly proportional to what you think of yourself
My conclusion is this, it is our beliefs that define who we will turn out to be. We will never rise above what we have seen ourselves to be, so no matter what we experience, we must never allow anybody or anything affect our self perception. This is fortitude, this is faith.
Deep thoughts