I recently heard a story about a man who, every morning, would take every book off his bookshelf… only to put them back again.

A friend who was present to this story being told immediately responded, in a defiant tone: “that’s stupid, why would he do that?”

The response isn’t altogether unsurprising: if you, like most people, have been brought up to use your time efficiently, and in all your years you’ve never heard of someone exhibiting this strange behaviour, it’s totally reasonable to question it.

But: why was it said defiantly?

Why do we respond with negativity when we hear about something that’s different than what we do (yet doesn’t affect us whatsoever?)

The reason negative arises is because we’ve become identified with those thought patterns that say the behaviour is strange.

We wrongly think they’re us, because they appear within us.

And so when we hear something that challenges our existing thoughts or beliefs, we believe it’s us that’s being challenged.

We see it as a threat not much different than if we were being physically attacked. We immediately attack back, or defend. Fight or flight.

A tremendous sense of peace is accessible once you fully unlock the realisation that you are not your thoughts, and someone challenging your thoughts is not a threat to your self.

You may still respond with disagreement, but there’ll be no negativity in your response, nor in you. It will come from a place of calm, of curiosity, and your life and relationships will be so much richer for it.