Just recently I again learned about the influence of labeling on the mind and our thoughts.
We are all constantly labeling things and people, experiences and situations to allow our brains to categorize, prioritize, and help us understand the world around us.
However, we also label when assessing or judging something or someone.
The positive about this process is that we would not be able to survive otherwise. Labeling simplifies our lives and helps us cope with complexity.
The downside is that we set all kinds of limitations to what we perceive and how we perceive it.
Labeling is like putting a price tag on an object. Once labeled, it is difficult to forget about how much value or importance we gave to it. The anchor is set.
Knowing this, our awareness is increased to consciously decide for or against labeling. While I think that it is impossible to not label at all (again, we would not be able to survive or have an identity), we can certainly go into observation mode more often.
Observation mode means that we watch and experience as fully as possible. We try to feel as much as we can, holding back thoughts which put labels on the situation.
Whenever a thought arises like, “Oh, that’s good/pretty/ugly/bad/too difficult/impossible/unfair/scary/unhealthy”, we can realize that we are about to label - and then let go of the thought. We can say to ourselves that we don’t want to judge yet. We can also tell our brains to think again and actively give the experience a different meaning.
Again, let’s realize that this entire process happens in our brains. Our minds create the reality that we take for the truth.
Therefore, it is important to question what we think. By not taking our thoughts for given, we can change perspectives more easily and decide about the labels we choose.
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