Rethinking the Human Condition

 The human condition is a product of two directly conflicting forces.

1. We are born with the desire to be calm, happy (in general and with ourselves), confident, comfortable in our own skin, honest, appreciative, compassionate. 

2. Society has manufactured dozens of roadblocks to keep us from being the calm, happy confident people we really want to be.

To the first point, this is based on my own informal research. When I ask clients to describe their ideal self, these are the most frequent answers. No one says they want to be angrier and more anxious. They are sick of being angry and anxious. 

Now think of all the roadblocks we (society) have created that keep us from getting where we want to go. In modern parlance, we call these social constructs. 

Social norms

Racial norms

Gender norms

Age based norms

Family expectations

Cultural expectations.

Religious expectations

Work/professional expectations

Practically every facet of our life is screaming at us, telling us what to do and who to be. It's all based on what everyone else thinks we need to be doing. And most of it is in direct conflict with who we really, truly, deeply want to be. 

The goal in life is to block out all that noise and be ourselves. 

Being our true authentic selves is the only coping skill we need to live healthier lives.

Be yourself. 

Be yourself. 

Be yourself. 

Be yourself. 

For information on individual counseling, contact me at bradleyjabel@gmail.com