Dig Deeper: Revealing the Goodness Within
There is a well-known story of a man who once approached the Rebbe with a sincere and painful question:
“I don’t understand people. From a distance they seem so pleasant and admirable. But the closer I get, the better I get to know them, the more I begin to see their flaws. Why aren’t people as good on the inside as they appear on the outside?”
The Rebbe responded with a simple yet profoundly insightful metaphor:
Overcoming Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is something we may all experience from time to time. It is the feeling of discomfort which arises from holding contradictory thoughts, attitudes, or behaviors simultaneously.
This discomfort pushes us to either change our perspectives, attitudes, or behaviors to align with the new information or to seek consistency by rationalizing or justifying our contradictory beliefs or actions.
Decisions
Throughout the course of our day, we may be faced with many types of decisions ranging from relatively minor ones to more consequential and important choices.
Often, we may experience an inner conflict in any given situation as to what would be a wiser choice and generate long term benefits as opposed to just providing instant gratification.