The Hidden Cost of Picking Sides
Photo: David Werbrouck
“Nature is busy creating absolutely unique individuals, whereas culture has invented a single mold to which all must conform. It is grotesque.” — U.G. Krishnamurti
The second you pick a side, you’ve already lost. Not because having opinions is wrong, but because once you lock yourself into one position, you shut yourself off from seeing the whole picture.
Look around today. Politics, culture, even how people live their personal lives. Everything is split into camps. Black and white. Us and them. The “right” side and the “wrong” side. And when you get caught in that game, you stop asking real questions. You stop looking for truth. You start defending a belief, not investigating reality.
The truth almost never lives in the extremes. It sits somewhere in the middle. Not a neat middle point you can draw on a chart, but a deeper space where you can see the flaws in both sides and still make a conscious choice about where you stand.
This is where awareness comes in. If you’re aware, you can see a position without being owned by it. You can vote a certain way, live a certain way, even believe a certain way, but you know why you’re doing it.
You’ve questioned it. You’ve stripped it down with a sort of Socratic method: asking, “Is this true? Where did this come from? Does this hold up when I actually test it?” That kind of thinking stops you from falling into blind allegiance.
Sadly, most people we see today just pick a side based on old trauma and thats it.
So how does this apply to daily life? Start with your own beliefs. Notice when you get triggered by something. That’s usually a sign you’ve identified too strongly with one side of a story. Instead of doubling down, question it. Pick it apart. What’s the evidence? Where could I be wrong? What’s the other side showing me that I don’t want to admit?
When you do this, you stop being a puppet to your own programming. You become someone who sees the moving parts clearly, instead of just cheering for your side. That kind of clarity makes you harder to manipulate and harder to trap.
You don’t need to be neutral about everything. You just need to know when you’re dealing with belief and when you’re dealing with truth. The first can keep you stuck. The second will actually set you free.
In the next article this week I will go into more detail on how this works and it applies in this crazy world we live in right now.
Key Takeaways
The second you fully lock into a side, you lose perspective.
Truth rarely exists in black and white. It sits in the middle, where both flaws and strengths can be seen.
Use a Socratic approach to question your beliefs: Where did this come from? Is it true? Can I prove it?
Triggers are often signs that you’re too identified with one position. Question them instead of defending them.
Awareness allows you to hold a stance without being controlled by it.
If you want to go deeper into these topics, check out my Book: Your Mind Is A Prison - A Guide To Living
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