The psyche works according to certain laws, these laws are described and tested in psychology. Systems psychology has been particularly successful in this. Within the framework of systems psychology, there are three rules that the psyche follows in its work.
Rule 1. There is nothing superfluous in the psyche.
Any feature, any symptom, any element in the psyche always performs some useful function. Useful not from the point of view of individual consciousness, but from the point of view of the existence of the psyche, from the point of view of maintaining its integrity and vital functioning. If something in your psyche or in your personality seems to you useless or superfluous, it means only one thing: you do not see at the moment the function that this something performs. Any bad habit performs an important task in our psychological life. You need to work on expanding your zone of consciousness in order to discover this task.
Rule 2. Most events happen to a person for a reason.
There is a reason why certain events happen to a person. This reason lies in the person himself - in his psyche, in his personality, in his psychological characteristics. In any event that happens to a person, the psyche has an active role. Even if the person himself refuses to admit it. Our life is the result of our choices.
Rule 3. The psyche does not passively reflect reality, but actively constructs it.
In experiments on the work of perception, which were carried out by gestalt psychologists, it was proved that the psyche does not simply reflect reality, like a mirror. The psyche is actively constructing it. For example, if you are shown the outline of a circle drawn with a dotted line, you will still perceive the shape as a circle and not as separate lines. This is the active role of the psyche in the perception of reality. If we do not have enough information, we think it out in accordance with our previous experience.
Rules 2 and 3 are interconnected. The second rule concerns actions and events that happen to a person. The third rule focuses on the peculiarities of the perception of ongoing events. Perception and action are interconnected, they reinforce each other.
Let me give you a simple example. Suppose you went outside and suddenly it started to rain.
- In one case, you will be upset (perception), your mood will deteriorate, you will return home (action) and you will worry that your plans have not come true (perception). The world will seem dull to you and will not meet your expectations (perception).
- Otherwise, you can be happy with the rain (perception), open an umbrella or even get wet for your pleasure (actions), your mood will be good and enthusiastic (perception). The world will seem to you full of surprises, your sense of oneness with nature will sharpen (perception).
Both chains can be continued indefinitely. This is how we create our own mood, regulate our actions, which ultimately affects the image of the world in which we live. "What we believe in becomes reality."
