I love Einstein! (and myself?)

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
-Albert Einstein

It seems like I'm one step ahead of my "meditation club" teachings, for today we have talked about harmful "paradigms" which, in this context, translate as our irrational beliefs. The lecturer gave some examples of harmful paradigms we might have with regards to ourselves, others, and the world, then asked us to write our own. Here is what I wrote:

About myself:
1. People do not want to hang out with me because I'm not attractive enough.
2. I need to be beautiful in order to be loved.

About other people:
All people are motivated by self interest.
(This was the first thing I learned when I walked into college, although now I realize I might have interpreted the whole thing incorrectly, or taken it to the extreme, just like many others do. As an alternative study, I recommend this.)

Anyhow. I, now, would like to apply Einstein's legendary approach to my own problems. I obviously cannot deal with them by waiting to get pretty or screwing other people over because they are egotistical bastards and they deserve it if it serves my self interest. The next level of thinking, is recognizing that the above statements are false and replacing them with paradigms that are...er...not so false.

So here we go:

1. 99% of who I am cannot be seen or touched. I do not consist of how I look.
2. I shouldn't wait for other people's approval to feel loved. I can start NOW, by loving myself. I'm not a child anymore and I no longer have to turn to other people to give myself the care I need.
3. I want to help other people, love them, do something that will make them happy. Then why should I think that I'm the one-of-a-kind human specimen? If I think this way, there must be millions of people out there who do not act solely out of self-interest. It is, however, unrealistic to expect our loved ones to be there for us on every occasion since they may have some limitations or they simply might make mistakes.

Just as the darkness is the absence of light, pessimism is the absence of optimism. We need to let the lightness in and uproot our irrational beliefs.