Reinterpret Your World

It's medieval times. A man is standing on a dock. Tied to the dock is a large wooden ship, which is about to set sail. All of his loved ones are on the ship: his wife and children, his parents, and his best friends. They're waving goodbye to him, and he's waving back, feeling excited about their voyage. The ship sets sail and moves away from the dock. After a while, the ship approaches the horizon. It's an unusually clear day so the man can still see the ship, even though he can no longer make out the people on it. As the ship goes over the horizon, the man begins to panic. These are medieval times, and the man believes the world is flat. As far as he can tell, the ship is now sinking and all of his loved ones are drowning, dying a horrible death right before his eyes. He collapses to the ground in complete despair. He sobs uncontrollably and tears at his hair and his clothes. He has lost everything.

Now take this man and teach him that the world is round. Then put him back in the same situation. Everyone is waving, just as before. The ship moves out to sea, and the man is fine. The ship goes over the horizon, and the man is still fine. He's in exactly the same situation as described earlier, but this time he's fine because he knows the world is round.

The way you interpret a situation and the beliefs you bring to it have a lot to do with how you react to that situation. Interpret things one way, and you may feel anxiety or despair. Interpret things a different way, and you'll be fine. This simple idea might give you great peace of mind one day, when you really need it.

—Robert Epstein, Ph.D., Host of "Psyched!"