Don't Be An Ostrich
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What is the main theme of “Don’t Be an Ostrich” and why does it matter?
Hello everybody and welcome to the Change Your Thinking Change Your Life podcast. My name is Michelle Verkard and I'm your host. Today's episode is titled Don't Be an Ostrich. Um, there's um a book I'm reading right now. And it's talking about what they call common mind imbalances. So, you know, our our world, we as humans, we try to understand everything, right? So we try to um put labels on people and things, uh, concepts. Uh one of the things that I've found that is uh You know, it started out helpful, but I find that a lot of people are using it in a hurtful way is uh, you know, what's your attachment style, right? Um Are you avoidant? Are you not? You know, uh and I'm not gonna go into it, you can look it up.
And and it yes, it does help us to explain things in a certain way. But just as with everything, if we don't use the tool for discernment, if we only use it for diagnosis, right? It's kind of like what we talked about yesterday. If we only use it for truth, but we don't use it for truth with love and joy and inclusion and wisdom, uh, it's not enough, right? And so uh essentially what they're talking about is saying. Hey listen, we as humans You know, we're doing the very best that we can. However, there are several times where our mind goes into a place of imbalance, right? Which I think is a really great way to say, hey, listen, we're all screwed up in some way, but we can come back into balance, right?
Um, and so as it's going through this, it's describing everything, it's talking about Our beingness, our experience in life, the things that we struggle with, maybe mentally, emotionally, and with our behavior. It's not talking about a label. It's not going to give you a quiz so that you can figure out what kind of personality um disorder you have. It's saying, hey, listen, we've noticed that people have these imbalances. These are some of the internal things that they struggle with. It may show up as this or this in your life.
How do common mind‑imbalances like ignorance, denial, and complacency keep us stuck?
And then asking you to do some reflection and just say, you know, is this you? If so, what do you think about it? What would you like to do about it? And then, you know, giving a couple tips. And the tips usually, to be honest, are about remembering who you truly are, right? Um your greatness, your awesomeness, your natural strengths, talents, passions, abilities, um, how you show up in the world and all your goodness. And then also asking you to Um forgive, right? And most of the time it's forgive yourself as opposed to forgiving others, but also forgiving others because guess what? We all have these imbalances. So I say that because the one imbalance that I was um looking at the other day that just made me stop.
Stop enough that um I've been doing a lot of self reflection but also I didn't want to go further in the book because I'm noticing it everywhere or and so I thought, well, we'll just do a little podcast on that. So uh, you know, don't be an ostrich. So this mind imbalance is Coming from a root of ignorance, denial, and complacency. So essentially for whatever reason you are avoiding something, right? So uh you know the old adage that ostriches stick their head in the sand when they want to avoid what's happening in front of them. We're avoiding or resisting, or one of my favorite words, abdicating, right? You are giving up your responsibility of something. Or, um, this is also true that you are wanting something in life, um, truly wanting and desiring something, but you're not willing to work for it.
Right? So you see that all other people have this thing and you're like, I deserve that thing too, but you're not willing to work for it, right? This is why, you know, I'll I'll um you know, fight every single time if I have to, if someone, you know, says someone on food stamps or government assistance that is also, you know, working, um, they're the working poor that they shouldn't deserve it because they don't have a good enough job or they should get two jobs or whatever. Like, no, they're doing everything they can. They just are in circumstances where they need some assistance.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main theme of “Don’t Be an Ostrich” and why does it matter?
0:01–2:22
2
How do common mind‑imbalances like ignorance, denial, and complacency keep us stuck?
2:22–4:48
3
Why does the ostrich metaphor illustrate avoidance and abdication of responsibility?
4:48–7:04
4
What can we learn from the plastic‑bag‑at‑the‑fair story about everyday avoidance?
7:04–9:16
5
How do avoidance patterns show up in relationships, work burnout, and stress?
9:16–11:08
6
What does the personal “unpaid bill” story teach about confronting small but painful obligations?
11:08–11:59
7
Which reflection questions help uncover what we’re really avoiding in our lives?
11:59–12:03