Hair Wax

When I first heard of the cognitive dissonance theory, I associated it with the term "bad influence". Doing something against your beliefs - beliefs which you think are right. It exactly sounds like bad influence right ? Another thing I can associate with it is peer pressure or being forced to do something you don't like.

When I was in highschool, I always got nagged by my girl classmates that I should style my hair, apply wax or gel on it. There was even a time, when they disturbed another class just to ask for hair gel so they can use it on me. I don't know if this counts as Cognitive Dissonance though, but I had in my mind that when I used hair wax I would be bald because of all the chemicals in it, and I was scared of being bald. Both of my grandpa's were bald so I kind of knew that someday, it would happen to me. 

Four years in highschool and I never used hair gel or hair wax save for Graduation Day. 

When I entered college, I thought that, "Hey, maybe I ought to try using those kinds of hair products since I'm older now and it's a fresh start". Long story short, now I can't leave our house without fixing my hair and also I have this habit of mine that I find irritating: Every time I pass by a mirror or an object that gives out a reflection of me I always tend to look then fix my hair.

What happened was, in the end I realized that this new look gave me a little bit of self confidence and also, when me and my highschool classmates have a get-together I always overhear the girls whispering about me like "Ang gwapo ni Rico" and stuff like that. Low it may seem, but hearing those kinds of things can give a guy confidence and may also make his day when he's having a bad one.

Here’s another example, which I is also from my own experience …

Before junior year I was enrolled in a swimming class because I didn't know how to swim. Honestly, I'm afraid of swimming in deep water. If the water is above my head level then I raise the white flag, heck I won't even go in the pool. But my mother insisted and kept on nagging me to attend classes. I never finished the two-week course because fear got the better of me. Something which I kind of regretted, because I didn't learn how to swim properly or even go underwater without goggles on. This is one of the reasons why I rarely go to summer outings with friends.

These examples, could have benefited me both except for the last one. If I had just endured it then some things would be different now. What I can say is going against your beliefs can be sometimes a good or a bad thing depending on the decisions that you’ll make. Then again we have our own opinion in different matters say drinking or smoking. Some people say drinking is bad, some say it’s just “social drinking” and some just enjoy drinking excessive amounts then getting drunk. Depending on your peers, whether you’re in one of these “sides”, you can be the person that abstains from drinking, and tells his/her peers that alcohol is bad but because of “Cognitive Dissonance” may sooner or later “try” drinking alcohol.

There's always a reward at the end of every change you make. No matter how painful, tiring, and awkward it may seem at first, it's all worth it in the long run, but also do remember that sometimes there are consequences depending on what you've chosen. 

Here's to the end of this entry, I hope that I got my thoughts clear this time. Thank you for time reading and please do leave a comment! :)