I think the word “mentally” is something that is difficult to define, but for our purposes it is important to understand what it means. I think most of us know that we are mentally aware of whether something is happening or not, but for some reason we don’t always have the language to express this level of awareness. It is our responsibility to make a conscious decision to be aware of the thoughts and actions our mind is taking; it is something that we are required to do.
Mental awareness is something that is a part of self-awareness. The two need not be one and the same.
It’s a very important point, because by default we tend to think that our thoughts are “true,” and for most of us that is simply not the case. Many of us, for example, are unaware of the presence of our thoughts. If we were aware of how thought-based our mind is, we would be able to distinguish if we were dreaming, for example. We would not think that it was completely true that we were dreaming, or that our mind was only thinking about us.
We are aware of our thoughts. But the only way to truly know if our thoughts are true is to actually experience them, to feel them, to observe them. It is possible to doubt you own thoughts, but that is a very different thing from actually doubting them. Doubt is when you believe you cannot be certain of what you are thinking, even though by definition you can be certain that you are thinking.
The experience of doubt is a very different thing from actually doubting your thoughts. If you doubt your own thoughts, you are not really doubting anything. Instead, you are just doubting that you think that you have some experiences that are not real. It is very different.
If you doubt your own thoughts, you are not really doubting anything. You are just doubting that you think that you have some experiences that are not real. It is very different.
Think of it like this: If you do not believe that this is actually happening, then you are not really doubting anything, you are just doubting that you think that you have some experiences that are not real. The fact that you cannot believe that you have experienced this particular experience, that it is actually happening, is just a part of that experience. That experience is what you are doubting.
I thought that I could see myself. I thought that I was experiencing this particular experience. But even when I saw myself, I still couldn’t believe it. I did not really believe that I was seeing myself. I did not know it was me.
The definition of “believe” seems to be a topic of debate among philosophers. For some it is an absolute statement, for others it is only an opinion that is based on the assumption that “believe” is a subjective action. Regardless of its definition, all these words have been used to label different things. The word “believe” is one of those words that seems to have had its own unique and contested usage.
I think it’s safe to say that we are all in agreement that belief is not an action and that its use is not a subjective one. However, there is a significant difference between being a believer and knowing that you are a believer. Knowing that you are a believer is something that your mind and heart can affirm or deny. The ability to acknowledge your belief is different from the ability to say you are a believer. In that case, the person is aware. The person is in the know.
