🧠 You’ll Find What You’re Looking For (Even If It’s a Fight)

Ever been attacked by a tissue and a bad attitude at the same time? We hadn’t until today! New experience every day!

We were just strolling along near the Leblon end of Ipanema beach when—bam—this woman suddenly stepped out from a gate beside us, mid-nose-blow, and walked straight into our path. We didn’t even see her coming. It was like she was trying to merge into traffic without checking her mirrors.”

She waved the tissue in my face like some kind of bizarre weapon coming at me. She muttered something like “You go first,” in Portuguese, and Katie pulled me back to avoid the snotty tissue and I looked at her and said, “Weirdo!”

She shocked me at how she came at us.

She turned back, waved us past again, and then said: “Welcome to my country.” in English as she walked off.

At first, we wondered, what just happened? But then it hit me:

She wasn’t trying to connect. She was trying to confirm.

She had a belief—maybe that tourists are rude, entitled, or disrespectful—and she was looking for proof. And guess what? She found it.

We all do it. We have beliefs and we look for reasons to back it up. She actually generated her own proof by walking at us in the street and getting in our faces. She got exactly the evidence she was looking for.

🔍 Confirmation Bias: The Trap You Don’t See

Here’s the plot twist no one sees coming:

You will always find what you’re looking for.

• If you believe people are out to get you, you’ll notice every side-eye.
• If you believe you’re not good enough, you’ll collect every failure like trophies.
• If you believe you can’t get ahead, you’ll find 100 reasons why that’s true.
• If you believe you’re not good with money, you’ll ignore the times you saved some money and obsess over every financial mistake. You’ll scroll past opportunities and say, ‘That’s not for people like me.

And then you’ll say, “See? I knew it.”

But what if you’re just stuck in a loop?

🧨 Break the Loop, Rebel

This isn’t just about one weird moment in Rio.

• It’s about you.
• It’s about me.
• It’s about all of us walking around with invisible filters, collecting evidence to stay stuck.

So here’s your Rebel Donegans challenge:

👉 Where are you looking for proof that keeps you trapped?
👉 What beliefs are you backing up that are actually holding you back?
👉 What if the door to your next level is already open—but you’re too busy proving it’s locked?

🚪 The Matrix Is Glitching. Walk Through.

You’re not broken. You’re not cursed. You’re not doomed. You’re just tuned into the wrong frequency.

Shift it. Rebel. Break free.

How do you shift? Start looking for evidence that you might be wrong. What if you are good with money? What if people do want to help you? What if the world isn’t against you, but you’ve just been wearing the wrong lens?

This is the one I need to work on as sometimes I feel like it is me versus the world and that is not a healthy way to live. I am working on this too!

Try seeing things as they are, not as the story you’ve attached to them. Drop the narrative. Observe. Be curious. That’s how you break the loop.

The Matrix is glitching—walk through the door and step into a new world… 🚪✨

I would love to know your thoughts on confirmation bias!  Are you aware of how it affects you? Do you think it does?  What beliefs are you out there looking for evidence to back up just so you can feel right?

Peace and Pineapples

Alan and Katie