I love this quote because it is true. What you see, how you see it, what you do with what life sends your way is all up to you. If you are unhappy why not try to look at life another way?
It is true that many people live in misery and poverty. We have touched on the concept of poverty of the mind in a previous blog and I wish to revisit this idea today. Poverty of the mind is the cause of misery. We allow our thoughts to be poisoned by wants and desires for stuff (and people) outside of us. The deeper the emotional attachment to the desire, the greater we try to justify these wants and desires. Recently I read two articles on the internet that I found vastly interesting. Let me share from the first one today. It was talking about how when our emotions decide to feel a certain way about something, the brain finds a way to explain our feelings. "We want to believe we’re rational, but reason turns out to be the ex post facto way we rationalize what our emotions already want to believe."* The article goes on to say. "When people are misinformed, giving them facts to correct those errors only makes them cling to their beliefs more tenaciously." Great! Isn’t that scary? The emotional, or the ego, only wants to keep believing what it has created. It chooses to be blind to the truth of what is really there. So if we can’t help anyone who won’t help themselves, what can we do? We can become more aware of our own feelings and stay aware of the emotional trappings that may be clouding our reality. Remember my good friend Russ’s advice, “Keep it factual and unemotional.” We can apply to everything in our lives it turns out. Now when I have a knee-jerk reaction, I stop myself and ask, “Is it true?” This is the first step on a path of self-discovery. Does this mean I have decided to turn off my feelings? No it means my emotions don't run me and that is a very different situation indeed.
Happiness is a choice but more importantly, happiness is a journey. Endeavor to find happiness where you are and wherever life takes you. It’s your calling.
Namaste!
Bianca
* About the brain: http://www.alternet.org/media/most-depressing-discovery-about-brain-ever?paging=off
This personal blog was written by Bianca Pittoors. You may “share” it in its entirety. I respectfully request that you respect it as the intellectual property that it is. Thank you! All photos by Bianca Pittoors unless noted otherwise.
Bianca Pittoors & Marc Langis are Bianca Basso. Creators of original music with a vintage flavor, they are distinctive in their contemporary style.