My Personal Insight on Finding a More Peaceful Existence

I’m attempting to be more objective toward my feelings. Not so attached to what they are but I’m more interested in where they come from. What are my thoughts before the emotions come into play. This is especially important when I feel slighted or hurt by my interpretations of someone else’s behavior.

Perception is everything.

This is no easy feat. When it was first suggested to me that I try this, I thought it wouldn’t be all that difficult. Besides, I knew it was the source of a great deal of the pain that I feel where other people are concerned. Who wouldn’t want to feel better by doing something that sounds so simple?

The idea is to break things down into three basic parts:

1. A) What happens in life
2. B) What my first thought is in regard to what happens
3. C) What are the feelings attached to my thoughts and what

is the story I tell myself as a result

The first week I wrote about events that troubled me and used this outline. I had to do the naturally occurring thought to feeling process. Then I was to rewrite it substituting negative thoughts for positive ones.. This would change the entire outcome of how I thought about the whole thing and therefore change my feelings and story I made up about it altogether. I did this assignment with some difficulty, but I got the basic premise.

The next week I was to leave out the last portion of the final result, and stay on the second point about what I was thinking. This would give me the opportunity to nip the negative thoughts in the bud. I was to immediately replace the negative train of thoughts with a more positive one. Obviously this would lead to more positive feelings and an entirely different story, or perhaps no story at all because the event would become inconsequential.

Seems easy, right? Not in the slightest. That’s where the rub is. Changing the natural course of my thinking. But for me it represents the keys to the Kingdom. The difference between a more difficult, painful existence and one with a much lighter load to carry.

It’s a simple task to live more freely, but I have found it to be an undertaking that takes patience, commitment, and determination. It just depends on the direction I wish to flow.