To fill our heart is to have love for reality, and to empty our mind is to be at peace with reality, including all of its rocky rides.

At least, that’s the ideal.

However, it can be difficult, given that life is a complex concoction of yin and yang energy.

It is very easy to be sucked into feeling and thinking negatively about some of life’s idiosyncrasies, especially if it is severely conditioned into us from birth.

If we find that we have hate in our life, including just using the word to describe aspects of life that don’t resonate with us, then one way to release ourselves of it is to follow a simple formula.

Base all of our feelings on our love for:

• Ourselves, family, friends, neighbors and strangers;

• The positive and negative charges of the emotional roller-coaster;

• Nature and the universe;

• Consciousness and energy.

Similarly, if we find that we are subject to lots of negative thought patterns which bring us suffering of the mind, then follow an even simpler formula.

Peace is in the truth of…

• Love.

That’s how pure and simple it is.

Whenever there is hatred, it’s simply a reminder of what we love. When we feel negative emotions such as jealousy, resentment, humiliation, powerlessness, sadness, arrogance, insecurity, rejection, anger and fear—it’s just a chance to remind ourselves what our heart should be filled with instead.

The same goes for any psychological suffering—it reminds us of the reason to be at peace.

When we think negative, self-abusive thoughts we cause ourselves anxiety and stress. These toxic thoughts can also serve as a simple reminder of a greater truth that extends beyond the trivialities of our own lives: Love.

It’s that easy. Well, at least it is in theory.

It really is up to us to take care of ourselves. So often we blame other people or events for the way that we think and feel, but that is one of the greatest lies of human endeavor. It’s disempowering to believe that something beyond our control guides our personal health and wellbeing. We should call ourselves out if we find ourselves subscribing to “blamist” behavior.

The reality is that each individual has the power to think and feel as they wish.

If we’ve been emotionally and/or psychologically imbalanced in different ways for many years, it takes considerable time to rewire ourselves to achieve this in a consistent way. But if we commit to it, it will happen.

It eventually becomes second nature.

This doesn’t mean that we lose all our animal instincts or energies, instead we gain a balancing tool for our health and wellbeing. We now have a simple method of thought to bring us back into alignment with a greater truth.

If everybody did this, then we’d be living harmoniously. Not only is it for good for ourselves, but a positive frame of thinking benefits the whole of humanity.

Remember: the fundamental goal is to fill our hearts with love and to empty our minds in peace.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

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Author: Phil Watt

Editor: Emma Ruffin

Photo: Constanza/Flickr