Fundamental Truths of Life: 1. Everything is created from within
When was the last time something awful happened to you and your first automatic reaction was suffering/stress? Probably, a few seconds, minutes, days, and months ago? But when is not the matter, why is the case in this story.
If there is one lesson you would like to learn from here, is this:
Every feeling is created from within not from the outside.
It is this simple yet the most overlooked aspect of our lives. If you can fully understand what i mean by that then read no further.
The very first mistake us human beings do is we think external situations and events dictate our feelings. What actually happens is external events serve as source of information for us and then we consciously or subconsciously react to those information. For instance, your crush sends you a text first and you become the happiest person on earth. Or, you just bought a hot stock expecting the price of it going higher but in reality it drops massively and you become the saddest person on the earth. Positive or negative, both cases are prime examples of how external events usually dictate how we would feel.
However, the main point is are we really a slave to external situations? Are we that weak? Are we doomed to begin with? Is there any other options for us? But the better question is: can we CONTROL how we would REACT to these situations? Fortunately, the answer is and always have been big fat YES.
So, what really happens? Positive or negative, there are countless thousand events happening to us daily just like how the weather changes throughout the year. One day, it is sunny, the other day it is foggy. One day it is raining, the other day is thundering, windy, snowing, earthquake, or just plain peaceful day. Our body and mind receive these happenings and subconsciously react positively if what happened was what we liked or wanted and vice versa. So, the equations looks like this: X (what we like) happens to us, we become happier, Y (what we dislike) happens to us, we become sadder.
But the catch is this: Whatever X or Y happens, they only act as triggers. X and Ys don’t create our reaction within us. We, the “smart” human beings, actually create the reactions within us. We are the ones responsible. You see, you love someone and make him known of it and he loves you back. Did he plant the seed of love in you or was he just the trigger of that seed to grow bigger? The latter is the correct. His love was a trigger. You have always had that seed in you when you were born. His loving you back was the trigger for that seed to grow bigger. Thus, we are the ones who create our feelings and emotions. External events are just triggers. This is the first and foremost truth we should be aware.
Now, the second catch is this: Do you need external events/triggers to create an emotion within you? In other words, do you need his love for you so that you can grow your seed of love within you? Or, can we water our seeds of love by ourselves without the help of others/triggers? The answer is also a big fat YES again! Simply, to water our seeds of love, we can just start creating loving moods in our selves by actively and consciously start appreciating however little things we have, know, relate to — i mean everything.
You can just start loving your cellphone now. Tell it how much you love it- NOW and see how you feel now — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
You see, just as our thinking mind is a thought creating machine, our emotional mind is an emotion creating machine. And, whichever seed you knowingly or unknowingly choose to water, it grows bigger and dictates your mood.
Now, this is not a theory or a scientific paper backed by evidences. What i would like you to do is not to believe it blindly but actually go out there and practice it to experience it. It is an experiential field not a belief system.
Here is an exercise you can do: Right now, think consciously what you wanna feel? Whatever it is, become aware of its seed inside you. Then, look for ways you can do to actively feel that feeling. For example, whenever i am feeling lazy to go to the fitness gym, first i try to become aware of my inner beast. A beast itching to go out and start lifting heavy weights, pushing the limits. I go into this full beast mode inside me. Then my mind fills up with this anger, excitement and a bunch of testosterone; the glass is full of testosterone that the previous laziness is nowhere to be found. Simply, i am pro-actively switching my mood from laziness to activeness by waking my inner beast. That simple.
If you have been stressed for some time now and would like to chill and relax without the effects of substances like alcohol and drugs, become aware of that seed of peace in you. Then pro-actively do things that would water that seed of peace. You can just meditate right now. What else? Long walks alone and not think. Just walk to walk. Realize your surroundings. You will see how many little details you have been missing out by being lost in your thoughts. Drinking, working or doing something to forget about your stress is not a healthy of finding peace. That peace doesn’t last long. You can actually get addicted to those activities. What you are actually doing is not creating peace within you rather you are escaping from your stress by forgetting for some time. There is a difference.
So to wrap up,
1. External situations are just external stimulus that influence us water the seeds of emotions within us.
2. We are the creators of our emotions, we are the ones who knowingly or unknowingly water whichever seed we choose.
We were never the slaves, we were born the creators but through social conditioning, systematizing, and institutionalizing we have come to believe that we can do nothing about and actually have become so weak to the point we have come to terms with our lives of being dictated by the externalities. Seeing people living in miserable conditions and the the part where they have accepted it as a norm is what truly saddens me.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime can practice what i suggested and can raise above the daily weather and clouds and live peacefully eternally among the stars. PEACE!
Further reading for those interested in exploring this topic more:
- Allan Watts : Become what you are
- Sadhguru : Innering Engineering
