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July 24 - October 6, 2023
The mind is its own place and, in itself, can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven. JOHN MILTON, POET.
Your brain’s primary responsibility is not to make you happy, but to ensure your survival.
Most of us are addicted to something. For some people it’s obvious, but for others, it’s more subtle. For instance, you could be addicted to thinking. To better control your emotions, you must recognize and shed the light on your addictions as they can rob you of your happiness.
Remember this: the way you interpret emotions, as well as the blame game you engage in, creates suffering, not the emotions themselves.
An emotion usually represents an amplified energized thought pattern, and because of its often-overpowering energetic charges, it is not easy initially to stay present enough to be able to watch it. It wants to take you over, and it usually succeeds—unless there is enough presence in you. ECKHART TOLLE, THE POWER OF NOW.
Negative emotions are like a spell. While you’re under their influence, breaking free from them seems impossible. You may know dwelling on the same thoughts is pointless, yet you can’t help but go along with the flow. Feeling an intense pull, you keep identifying with your thoughts and, as a result, feel worse and worse. When this happens, no rational argument seems to work.
Blumenthal discovered that people who were still exercising regularly had lower depression scores than people who only exercised sporadically. Exercise seems to not only help treat depression, but also to prevent relapse. So, when it comes to mastering your emotions, make sure exercising is part of your toolbox.
Simply walking for thirty minutes, five days a week can work wonders.
Your thoughts define who you are and create your reality. That’s why you should channel your thoughts towards what you want, not what you don’t want. As the success expert Brian Tracy says, “The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire, not things we fear.”
that I could use music (and my imagination) to create a parallel universe that had little to do with reality. I used music to stay optimistic and see the glass as perpetually half-full while doing ultra-endurance races. You can use music as a tool when you work out or in your daily life the same way.
Keep experimenting: Listen to different types of music and see how they make you feel. Are you inspired? Motivated? Happy? Relaxed? Start creating playlists for specific moods you want to experience.
Whenever you’re angry, get busy with any activity requiring your full attention. You’ll see your anger quickly dissipate.
Let’s assume you feel sad. Rather than saying, “I’m sad,” a more accurate way to describe that emotion would be: “I feel sad,” or “I experience a feeling of sadness.”
Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. JAMES ALLEN
As you learn to detach yourself from the negative emotions, it will help prevent them from growing and becoming more entrenched.
(The best time to deposit positive thoughts in your mind is right before going to sleep and first thing in the morning.)
Eat healthier food: As the saying goes, “You are what you eat.” Junk food will negatively impact your energy levels, so take steps to improve your diet.
So, what is self-awareness? Self-awareness is your ability to observe objectively your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors without adding your own interpretation or story to it.
Remember to write down how you feel each day using a dedicated journal. This will help you detach yourself from your emotions as you realize ups and downs are a normal part of living.
Exercise 1 - Create a win log
Worry differs from stress as it isn’t the result of something you experience in the present, but a concern you have regarding events from the past or events that may happen in the future. You experience stress when you face a stressful situation in the present moment.
How on earth can another’s thought about you harm you? It is your thought about his thought that harms. Change your thought. VERNON HOWARD, THE POWER OF YOUR SUPERMIND.
Because you live with yourself 24/7 you incorrectly assume, often unconsciously, people think about you significantly more often than they actually do. In fact, for the most part, people do not care about you. While it may sound depressing, it’s actually liberating. It means you don’t have to worry so much about what people think of you.
In short, people don’t: Keep track of your past failures Read everything you post on social media Remember your awkward moments Think of you (very often), or Care about you as much as you care about yourself.
Unfortunately, no amount of external approval will compensate for a lack of self-approval.
Even if we can’t love our enemies, lest at least love ourselves. Let’s love ourselves so much that we won’t permit our enemies to control our happiness, our health, and our looks. DALE CARNEGIE, HOW TO STOP WORRYING, AND START LIVING.
As Nelson Mandela once said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” It just doesn’t work.
If you can’t talk to that person directly, an alternative is to write a letter. Even if you don’t send it, the simple act of writing the letter may help you release some of your resentment.
The hardest thing about depression is that it is addictive. It begins to feel uncomfortable not to be depressed. You feel guilty for feeling happy. PETE WENTZ, MUSICIAN.
Have you noticed that human beings are one of the few species on earth that have the ability to become depressed? This is because they are the only ones who can get lost in their mind and become enslaved by negative thoughts and disempowering stories.
Some people who experience severe grief, sadness, or depression like to keep themselves busy to avoid thinking. When depressed, more thinking is seldom the solution. You rarely see people getting out of depression by using their mind.
Alfred Adler used to say to his melancholia patients, “You can be cured in fourteen days if you follow this prescription. Try to think every day how you can please someone.”
As you face fear on a regular basis, you cultivate courage and turn it into a habit.
You can also use visualization to help you overcome procrastination.
