Am I in denial?
My friend said to me: “I don’t believe you. You are in total denial.” I had been having a conversation with my friend and I had just told him about a “difficult” circumstance in my life that hadn’t upset me. He replied with a bit of righteousness that that circumstance was upsetting and, if I wasn’t upset, I had to be in denial. Most people can’t grasp “no meaning” Most people in the world think that events cause us to have specific feelings. Very few people understand, much less have experienced directly, that events have no inherent meaning and thus [...]
Stop being run by your feelings
At one point or another, everyone has uttered the words: “I am happy.” And: “I am upset.” Notice what happens when you say: “I am [something].” You are describing yourself. Any words that follow the statement “I am” is your description of yourself. Moreover, when we say, “I am [something],” it feels as if we really are that “something.” It feels as if our entire being is happy, or upset, or anxious, or any other emotion we say we are. But is that really who we are? Most readers of my weekly blog have eliminated at least one belief using [...]
Are You Happy With Who You Turned Out To Be?
For most of my life I didn’t want to be me. I was so unhappy with my life that being almost anyone else would have been preferable to being me. For many years I wanted to be Fred Astaire, because I loved the joyful, bright sense of life he projected, an experience that I rarely felt. Today is my birthday and I am 74 years young. I feel and look at least a decade younger than my chronological age. And today I am happy to be me and wouldn’t consider being anyone else. What is the source of this dramatic [...]
