Life Isn’t The Problem. Your Interpretations Are.
Your flight is late and you have to sit around the airport, bored. And that makes you angry. Or...
Your flight is late and you get to sit down and rest for a minute instead of shuffling onto a crowded plane. And that makes you happy.
Guess what? Flight being late isn't the issue. What made you angry or happy was your interpretation of what that neutral event means.
Both Stoicism and Buddhism feel that the world is what it is. We get all riled up because of how we interpret those events. And, if we choose, we can change those interpretations and change our feelings.
I totally agree with this quote. In the past few years, I've been reading a lot of random books, articles, newsletters and listening to podcasts around psychology, meditation and mindfulness - generally information on how to be happy. Of course the common theme is that you shouldn't be chasing happiness, that you should seek meaning in your life, and enjoy the process independent of success or failure. There's a lot of discussion around mindfulness and how we interpret events that occur in life - how by reframing situations and changing our perspectives, it make us so much more accepting of what gets thrown at us.
It also gives us control (ie. power/freedom) in the way we think about things and approach events, and makes us more secure in our relationships as well. It's something I'm striving towards, really trying to learn more and grow in this area. I guess that's how we become wiser and more mature xD
I noticed that the two things I've improved on this past year are focusing on the present and loving people no matter how ridiculous they may be. It's definitely helped me in the way I view the world and my feelings, making me more accepting and genuine in my life.
Things I'll need more practice with are stepping back and accepting my feelings. Situations that get me riled up don't arise as often as we think, so I don't get too much practice dealing with them in a meditative way haha. My daily meditation these days have been really straightforward and easy because I haven't had too many troubling thoughts! Guess it's definitely a good problem to have ^^" #firstworldproblems
I recently also read that in the face of fear, one way to counteract that is gratitude. If you think about what you're grateful for, what you have that you don't want to take for granted (e.g., the opportunity to do this presentation and challenge yourself!), then the fear is significantly reduced. That's such a great way to approach things that you might be afraid about!
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