Every experience you have is ultimately neutral by nature.
By this I mean that the way something makes you feel or the way an experience feels to you, is completely due to your own perspective, to your own subjective belief about the matter. Now obviously, this does not apply to situations where you are suffering at the hands of someone else. Be it physical or psychological pain, these circumstances are due to the imbalance in someone else life, an imbalance in the way they view you and themselves. But that discussion is a completely different topic, and it is not within the scope of what I want to say to you today. But let it be clear that the outcome of all experiences, excluding the ones where someone is exerting their will over yours, are completely up to you.
Let me put this another way.
Your own perceptions of the reality in which you currently exist determines the way your reality unfolds.
For example, if you are in a situation where you feel that there is external pressure or expectations on how you should be acting, or what you should be doing, the truth is this pressure, these expectations come from within. This is true because once you realise this, and if you are able to change your perception, you will free yourself from the anxiety of these seemingly “external” influences. Look deeper and you will see that these are not in fact external to you, they are in fact a part of you. A part of you that you choose to embrace, over a better alternative which is also within you.
It really is your choice in how you respond to a given outcome or reality that determines how you feel, and ultimately how that experience shapes your very being. Seriously, think about this and look inside you – you will see that everything that worries you, everything that you are afraid of, everything that you don’t like about reality is due to your misperceptions and your own internal unrealistic expectations.
Its a strange thing to consider how your very thoughts, your very ideas about your reality are what can shape reality itself in such a profound way. Eventually you realise that all these thoughts and ideas lead to the creation of what we call emotions, and it is through these emotions that we as humans have the ability to interact with our experiences in a way that words cannot. Yes it is true that words can evoke emotions, but it is the emotions themselves that are felt – and these are indescribable.
The bottom line here is that you should be kinder to yourself, to give your self a break, to not create these unrealistic expectations of yourself and of this current experience we call life. After all, we are only here for but a few moments, so do not waste them worrying about simple things. For these simple problems that we allow to overwhelm us are nothing compared to the ultimate reality of our existence – to learn, to love and to live right here, right now.
The Humble Learner 