*** This is an excerpt of my latest blog post. You can read the whole text at [link]

By simply realizing and accepting that emotions exist entirely within you, can have a life-changing effect. Let me repeat that; what you feel is entirely a creation of your own mind. Whatever happens in your life outside your own body and mind is not the source of your feelings. If you can't grasp this, then read it again until you can. Or watch the Habits of Happiness talk by Matthieu Ricard who explains the concept in more detail.

So what if you crash your car? Surely there will be all kinds of feelings of anger, anxiety and regret stemming from that accident. But can you show me which aspects of a car crash cause the negative feelings? Can you show me, that when a car crash occurs these specific feelings get created, and start to inhabit the bodies of those involved? I doubt you can, because those feelings are entirely subjective experiences of the people involved, and they are entirely their own creation. Simply put; the car crash itself does not create those feelings.

A feeling is simply a creation of your brain as it reacts to external or internal events, such as car crashes or remembering the first time you held your first-born baby in your arms. This is important. You might even want to write it down. Whatever events take place, they are not directly making you feel anything. You feel something because your mind makes you feel it.

The reason I rant about this is, that realizing it has been a hugely liberating experience. It explains why money and new toys don't bring lasting happiness; far too many people try to change internal processes by focusing on external conditions. It also gives you a degree of control over what you feel. When you know that your feeling exists only within you, independent of external events, your whole perception of that feeling changes. You may start to wonder why your mind is making you feel something, what could be causing the feeling, and what is the feeling trying to tell you? This will help you tremendously to understand yourself better.

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