Your thoughts and emotions are your biggest obstacles when searching for a purer reality or simply; a happier, healthier, stress-free life.

Our thoughts are our biggest addiction. On average we have about 50,000 thoughts per day, only 16,000 of which we actually say out loud and 90% of them are repetitions! Have you ever heard of ‘You become your thoughts’ or ‘Your thoughts are your reality’? This all has to do with the mechanism of interpretation, judgment and sensitivity to intrusive thoughts.

Interpretation:
How we assess situations, things and people; our personal perspective or understanding of the meaning of something

Judgement: 

Your opinion on situations, things and people, often after thinking about it.

Intrusive thoughts: 

Repeated, disturbing and unwanted thoughts that develop into repetitive thinking, often so much that you eventually start to believe it.

Fun fact:

Some animals deal with this same obstacle. Give an ant a paper with a black circle on it and the ant will walk around, but stay inside the circle. It will create its own illusion of not being able to get out or walk over the black line.

Also Buddha and Gandhi spoke about this ‘personal reality’. 

“The thought manifests the word;
The word manifests the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let them spring forth from love
Born out of compassion for all beings.
As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.” – Buddha

 

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”– Gandhi

 

What do your thoughts have to do with your emotions?

Many among us and especially those who haven’t focused on awareness or mindfulness before, think that our feelings are the truth: ‘I’m feeling it, so it’s true’. Your thoughts and emotions are your leading functions; they inform what you do and how you do it. However, they also are your biggest enemy when it comes to living in a more care-free way.
Sounds logical, maybe? But here’s how to train yourself.

What are emotions?

You have 6 base emotions: fear, anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise. Emotions help you to take action and prepare you to manage a situation. When they feel good, they tell you to take or do more. When they feel bad, they tell you to take or do less, or change the situation.

When you were younger you probably were told and taught that everything should be fun, good, positive and your bad emotions didn’t really count. We try to suppress them and return  to our happiness as fast as possible. We oppose, fight and find distractions but when that’s not possible, chaos occurs and we feel shit. When you ignore or suppress your negative emotions for a long time, chances are that you do this automatically. Automatically searching for distraction is like throwing water on a fire: it becomes stronger. 

Negative emotions are as necessary as positive emotions. When trying to achieve a less stressful and more fulfilling life, you need to address all your emotions and practise awareness. This not only lets your negative emotions such as stress, fear, anger or sadness last less time, but it also lets your positive emotions and calmness last longer.