If you are unhappy with your life, you are not alone. It is a tragedy of modern life that people who are in circumstances far better than most of the world are far less content and fulfilled. Just as once Pandora’s box was opened, it’s contents could not be returned, it is not possible to undo what has become of the world, so what is a person to do who cannot appreciate the wonderful life they are living?
The first step to living a fulfilling life is to connect to reality. Most of the problems that keep people awake at night are manufactured problems that have been created in their minds by conditioning. The science of living is not just an empty phrase. The elders recommend using the scientific method to test one’s thought processes and beliefs, which are really just your own hypotheses about the world.
IS THAT SO?
The stories you tell yourself about how things are, especially what you tell yourself about what other people are up to, are just stories, and yet you can hyper yourself into a frenzy if you believe your own nonsense. The next time you find yourself spinning yarns about how another person was intentionally doing this or that to upset you, take a deep breath and ask yourself how you know that what you are telling yourself is true. If your answer is that it is true, ask yourself again, how do you know that it is true. This exercise will not work for every situation, but if you are honest with yourself, you will find that it often does work because a wounded ego tends to be pretty quick to come up with reasons that other people are wrong or bad.
If you you do find that you have been a bit hasty in your interpretation of another person, the remedy is to get curious about how such a misunderstanding could arise and if appropriate you might even ask that person in a kind way to explain what they meant by whatever it is that they did or didn’t do. Of course every life situation calls for wisdom if it is to be navigated artfully, so you will need to use your common sense about when it is appropriate to have a conversation and when it is best to just move forward while continuing to work on deconstructing your ego.
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