Anytime that you pinpoint external reality as being the cause of your unhappiness, you can be sure that you are attached to your own story. Remember that nothing external can cause you emotional pain, it is an impossibility. Every time that you experience emotional pain (e.g., sadness, fear, anger) it is because you are:

1. Deciding to be unhappy in the moment, usually because of your addiction to unhappiness
2. Succumbing to automatic thoughts
3. Trapped in your thinking frame, losing perspective 
4. Focused on untrue beliefs
5. Attached to your story

External reality can never be the cause of your emotional pain. Sure, external reality can be the cause of your physical pain, this happens all the time. While physical pain is often a catalyst for feelings of emotional pain, this is never necessary.

Physical pain has one major purpose, to protect your bodily tissues from physical damage. In this sense, physical pain always is meaningful. The system of physical pain is a remarkable miracle of nature, and can be appreciated as such. The actual sensations of pain, however, can be quite distressing. Recognize the purpose of pain. Recognize that physical pain is usually temporary; it lasts only as long as necessary.    

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Happiness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.