Why are our thoughts and feelings so sticky? Don’t you find it strange that you become attached to whatever you perceive? Have you ever noticed how your mind becomes entangled with everything? We think of something or see something and our minds immediately generate an emotional reaction that connects us to whatever imprints itself on our awareness. Nothing escapes our drive to add meaning to everything we encounter. It’s a very odd way to engage with the world.

From early childhood, we’re heavily conditioned to react to every event that crosses our field of attention, whether the phenomena occur outside of our minds or spring from within. Our perception is profoundly influenced by this habit. Most of our conclusions are based upon how we filter and label the world around us. When it comes to human perception, objectivity is surprisingly rare.

If you take a moment to think about this tendency, you might appreciate that your view of yourself and everyone you meet is a product of how you add meaning and interpretation to every moment of your life. This is how we become attached to situations that cause ripples to our inner peace. This is how we chain ourselves to situations that no longer serve our best interests. The emotional layering becomes our view of reality. Our ability to recall particular memories is based on how we chose to feel about them. Without the emotional connection, most events lose their relevance and fade into obscurity. This is a very valuable insight because it enables us to recall any event that we’ve encountered without the habit of adding an emotional interpretation. We learn that things happen. Full stop. Any meaning we might add is purely emotional shading. It isn’t the event itself. You are the one who adds meaning to everything. Take away the habit of attaching an emotional response to everything and you will discover a wonderful sense of freedom that will help you to escape the bonds of whatever has happened to you in the past. This is a perfectly natural way to create a fresher, healthier and happier future for yourself. Make a commitment right now to be in the world without painting each moment with your personal emotional interpretation.

gregory.s.parry@gmail.com